Last night, I decided what to make for dinner — I was determined to make something healthy and vegetarian — but couldn’t plunge into the chopping and mixing right away. I had to wait a little while for my husband to pick up the remaining ingredients on his way home from work. During this time, I had this feeling. I probed my emotions for a little while, and finally figured out what it was: fear. My name is Pamela and I’m afraid of healthy food.
It’s not so much the food itself that I’m afraid of. It’s what it means. Following, some myths I tell myself:
- Healthy food doesn’t taste good. Deep down, I am sure of this. I see people rave on blogs about delicious salads or amazing vegan dishes, and I just don’t believe it. I gravitate instead toward those praising bacon, creamy custardy desserts or exotic cheeses. Them’s my people. And, these days, I not only have to cook for myself, but I have to satisfy my husband and entice my kids to eat my cooking. Why take a risk by making something healthy?
- Healthy food is for health nuts and naturally-skinny people. Girl’s Gone Child has this section on her site called Eat Well and it’s filled with praise for vegetables and quinoa. Sure, that’s fine for her. She lives in Southern California and is gorgeous. I’m more the comfort food type.
- Healthy food isn’t satisfying. If I eat something healthy — especially vegetarian — I’ll just be hungry again in a few minutes.
- I don’t really know how to cook healthy food. I’m a pretty decent cook, but vegetables just aren’t in my wheelhouse, y’know?
- Eating healthy food means I’m on a diet. Because why else would someone want to eat healthfully, when it tastes so terrible?
When I write it all out like this, it seems really silly. Because you know what happened? Despite a previous bad experience with bitter quinoa, this time, everything turned out beautifully… and really delicious. By really, I mean genuinely tasty, and not just delicious for something healthy. Today, I eagerly ate leftovers for lunch. I was thrilled and wanted to shout it to the world — which is what I’m doing now. I think I’m going to cook healthy more often.
What about you? Do you have pre-conceived ideas about eating healthfully?
How could you write this post without a link to the recipe? I have quinoa in my pantry waiting for a recipe! Oh, and by the way, did you know your blog has ads on it for chicken coops and henhouses? LOL…must be the name!
Funny about the ads! I will send you the recipe. I got it through a subscription service (http://www.thescramble.com) so the recipe isn’t available to the public, hence, no link. I know recipes aren’t copyrightable, but I felt a little odd about reprinting it entirely, because I want to support The Scramble business. Y’know?
Man, I could have a 2 hour conversation with you about “healthy” foods. I am fortunate that my body naturally craves veggies relatively often. I am also fortunate to have grown up with French food, using abundantly the magical ingredient that is olive oil. I find that drizzling olive oil on veggies cooked pretty much any way (steamed, pan fried, even boiled) with a bit of sea salt and pepper, makes everything taste so yummy.
My personal super easy favorites are:
– Steamed mixed veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, peas, green beans, etc…) over couscous, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper.
– Good tomatoes (heirlooms if possible) sliced over a bed of lettuce (often butter lettuce), fresh basil, cheese (fresh mozzarella, sharp cheddar or aged gouda), avocado and again, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. Delicious.
I used to make both of these at the office quite often and people would look at my plate saying : “Mmmm looks so healthy!” I think what they really meant was: “Mmmm it looks so yummy” and it just happens to be healthy.
Cudos for venturing into possible bland land and discovering it’s not true 🙂
Yeah, Stephanie, I think you hit on it when you mentioned growing up in France. Here, I honestly believe there’s something (maybe it’s all the marketing of sweets, yucky stuff, etc.) that makes people believe, deep down, that vegetables are not so yummy. People say “looks so healthy!” because they think that if it’s healthy, it can’t possibly be as good as something unhealthy. Perhaps I’m just projecting here, but I’m pretty sure it’s not just me. Another thing… people like me (with weight issues) were taught at one point to limit, if not eliminate completely, fats like olive oil. And, of course, when you prepare veggies with no olive oil, they aren’t nearly as delicious! Perhaps there are households in which this doesn’t occur — I hope mine becomes one of them — but my family growing up didn’t relish vegetables — at least I didn’t get that impression as a kid.
And, yes, the stuff you describe sounds AMAZING!!
So, I’m trying to get over all the American message, or maybe just Pamela message, that veggies are not good tasting, and learn that olive oil, end even butter, are just fine — no guilt, just vegetable-improving devices. Thanks for the encouragement and the ideas!