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Turn Your Kitchen into a Spa Kitchen
By Daryn Eller,
SpaFinder website
It seems like magic when the chef turns out tasty, fulfilling meals
at a spa. But how can you do the same at home when the chef is you, and
the challenge is to get a healthful meal quickly on the table?
 To
find out, we asked two of the best chefs in the business-Sue Chapman of
The Lodge at Skylonda in California and James Boyce of The Phoenician in
Arizona-and top nutritionist Linda Prout of The Claremont Resort & Spa
in California for their secrets. Their wizardry, it turns out, is based
on the clever use of nourishing, flavorful staples, good culinary
equipment, and a trove of special techniques that you can practice at
home.
Pantry Staples
Using these items from the cupboard, you can make vegetables, poultry,
seafood, and meats into a complete meal.
Whole grains: Couscous, quinoa, brown rice, and wild rice-all
alternatives to white rice-can stand alone as side dishes or be mixed
with vegetables in salads.
Non-wheat pastas: Corn, buckwheat, brown rice, and quinoa noodles
are a nice change of pace and contain more fiber than regular pasta.
Canned tuna: Toss a can into a green salad and you´ve got a whole
meal. Instead of mixing the tuna with mayonnaise, add a few drops of
Tabasco sauce, a little vinegar, fresh herbs, and cottage cheese. (Boyce
swears by it.)
Assorted canned beans: Roll black beans with rice and salsa to
make a burrito; puree white beans with a touch of olive oil, garlic, and
herbs to make a spread or toss them into pasta with tomato sauce; bulk
up salads with garbanzo and kidney beans.
Vacuum-packed tofu: These boxes of protein-rich bean curd last
for months. Use tofu in salad dressings; marinate and grill it for
sandwiches; or cut it into chunks and toss it into stir-fries.
Baking potatoes: These spuds are always a standby for quick, easy
meals. Chapman stuffs hers with cottage cheese and steamed broccoli.
A spa kitchen should contain mostly monounsaturated fats (which don´t
raise blood cholesterol) and others so rich that just a bit packs a
flavor punch.
Cold pressed virgin olive oils: Add a splash of the most
expensive and flavorful oil to steamed vegetables or pasta; use the more
budget-conscious oil for cooking and in salad dressings.
Toasted sesame oil: A few drops will brighten stir-fries and
enliven soy marinades for chicken, fish, or lean meat.
Canola oil: This is the healthiest all-purpose (and flavorless)
oil. Use it when you don´t want the pungent flavor of olive oil-as in
baking.
Flavor Enhancers
To give a flavor boost to fresh produce, lean poultry, meat, seafood,
and whole grains without adding a lot of fat or calories, choose from
the following:
Assorted broths: Use vegetable, mushroom, or beef broth as a
substitute for water to add flavor when cooking grains or blanching
vegetables.
Assorted vinegars: Try them all-aged, top-quality balsamic
vinegar, first-rate wine vinegar, cider vinegar, sherry vinegar,
unseasoned rice vinegar, and others. The tastier the vinegar is, the
less oil you´ll use in making salad dressing. If it´s sweet and
flavorful enough, you can drop the oil-vinegar ratio as low as 1:1.
Assorted mustards: Mustards seasoned with peppers, herbs,
horseradish, honey, cranberry, and other flavorings can liven up
sandwiches or be slathered on chicken or fish before cooking.
Dried herbs: Herbs can turn even the blandest food savory.
"Dried rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, and coriander seeds are great,"
says Chapman, "but I´d use only fresh basil, dill, tarragon, parsley,
and cilantro." In general, use dried herbs in soups, stews, and other
foods that have a fairly long cooking time, adding them in the beginning
of the process so that the flavors have time to mellow. Use fresh herbs,
which are less pungent, at the end of the cooking process.
Ginger, onions, garlic: They´re indispensable for soups, stews,
and stir-fries. Cumin, mustard, and caraway seeds: Toast them lightly in
a dry pan and add to enliven plain vegetable and grain dishes.
Dried fruit: Though relatively high in calories, dried fruit
enhances sauces for chicken and fish. Boyce "blooms" dried cherries in
balsamic vinegar or wine, then cooks the mixture down to make a
sweet-tart sauce for salmon.
Capers: Toss over vegetables or into a rice dish to add a salty
flavor. Concentrated fruit juices: Reduce in a saucepan, strain and
season the juice, and you´ve got a non-fat sauce to drizzle over chicken
or fish.
Fermented black bean sauce: This salty Chinese condiment is
strong, cautions Chapman; use it sparingly to add stand-out flavor to
stir-fries, barbecue sauces, and salad dressing.
Miso paste: Add hot water (vegetables and/or tofu are optional)
and you´ve got soup, or use it as the basis of a sauce for plain
chicken, turkey, or fish.
Light coconut milk: Chicken and vegetables simmered in light
coconut milk and broth make a creamy-tasting, one-pot meal.
Stevia: This super-sweet, no-calorie herb comes in powdered form.
Prout recommends stirring a quarter-teaspoon into a tall glass of lemon
water to make a low-calorie lemonade.
Turn Your Kitchen into a Spa Kitchen
(continued)
By Daryn Eller,
SpaFinder website
Equipment Essentials
The right preparation tools can not only add to food´s taste and texture
but also reduce fat content.
Sharp knives: Chopping vegetables won´t be as daunting with
sharp knives.
Cutlery
Non-stick pans: Our experts believe sautéing with a little bit of
a healthy oil (like olive or canola) won´t substantially compromise a
dish, but if you cook without any oils, use a non-stick pan.
Cookware
Grill pan: Using little or no fat, you get smoky flavor and
grill-marked food.
Calphalon Commercial Hard Anodized...
George Foreman´s Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine: Same
plusses as a grill pan and easy to clean; it drains fat off turkey
burgers and other grilled foods and makes grilled veggies and sandwiches
a snap. Single-serving freezer containers: Freeze batches of soup,
vegetarian chile, or whole grains in convenient portions, then pop one
in the microwave as needed.
George Forman Nonstick Electric Grill with Free Cookbook
Wok: For a quick, hot, healthy meal, toss some vegetables and
spices into a wok.
Anodized Aluminum Flat Bottom Wok Set - by Calphalon
Steamer: Steamed vegetables (and, perhaps, fish) are a staple of
any healthy kitchen.
Bamboo Steamer - by Joyce Chen
Blender: It´s indispensable for preparing soups, dressings,
sauces, smoothies, and salsas. "If you have a good blender, you don´t
need an expensive food processor," says Chapman.
Juiceman JMS6 Blender with Variable...
Mini-choppers: They´re compact, they handle small amounts of raw
vegetables quickly, and they´re easier to clean than food processors
Braun MR430HC/AC Multiquick Deluxe Hand...
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