Nutritious Junk and Hungry Waif

Let’s talk food again!

Hungry Waif is the author of two great blogs: Nutritious Junk and This Waif Cooks. She is currently a student in culinary school and graciously allowed me to pick her brain about restaurants and food in general.

Here are a few key points from our conversation:

• at a restaurant, steamed veggies are usually not as healthy as we think. (sigh)
• making brownies with spinach and blueberry puree might be healthier for my kids, but it doesn’t help them in the long run.
• If I have a problem with my meal at a restaurant, I should send it back right away, not after I have eaten most of it!
• I learned a new favorite term for unhealthy food items: nutritionally void. Love it! Those Girl Scout cookies were definitely nutritionally void!
• others enjoy watching ‘Family Guy’ too!

Here is the full interview:

Q: What is your favorite healthy meal?

Hmm, its hard to choose a favorite, its like choosing a favorite child! well I love shrimp which are high in protein and fairly lean (although not great in cholesterol but hey its all about moderation)and I am a cereal fanatic and actually, my favorite ones are really high in fiber and healthy like Fiber One and Kashi Go Lean.

Q: How do you keep yourself from overeating all the delicious food items that you cook?

Well, when I first started culinary school, we learned very basic things like hollandaise and rice and such so I wasn’t really having trouble staying away from simple stuff like that. Now that I started making really beautiful danishes and pretzels in my baking class, I do taste my products (a good chef should taste everything he does) but I stress TASTE. Taste is not to devour the 24oz over sized croissant. I know some people can’t just have a few bites of delicious, rich food and set it down, but I can because if its good, a few bites will satisfy. I also go with my mantra that I never settle to eat less than great food, so if my food turn out not so good, I chuck it (or more often, give it away).

Q: When going out to a restaurant, what should I look for in terms of eating healthy? Are there any menu items that are deceptively unhealthy? (are those steamed veggies I get really steamed?)

For meats, look for the key word “loin”, like beef tenderloin or sirloin, or pork loin, both fairly lean cuts of meat that’s rich in iron, protein, and B vitamins. Sauces are a killer, all the sauces we’ve made are usually reduction of the fat from the main item, salt, wine (or some type of alcohol), and at the very end a mounting of butter for smoothness and shine. Doesn’t mean your dish needs to be naked but be wary not to drench your food in it. I hate it when people get all dolled up and shell out a lot to eat at a nice place and order a simple salad. Even if you like salad, you’re going out and should really order something special. Veggies usually are steamed but then tossed in butter and salt (every dish I’ve had to make in culinary school called for that step in preparing “steamed veggies”). I am not sure if all restaurants do this so it doesn’t hurt to ask. Of course stick to grilled, broiled, steamed, or poaches items and obviously, anything fried or even pan fried is bound to carry a halo of grease around it.

Q: I used to work at a chain restaurant and realized the grilled chicken was always “grilled” right next to the hamburgers, so it was absorbing a lot of beef fat. Is this the case in most restaurants?

Some, depending on the restaurant. Diners that serve a lot of burgers vs chicken might do this, but maybe more upscale places might have a separate “region” of the grill for chicken. However, if they are being sanitary, they should brush off the grill between items (the Hawaiians use half an onion for this method which is a great trick if you don’t want to re-oil the grill!)

Q: Veggies, how can I get more of them into my family!? What do you think of the books such as “Deceptively Delicious” and “The Sneaky Chef”, that use vegetable purees hidden in common foods?

Oh, I’ve posted about this on nutritious junk. I’ve flipped through both and it’s creative, I give them props for that and I think its a cool trick for adults to try, but not a good tool for “sneaking veggies” into your kids. What I love about kids is that their minds have so much room for development because they haven’t experienced as much as adults so it is a great time to introduce new flavors. I think if we just get rid of the “veggies are gross” stigma, kids realize they are indeed delicious. I don’t like lacing things into such naive people. Plus, they might get used to the idea that brownies are super healthy cause mommy’s always making me eat it, that they’ll go to the real world where brownies are made with trans fats instead of prune puree.

Q: As a chef, what is your biggest pet peeve about customers? (so I know not to do it in the future!)

Well I am not really a chef yet and I’ve never had a paying customer eat my food (although my sushi take-out place “pays” me in tuna rolls for my sourdough breads!). But I know my chef instructor told me that he’s totally fine when food gets sent back, but not when it is half eaten! I get that, so if you don’t like something, don’t decide after you finished half the plate before requesting something else.

Q: What food or type of food would you choose if calories and fat were not an issue?

Hmm, well most of the food I love is actually fairly healthy but I guess funnel cake with strawberries! yea, I think thats the most nutritionally void food I love.

Q: Are there any foods or meals that you have banned from your diet?

Well not really because I think banning, of any kind, only leaves you with a desire to rebel in the future. Moderation, as cliche and overused as it sounds, it a good mantra, and anyhow, I truly believe good quality food is not unhealthy. There is no “bad” or “good”, every food has its place some higher on the scale, some lower, some we should eat more often and some we should moderate. But I guess the one thing I really haven’t had in a while is real sugared soda. I think most people would agree with me that traditional HFCS sweetened soda is a highly empty calorie item.

Q: And one random question: what is your favorite TV show?

Man, well aside from going to culinary school, I am also an actress so I am quite the film and TV critic! I love seemingly “unscripted” shows like “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “The Office”. I don’t relish into reality TV too much but I love Top Chef (go figure) and Project Runway. but you know what, if I really had to narrow it down, it would be Family Guy. I know it is very “guy” sleaze humor, but I can’t sit through an episode with a straight face! I tried watching it once while I was working out on the treadmill and I just couldn’t do it ’cause I laughed so often!

Thanks Waif!

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