Operation: Spa Fridge!

Hello my friend!

Are you one of those people who is constantly on the quest for a strong, healthy body?  Do you know all the stuff you should be eating but for some reason you keep opting for the burger and fries instead of the fruits and veggies?  I can relate. While  I know the importance of good nutrition and the impact that the food I eat has on my life, so often the block of cheese or bag of chocolate chips is so much more appealing than what I have  rotting away in the crisper.

I remember, it was a trip to the spa at Paris Las Vegas that provided the inspiration for my own solution to this particular food dilemma.  If you have ever spent a day languishing at the spa or dining at a high-end resort, you will have noticed that somehow, these folks know how to show the beauty and sophistication of fresh, healthy food.  I marveled at how a sliced pear can look so appetizing and how a pile of greens is such a delight when served on a large plate with garnish and a glass of Perrier.  They have mastered the art of making healthy eating seem like fun, and even a privilege, with a high price tag none-the-less!

So it was while I was languishing in my robe, munching on the best apple I had ever tasted and  drinking the most perfect cup of tea that I thought.... what if I could have the experience of high-end resort spa dining in the comfort of my very own kitchen ?

And voila, Operation Spa Fridge was born.

Imagine, if every time you opened your refrigerator, you were faced with an abundant and vibrant display of fresh fruits and vegetables; salads and snacks ready to throw on a plate or put in a container to take for lunch. This is essentially the idea of Operation Spa Fridge- to make your refrigerator at home reflect the abundance and pure pleasure of the spa, making fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains and small healthy portions of lean meat appealing, easy and accessible.

Chef Rachel, author of "The Garden of Eating" cookbook, is a woman after my own heart and her article on 10 Tips to Help You Turn Your Refrigerator into a Healthy Salad Bar & Deli is a step- by- step guide to creating your own spa fridge.  Read it, imagine the possibilities and start making your grocery list. It is sure to inspire you to create your own version of refrigerator perfection!  Enjoy!

To your health!!

Joelle

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10 Tips to Help You Turn Your Refrigerator into a
Healthy Salad Bar & Deli
by Chef Rachel Albert-Matesz

You know you should be eating more fresh fruits and vegetables and eating lean-protein rich foods for health but where do you find the time to prepare them?  Our modern fast-paced lifestyles can make it seem like an ominous endeavor to get nourishing and delicious meals on the table on a daily basis.  

The biggest stumbling block is not having healthy food on hand when hunger strikes. One solution is to shop, chop, prep, and cook food in advance of meals, before you're ready to reach for whatever processed, packaged, and preserved food is within easy reach.

To get a running start for the week, set aside a four-hour block of time on Saturday or Sunday. You're not going to make a week's worth of food in one afternoon--the food wouldn't be fresh, flavorful, or nutritious. (Although salad dressings, marinades, toasted nuts, salsa, chutney, and barbecue sauces will keep for two weeks, most other foods will not.

Your goal: turn your refrigerator into a healthy salad bar and deli and set up for the first half to three-quarters of the week. With a head start, it won't take as much effort to keep the food flowing. 

1. Shop ahead
To eat produce-dominated meals three times a day, you must purchase copious quantities of vegetables and fruits. You'll want to fill every nook and cranny with fresh produce, and restock as your supply dwindles. If your refrigerator is amply stocked with fresh foods, you're more apt to eat them than processed foods.

2. Chop ahead
Wash, dry, and chop an assortment of colorful vegetables for steaming, stir frying, simmering, sauteing, parboiling, or tossing into salads. Don't chop every vegetable in the house, just enough for three or four days, then repeat. 

3. Quit canning...but use jars
Canning calls for excessive salt and leads to significant nutrient losses. But don't toss those jars - ­­they're perfect for storing chopped raw or parboiled vegetables, salad dressings, sauces, marinades, raw or toasted nuts, seeds, shredded coconut, melon or pineapple cubes, broth and stock in the fridge, and for shelving dried herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables, and baking supplies.

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What's so great about glass jars?
(1) They're non-toxic and won't off-gas chemicals or leach carcinogenic phthalates (plasticizers) and xenoestrogens into your food; (2) won't retain residual flavors or odors from previously stored foods; (3) are easy to line up in the refrigerator and pantry; (4) allow you to see what's inside at a glance; (5) grab your attention, inviting you to eat more colorful foods, particularly produce prepped ahead (6) are inexpensive, durable, and (7) an ecological alternative to plastic. 

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4. Label, label, label
Attach small squares of paper with rubber bands or use masking tape and indelible markers to note contents and date perishable items so you don't keep foods around past their prime.

5. Spin-off
Make salads a daily do. Rinse greens in a bowl, drain, whirl dry in a salad spinner, then stash the container on the top shelf of the fridge. (Place a cotton placemat or dish towel underneath to absorb moisture if your spinner has openings on the bottom.)

For a split second salad, slice or tear lettuce leaves unless the leaves are small. Top with colorful raw, roasted, grilled, parboiled, or steamed vegetables, garnish or dress, and serve. For one-dish dining, add sliced, diced, or flaked fish, poultry, or meat.

6. Plump-up the protein shelf
Every day or two, transfer one or two packages of fish, poultry, or meat from the freezer (or grocery bags) to cake pans, loaf pans, or pie plates on a designated meat shelf with two or three meals in mind. After cooking, transfer another package to the refrigerator to allow ample time for thawing.

7. Double up
Bake, broil, steam, poach, saute, roast, or grill fish, fowl, or meat with two to three meals in mind. Hard-boil eggs by the dozen. Slice leftover meat over a salad for one-dish dining. Add extra salmon to scrambled eggs with herbs, or a tuna-like salad. Make an impromptu stew with leftover lamb, roasted vegetables, herbs, and broth. Slather last night's steak with barbecue sauce or herbed mayo. 

8. Veg-ahead
Saute kale, collards, or mustard greens, steam asparagus, or parboil broccoli and cauliflower with two or three meals in mind. Do the same when you roast, bake, simmer, or grill roots, tubers, winter squashes, bell peppers, and onions.

Leftover veggies are perfect for pack lunches and great at room temperature. Serve warm roasted vegetables for dinner and the leftovers on a bed of salad greens. Purée Sunday's baked squash to make Monday's creamy squash soup with ginger. Turn baked potatoes into potato salad or a main-course salad with meat and salad greens.

9. Dress ahead
Scrumptious salads dressings will encourage you to take second helpings of vegetables. Make dazzling drizzles and dressings on the weekend. Store in wide-mouth pint jars or bottles saved from commercial dressings. Add your own label. Not just for tossed salads, these delicious sauces can top parboiled or steamed vegetables.  

10. Go garnish
To add texture, flavor, and eye appeal, fill pint jars with minced parsley, scallions, chives, cilantro, arugula, or dill to sprinkle over poached eggs, soups, stews, salads, mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes; add to an omelets, tuna, or chicken salad. Dry toast two kinds of nuts and refrigerate in glass jars, then chop or crumble and sprinkle over fruit and vegetable salads, hot cereal, yogurt, poached fruit, baked squash, or roasted root vegetables.


Rachel Albert-Matesz is a freelance writer, healthy cooking coach, instructor, and personal chef based in Phoenix, AZ, and co-author of the award-winning book, The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook (Planetary Press, 2004) <www.TheGardenOfEatingDiet.com>

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