Welcome to 2010.
To begin this new year with a healthy start, I am excited to embrace a new cookbook in our collection. This year for my birthday I received a copy of Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. Like many others, I hope to improve my health this year by eating more nutritious foods. Almost a cult classic, Fallon’s cookbook is the one to have if you are ready to challenge the mainstream interpretations of nutrition. You may have begun this journey if you read Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: And Eater’s Manifesto. While this relatively short book examines the history of nutritionism in America, Pollan also argues that we must revert to a more simple and wholesome diet – one consisting of more whole foods and pastured animal meat. To meet this goal, I highly suggest Fallon’s cookbook. It is the cornerstone of revitalizing traditional foods in the modern home.
What originally drew me to this book was her writing on animal fats. Contradicting every “health eating” article, report or societal advice I had heard, Fallon argues that cholesterol and animal fats are not the enemy. Instead, butter, cream, cheese, organ meat, eggs and raw milk are nutrient-dense and good for you! (Note: To attain these nutrients one must consume fat from animals that are raised on pasture, eating what is natural for them.) Her ideas are grounded in the research of Weston Price, a dentist who traveled around the world studying the diets of non-industrialized people. His finding were both controversial and significant to the understanding modern disease. (See a previous post on this specific topic.)
The Weston Price Foundation website is an excellent resource to learn more about these ideas and if interested, ways to get involved in the ‘movement.’ Although I am not an official member of WPF, I do advocate their ideas (i.e. this entry.) Once I tackle the 70 page introduction of the book, I’m sure I will have much more to say on her dietary suggestions. That said, I have already prepared one of the recipes – a winter root vegetable soup – and it was awesome! I think it may have been one of the best soups I’ve ever made. When I make it again (in a couple weeks) I will definitely post the recipe with some pictures.
If you haven’t guessed already, I mention all of this info because this week I will be making another recipe from her book. Because I value her philosophy and am intrigued by the nutritional benefits of her recipes, I find myself drawn to the prospect of preparing many, but not necessarily all of the recipes in this book. This week I’ll make my second Nourishing Traditions recipe. Again a soup. The plan is as follows:
- Roasted chicken with steamed broccoli and carrot/parsnip puree
- Lamb shepherd’s pie
- Vegetable curry with rice
- Chicken and rice soup
A couple comments on this list: The curry is a spin-off of a Bittman idea I prepared after Thanksgiving; instead of turkey curry, I’ll make some vegetable curry. The soup is from Fallon’s repertoire and I will use some stock I made this week for the broth. One lesson we’ve learned from these menus I write is the potential for leftovers. I’m rather certain we will have lots of leftovers this week and so I am leaving one night open to those; and another night we’ll have a potluck (TBA on our dish though) So I think a 4-dish menu is quite reasonable.
Overall I think this will be a great start to the new year. I definitely look forward to a nutrient-dense year of local, seasonal, homemade eating!
Related posts:
- Mixed Up in the Head (or) Thank You Dear Library (weekly menu 10)
- The Pains of Eliminating (weekly menu 19)
- The Recipe vs. Spontaneity (weekly menu 11)
- New York, New York (weekly menu 1)
- A Fresh Perspective (weekly menu 20)
Tags: Grass-Fed, Mark Bittman, Michael Pollan, Nutrition, Soup, weekly menu