I am off sweets/ fruits for a little while for a reason related to my health & well-being. Naturally, during the day I wish I could have a date or a piece of dark chocolate or even a tangerine! Thankfully, I've strengthened my willpower muscle enough over the last couple of years that I can resist the temptations, but tonight's dinner made me realize something else.
Aran made a divine grass-fed burger (to which he mixed in aleppo pepper, a jalapeno and of course some salt and pepper). He laid it on a bed of beet greens that he sauteed in sherry vinegar and some-left over root veggies from last night. He completed this intense flavor profile with a spicy calabrian chili yogurt. I honestly didn't want the meal to end. I ate it as slowly as I could savoring every succulent mouthwatering bite. While I was washing the dishes he offered me a date. It typically would make me cringe knowing I can't have something I really want especially when someone is offering, but this time, somehow, it was much easier to turn it down. Perhaps it was my willpower, but perhaps the meal was so incredibly satisfying, that my psyche, brain, body, whatever is triggered by temptation wanted to keep luxuriating in the flavor complexity of the dish I just had.
I think there are studies that indicate we reach for sweets or simple carbs because we are not satisfied in other parts of our lives or we're stressed out. These sudden bursts of sugar in our bodies trigger a chemical reaction in our brains that gives us that much needed boost of stimulation. What if we can learn to cook (and lead our lives!) in a way that doesn't lead us to succumb to these habits of reaching for things so perfectly salty, sweet, and fatty that we cannot resist their temptation, and then end up suffering health consequences? What if we learn to cook (and again lead our lives!) in a way that truly satisfies us so that unhealthy, addictive food is not a constant substitute?
I dream of being able to make a difference in someone else's well-being by changing the way they look at food and everyday living, as much as this process of reading, experimentation, and curiosity about food and health has made in mine.
[Photo from a day trip to Governor's Island. Thos cocunuts were darn good and the left over coconut meat we blended into a delicious smoothie the next day!]
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