Category Archives: Health/Nutrition

Lighten the Load, Part III: Creamy Pasta with Smoked Salmon, Arugula, Peas, and Lemon

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A creamy, delicious pasta without the guilt.
A creamy, delicious pasta without the guilt.

A creamy, decadent tasting pasta that can be considered light?

You bet. In more ways than one, too.

That’s because “Creamy Pasta with Smoked Salmon, Arugula, Peas, and Lemon” gets its luxurious body not from heavy cream, but from full-fat Greek yogurt. That means not only fewer calories and less fat, but a lot more protein.

Even more of a selling point is the fact that it takes all of 15 minutes to put together.

That’s because it’s a no-cook sauce, which makes it ideal to make whenever you’re pressed for time. Or in the heat of summer when that last thing you want is heat up the stove or oven for long.

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A Visit to Cafe Vivant — Where the Chickens Come Home to Roast

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The roasted Pescadero Red chicken at Cafe Vivant.
The roasted Pescadero Red chicken at Cafe Vivant.

When my husband told a friend at the gym that he was going to dinner at a restaurant where a whole chicken costs more than $100, the response was:

“What?!? Does it lay golden eggs?”

Not quite.

But Cafe Vivant, which opened in late October in downtown Menlo Park, is definitely not your average fast-casual rotisserie or fried chicken joint.

Instead, this unique upscale restaurant specializes in heritage-breed poultry. If you remember decades ago when heritage turkeys started to be all the rage, despite a price tag multiple times larger than your average Butterball, then you get the gist of how these chickens differ.

These breeds, which existed before chickens became an industrial commodity, take longer to raise, are harvested when they are older, and not surprisingly, are in much smaller supplies. The results are chickens raised more purely, with more pronounced flavor and texture.

The upscale restaurant opened in Menlo Park at the end of October.
The upscale restaurant opened in Menlo Park at the end of October.
The striking dining room.
The striking dining room.

The restaurant is owned by revered sommeliers Jason Jacobeit and Daniel Jung, who also run Somm Cellars in New York City, which specializes in rare and collectible wines. They have partnered with farmer Rob James of Corvus Farm in Pescadero, who raises a couple of the specialty breeds.

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Get to Know Olio Piro, Producer of Tuscan Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

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An exceptional Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil that enhances most anything.
An exceptional Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil that enhances most anything.

You know if a legendary Michelin three-starred restaurant like Eleven Madison Park in New York is a fan, then it’s got to have it going on.

Olio Piro certainly does.

Brother and sister, Romain Piro and Marie-Charlotte Piro, launched the Miami-based extra virgin olive oil company in 2020, cold-pressing a blend of olives from 300-year-old trees in Southern Tuscany.

The olives are pressed within hours of harvest. But what makes their olive oil unique is that it is filtered three times — not the standard once or twice — to remove sediment and particles that may cause the oil to turn rancid over time. The company does so with a proprietary vertical pressure filter system originally developed for making wine.

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Spice Up Your Day — Everiday

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Everiday Garlic Chili Oil revs up a grilled cheese.
Everiday Garlic Chili Oil revs up a grilled cheese.

If you’ve jumped on the Asian chili sauce bandwagon — and who hasn’t at this point? — you’ll want to add another label to your arsenal.

Everiday Foods serves up a line of four different Asian chili sauces, each with a slightly different taste profile, and enough heat to really jolt the palate yet not incinerate it.

The Singapore company was founded by Riyana Rupani, who gave up a career in corporate finance to become a certified nutritionist after experiencing her own autoimmune issues.

With her quest for clean eating, the sauces are all made with extra-virgin olive oil, as well as additions including pitted dates, garlic, dried chili, and other seasonings,. They all are also vegan, and gluten-free.

Four varieties.
Four varieties.

I had an opportunity to try samples of the Garlic Chili Oil, Mala Chili Crisp, House Red Chili Sauce, and Sambal.

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Get Saucy — No Matter Your Dietary Restrictions

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I used Get Saucy's Tikka Masala on shrimp and asparagus.
I used Get Saucy’s Tikka Masala on shrimp and asparagus.

After being diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in 2018, Brian Bentow went on a low-inflammation elimination diet and became symptom-free without the need for medication.

However, he began to miss certain favorite foods, especially ones with global flavors. So he joined with Chef Suhan Lee, a Marine veteran who went to culinary school after he developed IBS symptoms following antibiotic treatments when he was injured in Iraq.

Together, they have created Get Saucy, a ready-to-cook line of sauces made with organic and non-GMO ingredients. Free of the top nine allergens (milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame), Get Saucy follows in accordance with paleo, autoimmune protocol, low inflammation, and gluten-free diets.

While a number of sauces are in the pipeline, the first one to debut is Tikka Masala, which is available in a three-pack of 16-ounce jars on the Get Saucy website for $45. I had a chance to try a sample recently.

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