Books: What I Eat / The Leon cookbook
I recently came across a wonderful tome called What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets
In it, the authors have documented what people around the world consume in a day.
The first thing I loved about it were the photographs: each subject was captured at work, at home or wherever they seem to eat, surrounded by a day’s worth of food.
Then came the table of contents: divided by caloric intake, it is incredible to see the difference between the 800 calorie diet in Kenya as compared to the British housewife who consumes an average of 12300 calories a day.
As I paged through, I realized that although I often work with food diaries, and talk about food with almost everyone I encounter, even I am rarely privy to that kind of detail.
In our diet-obsessed culture, we focus on quantities and in-versus-out; we read up on what’s being touted as “healthy” this week and attempt restriction in many forms. But really, how often do we stop and think about what it is that we’re eating, the nourishment that we’re getting and what an incredible thing it is to be able to eat without giving it a second thought?
What was amazing to me was how many of the cultures I can dip in to without having to travel to the places where some of these people were photographed. In New York, London, Los Angeles, almost every cuisine in the world can be found – incredible!!!
I’m not going to give you the whole “there are children starving…” lecture, but I do want to say this: next time you start getting down about food or how much you weigh or worrying about having enough variation, why not be grateful instead? Because we are do so lucky to be able to choose how we are going to nourish ourselves. And that choice, my friends, is up to each one of us.
And sticking to the theme of books (it is, after all back-to-school month), I have some really exciting news: three recipes of mine are being featured in Leon Book 2, Naturally Fast Food
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Leon restaurants, it is a chain in the UK that prides itself on offering healthy, fresh meals fast.
Last November, I invited the owners, round for a raw feast. I knew when I caught them sticking their fingers into dishes for one more taste that they had enjoyed their meal. Happily, they asked me to contribute some of the recipes of the food they had eaten to their upcoming book. And I, of course, said YES!
So check out my green smoothie recipe on page 41 and the four pages devoted to the meal that include two more fabulous recipes that are always a hit (pages 152 - 155).
Though I am not a raw foodist – or, for that matter, an anything-ist – I am pretty partial to the amazing versatility that playing with food in its most raw state allows. It’s fun, gorgeous and absolutely delicious when made right.
With love,
Gabriela
P.S. As of this week, On Life As A Picky Foodie has become a blog! Though you will still be getting this weekly newsletter, you can also now check for more regular updates: I will be posting interesting articles that I find, thoughts, events and more.
check out the fascinating article from Mother Jones Magazine about toxicity in seafood
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