It was exactly this dilemma that spurred successful Ottawa cookbook author and professional home economist Ellie Topp to create Fresh and Healthy Cooking for Two. Along with dietician, Marilyn Booth, these two kitchen wizards have come up with a collection of tasty and quick dishes, which emphasize the importance of balanced nutrition.
“I suspect that while many people know about Canada’s Food Guide, few pay much attention to the recommendations or understand the reasoning behind them,” said Ellie. “That’s why we spent a lot of effort on the introduction to the book, looking at the different food groups and why these foods are important to our health.”
The book showcases less-familiar ingredients such as rapini, kale and lentils. “There are a lot of interesting (and tasty) foods that people generally do not use because they don’t know what to do with them. It is only relatively recent that supermarkets have offered a greater variety of foods, especially all the different veggies,” explained Ellie.
“Many of these are quite tasty and offer delicious alternatives to the more familiar ones; making everyday meals much more interesting will hopefully entice people to eat lots of vegetables, fruits and whole grains.”
I’m looking forward to meeting this dynamic duo Saturday, October 27 when they appear at Thyme & Again Creative Catering for a book signing and food tasting event. Who knows – maybe they can even persuade me to start include a few of my unfavourite vegetables – lima beans and Brussels sprouts – in some of my fall cooking!
