Clean Eating March 2014

Clean Eating Fans Have Spoken What’s your most unusual way to use your slow cooker? “Bake potatoes in it – that surprises folks. And cook dried beans in it. Great method! I have a chicken carcass simmering now, making chicken stock." –Ann Rubin “I love making yogurt in my slow cooker." –Julie Atkins “I make cakes and desserts in my crock pot!” –Rebekah L “I use mine to cook artichokes. The slow cooker doesn’t heat up the house like an oven – so it’s ideal for summer evening meals.” –Ray Naftzger “I made homemade turkey stock this past weekend! So simple and delicious!" –Suzy Bowman Johnstone…

The soul of clean eating is consuming food in its most natural state, or as close to it as possible. It is not a diet; it’s a lifestyle approach to food and its preparation, leading to an improved life – one meal at a time. Eat five to six times a day – three meals and two to three small snacks. Include a lean protein, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and a complex carbohydrate with each meal. This keeps your body energized and burning calories efficiently all day long. Choose organic whenever possible. If your budget limits you, make meat, eggs, dairy and the Dirty Dozen (ewg.org/foodnews) your organic priorities. Drink at least two liters of water a day – preferably from a reusable canteen, not plastic; we’re friends of the environment here!…

We slowly veered back from simple starches in favor of more nutrient-dense grains such as teff, farro, millet, amaranth and sorghum (you’ve gotta try these!). We vowed to eat salads again, but refused to suffer through boring bowls of simple greens topped with typical garden-salad veggies, so we approached our Resident Chef Joanne Lusted to create big, bold and wildly creative meal-worthy salads (p. 62) that would blow us away – and they did! Our Food Editor Andrea Gourgy taught us how to make our own creamy nut milk (p. 58), and we were completely surprised by how incredibly easy it was (and how saying “nut bag” in the office never failed to bring out the five-year-old boy in all of us!). For a light and energizing start to the day, a…

daphne oz TV COHOST/AUTHOR, NEW YORK CITY, NY Daphne Oz, cohost of The Chew, says her favorite clean foods include asparagus, raspberries and rhubarb. “I make delicious pasta and grain salads with fresh asparagus, and I have started experimenting with compotes and jams with rhubarb and raspberries.” Find out Oz’s healthy-eating tips and tricks in "Cooking With" (p. 32). ashley souter GRAPHIC DESIGNER, MILTON, ON Joining the Clean Eating team from sister publication Oxygen, Ashley Souter is a health-and-fitness enthusiast whose hobbies include running and cooking. “Some of my best meals have been salads,” she says. “You can put anything into a salad and make it different every day.” ted gibson PHOTOGRAPHER, TORONTO, ON Although Ted Gibson’s work has been featured in magazines, menus and commericals, photos and videos aren’t the only things he shoots. In his spare…

Q: Recently, several of my friends have started to eat a gluten-free diet, even if they aren’t sensitive to gluten. What are your views on a gluten-free diet – should I be eliminating gluten for health reasons? – Sara Bailey, SAN FRANCISCO, CA A: It does seem that “gluten-free” is all the rage these days. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of confusion about gluten and health. Gluten (the protein found in grains such as wheat, rye and barley) is problematic for people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity as it damages their immune systems and causes inflammation. But for people who do not have either of these conditions, gluten-containing whole grains are full of essential vitamins and minerals and should be a part of your clean-eating lifestyle. These grains are important sources of…

FRESH LOOK What I especially liked about the Winter’s Best Dishes issue was the price, the lack of ads and that it was not "bombarded" with Christmas recipes. The pictures of the dishes looked very fresh and delicious. The first recipe I’m going to make is the Roasted Chicken & Quinoa Cobb Salad with Goat Cheese (p. 83). Thank you, Clean Eating! – Ellen Guill, Albuquerque, NM LETTER OF THE MONTH NEW YEAR, NEW HABITS I’m trying to get rid of the eating habits I grew up with, but have been struggling to come up with tasty recipes that don’t include gobs of junk. I found an excellent assortment of doable recipes in the January/February 2014 issue of Clean Eating that I’m excited to try, and it doesn’t seem like I have to give up…