Teaching kids to eat and drink healthfully requires much more than admonitions. After carting away the vending machines and abolishing the Big Gulps, we can’t leave the kids empty-handed. Rachelle Boucher from Generation Chefs is working hard to fill the void. From the popular Pizza Smack-Downs at COPIA to her weekly cooking classes (free to high school students) in the beautifully outfitted kitchen at the Marin Youth Center (MYC a.k.a. “Mike”) she’s bringing fresh, whole, homemade food generously flavored with reaffirming messages and lots of common sense to a wide and diverse group of kids.


A visit to one of her cooking classes reveals her consummate skill in converting teens to the cause of healthy eating. Endowed with humor, warmth, and endless energy, she’s a master of choreographing 25 wary bundles of apathy and hormones into productive teams of excited, skilled, fruit-and vegetable-loving cooks.

Rachelle hefts up 20 pounds of refined sugar so the kids can see how much the average American teenager consumes every six weeks.

Her class this past week highlighted our favorite fruit of the season–strawberries–along with one very shiny, red bike blender. The lesson for the day involved putting down sugary drinks and sipping fruit smoothies instead. In addition to fresh strawberries, melons, and bananas, the teen chefs could choose from a colorful array of juices, frozen fruit, yogurts, and natural flavorings. Most importantly, they learned that not a single grain of added sugar was needed to create a delicious drink.

A rainbow of sweet goodness just before the pedal action.

Mike Graham-Squire from the Youth Leadership Institute joined the class to show the teens how to select ingredients, calculate food costs, determine servings sizes and overall yield, and–most importantly of all–operate the bike blender. As representatives of schools and local community organizations, the kids were also learning how smoothies can be a healthful, interactive, and effective fundraising tool at large events.

From the Country of Marin’s Nutrition Wellness Program, nutritionist Ellen Szakal taught the class how to read product labels to determine the number of teaspoons of sugar in each serving. A chart listing their favorite snacks and a hands–on exercise counting out a disconcertingly large pile of sugar cubes helped them understand just how much unnecessary sugar they were consuming each day.

It’s a skill adults could use, too.

Calculating How Much Sugar Is In A Container
Looking at the Nutrition Facts label on the side of the package, find the number of grams of sugar. Then divide that number by 4. For example, ingesting 65 grams of sugar in a 20-ounce drink bottle (considered 1 serving) means swallowing 17 individual teaspoons of sugar.

So much youthful energy, it takes extra hands to hold the jar still.

Berkeley-based Juice Peddler sells kits for retrofitting bikes to become human-powered blenders. From the first-generation’s endearingly clunky tricycle platform and antique hand-drill to the fifth-generation’s sleek, high-density polyethylene design, the company has been at the forefront of DIY bike blender technology.

The kids took turns pedaling their fruit concoctions and proudly shared tastes of their icy treats with other teams. Lined up for judging, the smoothies created a rainbow of delicious fun: Monkey Melons, Fruit-A-Palooza, Pink Panther, Go Mango, Fruit-A-Licious, and Pink-A-Licous Strawberry.

I’m glad I didn’t have to judge, as it would have been a tough call to pick just one winner.

Sammy and Brittney confer on the formulation of their team’s smoothie.

Pinkalicious Strawberry Smoothie
The members of Team Pinkalicious decided to celebrate the happy coincidence of their clothing colors with an appropriately hued smoothie.

Serves: 6

Ingredients
10 ounces strawberries, hulled
1 banana, chopped
1 cup frozen berry medley
1/2 cup yogurt
1/4 cup orange mango juice concentrate

Preparation
1. Place all ingredients in the jar of a blender.
2. Blend until completely mixed.
3. Serve immediately.

Minted Strawberry Agua Fresca
Another excellent recipe from Generation Chefs that highlights the current season’s bumper crop.

Serves: 6

Ingredients
2 cups ice cubes
3 cups strawberries, hulled
2 small mint leaves, optional
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
6 whole strawberries, split 3/4 up from the point, for garnish
6 mint sprigs, for garnish

Preparation
1. Place all ingredients in a blender in the order listed.
2. Blend until completely mixed. Taste and adjust for sweetness or tartness as desired.
3. Pour into chilled glasses, garnish with mint sprigs, and slide a berry onto the rim of each glass.

Not so long ago it was believed that low-fat diets were the way to go. It seemed if you could just cut out the fat, you could lose weight and be healthy. But nutrition is science and science changes with the times. Fat is no longer vilified. Though for a while, carbohydrates were the enemy.

Today nutritionists tell us there are “good fats” and “bad fats.” Bad fats are saturated and trans fats and good fats are omega-3 fatty acids, polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats. And carbohydrates? It turns out there are good carbs too, such as the complex carbohydrates found in whole grains, as well as in many vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

The very concept of dieting has changed too. There is less emphasis on going on diets and more emphasis on changing our diets, changing what and how we eat. So now might be as good a time as any to throw away those old diet cookbooks and consider something new.

The Betty Crocker Cookbook, Heart Health Edition has over 1400 recipes, cooking tips and hints, and an introductory section on heart health. Like other Betty Crocker cookbooks, the recipes do not use Betty Crocker products. Nothing is off limits and there are recipes for dishes like Scrambled Eggs, Lemon Chicken with Grilled Fennel and Onions and Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce. Not all recipes are heart healthy, but moderation is the name of the game and nothing is off limits. Each recipe has a detailed nutritional breakdown and many have suggestions for how to make substitutions to make the dishes healthier.

I was particularly impressed with the number of recipes using whole grains like quinoa, barley and wheat berries. It’s a good all-around basic cookbook with a balanced approach towards nutrition. The book is spiral bound, making it easy to use in the kitchen.

The Weight Watchers All Time Favorites cookbook is also spiral bound and the recipes also have nutritional information. Following the Weight Watchers system, each recipe has “points” assigned to it. There are 200 recipes and they range from Shrimp and Sausage Paella to Warm Chile Spiced Edamame to Pomegranate and Star Anise Poached Grapefruit.

Honestly, I was quite surprised to see how sophisticated many of the recipes are. Missing are any detailed sections on health or cooking tips, and some of the recipes are not exactly gourmet such as Barbecue-sauced Sloppy Joes, also I would have liked more recipes using whole grains, but all in all, the cookbook lives up to it’s name. There are plenty of appealing recipes and they are all healthy to boot.

The Culinary Institute of America recently published the third edition of Techniques of Healthy Cooking. It’s a massive tome, almost 600 pages long and provides a broad overview of nutritional basics such as current dietary guidelines, recipes planning, and recommendations for minimizing fat, salt, sugar and even alcohol in recipes. There are nearly 150 photographs and over 400 recipes, which yield between ten and twenty servings.

Not only is this a book for professional chefs but the recipes sound more like what you might find in a restaurant than a hospital dining room. Some examples include Grilled Veal with Blackberries and Vanilla, Rabbit and Oyster Etouffee, Duck Breast Crepinette, and Strawberry and Rhubarb Strudel. You can see excerpts from the book here.

I was curious how a culinary school might address nutrition, so I got in touch with Certified Executive Chef Eve Felder, Associate Dean for Culinary Arts at The Culinary Institute of America.

Felder has been a chef at Chez Panisse Cafe in Berkeley and has held just about every other role in the kitchen from Pastry Line Cook at the Quilted Giraffe in New York to Executive Chef at V. Mertz Restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska. She has traveled throughout Europe, the Far East, and North Africa studying the historical connection between the culinary traditions and agricultural practices of different cultures. She also won the first ever educator of the year award from Women Chefs and Restauranteurs, just last year.

Are healthy cooking techniques generally part of a CIA education?
Yes, The Culinary Institute of America approaches healthy food from various perspectives. The first is from the standpoint of ingredients. Are the ingredients sound? Are they seasonal? Have they been treated with care in terms of growing, receiving  and preparing them for a meal.

The second is from the perspective of deliciousness. What do we do to ensure that a meal is delicious and healthy? What techniques can we use in cooking to enhance flavor? What ingredients from the global pantry are healthy and at the same time delicious?

Third, what is the responsibility, as a professional in the food service industry, to provide food that is healthy and good for you? This is much more of a philosophical discussion that we address not only in the college’s kitchen and bakeshop classes but in our academic classes as well. Students at the CIA will ultimately be the leaders of the food service industry need to think about their social responsibilities.

What prompted the CIA to revise this book now?
The college’s commitment to leading and providing the industry with a text that will elevate the way in which we think about food.

How is this book different from all the other healthy eating books out in the market?
All of The Culinary Institute of America’s texts are written to address the needs of the chef, maitre d’ and leaders in the foodservice business. The CIA’s audience is not only the professional, but also food afficionados who have a curiosity that goes beyond simple recipes.

Chefs don’t often have the healthiest diet, in part because of their career. Any tips specifically for chefs trying to live a more healthy lifestyle?
Come to the CIA! We not only address healthy cuisine in our curriculum but have a 52,000-square-foot recreation center.

Seriously, there are health liabilities to being a chef and it is vitally important that we embrace a balanced life that includes a commitment to exercising, reasonable work hours, and being aware of the long term consequences of eating poorly. Eating healthy is part of the discipline of cooking.

Usually, people have come to cooking because they have a passion for sharing the table and food. Once we’ve become a chef we have to reach back to what it means to sit down, enjoy a meal and enjoy the company of people.

I have always been a snacker. When I was a kid, I preferred white bread spread with cold butter and folded in half, or an oatmeal creme pie. In high school, my snack varied according to whether or not I was on a diet; when I was, I munched Wheat Thins and grapes, and when I wasn’t, I was partial to eating ice cream cakes right out of the box. Regardless of the menu, though, I always had a snack between lunch and dinner.

Now that I am older and my metabolism no longer operates at the speed of light, I am constantly looking for healthy alternatives. I’ve tried foregoing the afternoon snack altogether, but it’s impossible. Like a newborn baby, I simply cannot go for more than a few hours without eating.

Over the years, I’ve thought a lot about what constitutes the perfect snack. I’ve whittled down the list to four key components:
1. Tastes great.
2. Fills you up.
3. Takes a long time to eat.
4. Salty, not sweet.

Let’s examine these in reverse order.

Salty, not sweet. This criterion is self-explanatory. It just comes down to personal choice. If you want to get phreaked on a sugar high at three o’clock in the afternoon, knock yourself out.

Takes a long time to eat. I have read time and again that it takes 20 minutes for my brain to realize that my belly has had enough to eat. On top of that, I’m a supersonic eater. All together, that means that if my snack is a string cheese, it’s gone quicker than you can say mozzarella. When that happens, I have a choice: I can either spend the next 19 minutes listening to my tummy buckle and howl, or plant myself in front of the fridge and desperately shovel in anything that isn’t stuck to the shelf. That’s why it’s crucial that the snack eating itself can last a long time. That might mean a snack with lots of individual parts (popcorn) or one that demands constant reassembly (cheese and crackers).

Fills you up. The whole point of the snack in the first place is to keep me out of the kitchen until dinnertime, so it’s no good eating a handful of carrots or grapes (see also: face-stuffing fridge scenario, above). On the advice of my personal trainer, I started working in some fat or protein, and that helps a snack stick with me. So does eating triple-digit calories.

Tastes great. This is a snack’s most important quality. Healthy eating is all too often a sacrifice. Either you eat something delicious, but in such small quantities that it wouldn’t satisfy an anorexic celebutante, or you eat a lot of something that tastes like salted cardboard, minus the salt. Since I’m a girl who likes to have my cake and eat it too, when I find something tasty that doesn’t increase the likelihood that my thighs will be assigned their own zip code, I’m in heaven.

That’s why I was so delighted to discover popchips, a brand new chippy snack that is popped rather than fried or baked. It meets all of my criteria and then some. They start with potatoes, organic white corn, or brown rice and apply heat and pressure to “pop” the chips without any oil. The crunchy nibbles come in nine flavors like Parmesan garlic (potato), cheddar (corn), and sea salt (rice). Each bag is a good solid serving, enough so that I don’t have to resort to desperate measures like pouring the crumbs into my mouth or running a damp finger around the inside of the bag to snag every last flavor molecule. Each serving weighs in at 120 calories with half the fat of regular potato chips, and there isn’t a single gram of trans fat, saturated fat*, or cholesterol to be found. There are no fake colors, flavors, or preservatives, either. In fact, the ingredients in the sea salt corn chips, for example, are all things I can understand: organic white corn, safflower oil and/or sunflower oil, and sea salt.

The company sent me samples of each flavor and I’ve been working my way through them. So far my favorites are barbecue (potato) and salsa (corn). The only one that I don’t care for is wasabi (rice). I’m just not a big wasabi-lover, unless it’s the real deal. But the others are compulsively delicious, with just the right amount of flavor locked into every crevice and cranny.

Is it snack time yet?

popchips are available at Bristol Farms, Mollie Stone’s, Safeway, and online through Amazon.com

*Except in the cheddar corn chips, because they use real cheese and real cheese has trace amounts of saturated fats.