Healthful Bites

Today’s good for you eats post is a little different from the norm, but it’s still food-related so I figured it fit the theme. Hope that’s OK with you! :)

After seeing reviews of “Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life,” across the Internet and in various magazines, I mentioned my interest in reading it to my Twitter friends. I suggested a potential Twitter book club for those who were interested, and my new friend JessaLynne and I took off on our reading adventure.  It sounds like Eating Bender Jenn may be reading and discussing with us as well! I finished the book yesterday (it’s a quick read), but I’d love to invite you to join us all as we discuss.

 (Image from KimSeverson.com)

As a quick overview, this foodie memoir explains many life experiences of Kim Severson, current food writer for The New York Times. Readers follow Kim through her struggles with alcoholism (and subsequent battle for mental health) and also join her on several meetings with the world’s greatest female chefs. We meet the likes of Alice Waters, a local food queen, and learn more about Rachael Ray before she became the media juggernaut she is today. All of these stories intertwine to tell a tale about a woman’s life and what she learns about herself and the world around her in the kitchen. Readers also learn a bit about the current restaurant landscape and food system, and how that affects our well-being.

I, for one, would love to learn more about you and hear your thoughts about this book. Please comment on this post it you’d like to participate! Perhaps we can find a different venue that allows all to take part if we have interest from non-Tweeters ;) So what do you think? Are you in?

On a related note, I’d like to leave you with a fun recipe from my girl Rach (you know, we’re like buddies—well not quite yet—but I do see her quite a bit online, on TV and read about her in the book)! Anyways, Ms. Ray is great at writing simple recipes and since every chapter of “Spoon Fed” ends with a recipe, why not have this post end with one? I haven’t tried this particular recipe out yet, but posting it here means that it’s super easy to find and I’ll put it on my to-do list. Perhaps you could give it a go and let me know what you think?

Cheeseless Quesadillas (from Rachael Ray’s wonderful Yum-O organization, modified for a smaller crowd and with ingredients I’d likely have on hand)

 (Image from Rachael Ray Show)

• 4 La Tortilla Factory large whole wheat tortillas (or other high fiber whole wheat wrap)
• 1/2 cup hummus from the grocery store 
• 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1 1/2 roasted red peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped into small pieces
• 3/4 cup spinach, romaine or green leaf lettuce, chopped
• Juice from 1/2 of a lime
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Put tortillas in a dry pan to warm/char. Spread hummus on two of the tortillas. Evenly distribute the veggies on top of the hummus and top with lime juice, salt and pepper. Place the other two tortillas on top of the hummus-ified two and cut each round into four, six or eight pieces. Chow down!