You’re the Boss!

I love to repost this message every so often especially around the holiday season. I find it empowering and I hope you will too!

You all know the “drill” about Cuisinicity: It is all about Love of gathering around a festive table; love of good food, and good health; love of our planet; it is about loving food that loves you back!

….of course those are not marching orders, it is just an invitation!

YOU are the boss! But for that to be true, you need to have choices. You need to be able to decide what dietary pattern best works for you and for your family.

The good news in that regard is that there isn’t  just one specific narrow diet that is known to be best for health, as my husband writes about all the time (here is an article he wrote in the Annual Reviews of Public Health, and here is another one he co-authored with Dr Frank Hu from the Harvard School of Public Health). Rather, there is a broad theme of optimal eating that is clearly best for health and best for the planet, but there are lots of different variations on that theme, so there are plenty of choices to accommodate everyone’s taste, preferences and heritage.

The common theme among all diets, be they vegan, vegetarian, paleo, pescatarian or omnivorous is very clear:   Lots of vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds and wholegrains. Ask anyone from the True Health Initiative–physicians, scientists, nutritionists, culinary chefs alike, from vegan to paleo: They all agree! 

The beauty of it is that, as long as these wholesome foods are a staple within your preferred diet–the theme– you are indeed the one to decide on the variation within that theme: if you prefer a healthy Mediterranean diet,  or prefer a healthy vegetarian or vegan diet, or a healthy American style diet, or any particular cuisine of any particular culture, you can pick and choose!

In our family, and therefore here at Cuisinicity, we have of course embraced that theme. In our case, it is more along the lines of Mediterranean cuisine because that is how I was brought up. That is part of who I am and my culture, and therefore what I love and prefer!

But there is no dogmatic focus on any one specific approach.  Cuisinicity represents  over 25 years of our lives and therefore it has evolved. Over the years, we have certainly shifted more to plant-based dishes because of concerns about the environment, so of course it is reflected in my more recent recipes.

There are so many choices within the theme of healthy eating, so much room for one’s personal preference, and that’s a beautiful thing!

So, in this post, I thought I’d showcase that diversity and reissue  the invitation for you to love the food that loves you back by reassembling a portfolio of wholesome dishes that you choose, just the way you love–be they vegan, or vegetarian, or gluten-free, with or without dairy or eggs, or with poultry, or with seafood, or with fish (you won’t find red meat because we just don’t eat it in our family), they all have that common theme of healthy eating: Lots of vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds and wholegrains.

The rest is up to you because…you’re the boss, and as they say in my part of the world….Vive la différence!

Bon appétit!