Zeke, standing in his chic galley kitchen, fixed me with an unsmiling gaze, “So you’re the cranky senior fitness writer,” he said. “Why don’t you write more about healthy food?”
He’d just presented his wife’s running friends with a vegetarian dinner, out of Gjelina, a cookbook which looks like an art book, from a restaurant in Venice, California, which I’d never heard of, but should know; and out of Plenty, a cookbook I bought his wife Pam, but don’t use myself due to too many exotic ingredients.
Zeke’s yard comes straight from Sunset magazine. The guy’s got a vegetable plot, 20 by 20, a diminutive 400 square feet which produces heirloom tomatoes, three types of eggplant, three types of cucumbers, chilis, peppers, carrots, scallions, lettuce, kale, leeks, potatoes, and French breakfast radishes. Plus grapes, Meyer lemon and two lime trees, a blood orange, and a fig tree. Oh, and a bay leaf tree. Also Thai basil, three types of thyme, dill, Italian parsley, fennel, and tarragon. No dead leaves allowed, even on the tomato plants. A pair of well-behaved chickens live in a designer coop with a solar powered door, and a rooftop garden featuring a graceful cascade of strawberries spilling over the facia. Not one fly in the lush environs.
That evening we dined al fresco, under a stylish canopy created by Pam, with a tableau of succulents artfully framed against a wall at table’s end. Zeke’s menu: Homemade pickled preserves, quinoa and grilled sourdough salad, grilled eggplant with smoked mozzarella and cherry tomatoes, braised romano beans with yogurt and mint, and Tuscan kale salad with fennel and radishes. Dessert: Glazed lemon yogurt cake.
After he finished cooking our entrees, Zeke sent us outside where we chatted, basking in the delights of a healthy gourmet repast, enhanced by gracious atmosphere. Then, alone inside his quiet kitchen, he sautéed his own dinner of steak and baked potato slathered in cheese.
The very next day a different group of friends came to my house for lunch, celebrating Kele’s 65th birthday. For years, we’ve enjoyed monthly restaurant outings, but at a recent celebration, I said “Next month’s at my house.” We’ll celebrate Kele’s birthday with a salad bar.” Kele’s face went pale. “I’m a carnivore,” she said, horrified. “Salad bar?”
I should have known, Kele’s the steak-and-lobster-girl at restaurants. So, that day at my house, we had shrimp, spicy fish, roast beef, and fried chicken surrounded by salad fixings, bread and crackers, and we would have had cheese except that I forgot to serve it. For dessert, I made Duke’s Hula pie, Kele’s favorite.
Returning to Zeke’s request that I write about healthy food: Zeke’s creations win, hands down. The combination of straight-from-the garden vegetables, prepared with originality and considerable skill, included all the colors in the veggie color wheel, chock-full of vitamins, little oil or sugar. Healthy!
Zeke’s steak probably ties for last place with my meaty salad bar including the Hula pie with its chocolate cookie crumb/butter crust, vanilla ice cream, macadamia nuts, hot buttery chocolate sauce and whipped cream.
Now let’s look at what the experts call healthy eating.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The American Heart Association, put fruits and vegetables right on top of the list. Eat from Zeke’s garden and you can skip the vitamin pill.
The Heart Association also recommends:
- -whole grains
- -beans and legumes
- -nuts and seeds
- -fish, skinless poultry, plant based alternatives
- -low fat dairy
- -healthier fats such as olive oil
OK, the above list is “healthy eating.” But eating is more than nutrition.
Floating out of Pam and Zeke’s, I was high on good company, exquisite cuisine prepared with culinary artistry and served in enchanting surrounds. I drove home feeling light, cherished, elated.
Lunch at my house was a vegetarian/carnivore synthesis including the birthday girl’s favorite dessert. Friends tasted my garden tomatoes and cucumber, cleaned up the meat offerings, and had a slice of Hula pie. I loved having friends at my house and hope they left, high on good company, satisfying food and welcoming surroundings. I lumbered about kitchen-clean-up, bloated and happy.
So, right here, I want to make a policy statement. Feasting has ancient roots in sharing love. Feeling celebrated, included and treasured, nourishes people beyond calorie count and food pyramid.
Now happily back to my habitual healthy fare: whole grains, vegetables and fresh fruit, with some fish thrown in. If you add occasional feasts with friends/family—You have true healthy eating, Zeke.
Carrie Luger Slayback, retired after 40 years teaching, now writes about running, health, and fitness from a carefully researched personal perspective.