5 Healthy New Year Resolution Ideas from a French Chef

From my little part of the world to everyone everywhere, I wish you a Wonderful, Happy and Healthy New Year.

 

I’m limiting my New Year’s resolutions this year, working on a short list, one that’s doable and realistic.
One thing I’d like to look into more this year though, is the fascination and passion for French cuisine. Madeleine Montebert, blogger, chef and owner of Cooking in Provence is a health conscious lady, a great source of inspiration for me in 2013.

I asked Madeleine what she’d like to see more of in 2014.

This is what she said:
More than anything I’d like to see everyone making an effort to eat better – to eat healthier, -- to get greater pleasure from eating. Keeping it simple is key.

Cook with your children and start getting them involved and interested in food at an early age. Try out new recipes together; at least you can have a laugh if it doesn’t turn out right. And they’ll thank you later once they realize you’ve put them on the right track.

 

Personalize your home cooking. One example is to introduce your own flavors in the kitchen, for example in your oils -- easy to make and wonderful to use to get fancy results. All you need are spices (like saffron or pepper), or nuts or aromatics or even sliced truffles which you can add to your oil and sealing the bottle or jar as you would for jam. Make small quantities so that you don’t have  to worry about shell life.

 

For New Year Resolutions, it is often suggested learning something new.  Why not learn about seasonal products? Get to know your local food producers, growers and farmers: talk to them, get them to share their ideas and knowledge and   come away with new inspiring ways to cook new dishes!

 

A resolution is a goal you can work at every single day for the entire year: go for bright and easy homemade food.  You can start with the classic French “vinaigrette” and substitute ingredients to get new flavors or lighter dressings.

 

The classic vinaigrette: stir 1 teaspoonful of Dijon mustard with 1 tablespoonful of red wine vinegar and salt. Add 3 tablespoonfuls of oil (preferably olive oil) and add pepper. For a lighter version you can substitute lemon juice for vinegar and yogurt for olive oil.

 

Take a tip from the French and drink less alcohol: One way to do this is to get interested in wine. Start with grape varieties and wine types, then progress to handling, storing and tasting. You’ll pay much more attention to what you drink, your friends will be impressed and you’ll recognize the subtleties of flavor.

                                                   The end result? You’ll drink less!

 

                                                

 

 This list of tips isn’t too challenging and should be easy to put into practice wherever you might be in the world. I wonder how many of you will start with the last one?

 

 www.cookinginprovence.fr/