In her forthcoming book, Supermarket Healthy (Clarkson Potter, Dec.), Food Network personality Melissa d’Arabian shows home cooks how to make the most out of grocery store shopping. From the kitchen of her Coronado, Calif., home, d’Arabian, host of Ten Dollar Dinners, dished to PW about her new book, and offered advice on keeping holiday cooking affordable.
How are modern supermarkets responding to evolving dietary and culinary interests?
Supermarkets are responding to a shift in our awareness and desire to eat healthy. We’re realizing the most important decision we can make about our food is whether we make it. We’ve shifted from a world where we valued convenience above all else to a world where we value health above all. Not only do we have that desire to be healthy, but we also value being a good steward to our resources in a way that is sustainable. My first book [Ten Dollar Dinners, Clarkson Potter, 2012] dealt with affordability, but I wanted to now celebrate all the great accessible foods you can eat without breaking the bank or going to a specialty store. You really can do that at your local grocery store.
Why would people who are not necessarily on a budget also enjoy this cookbook?
We all want ideas about how to feed our family with simple dishes we can put together on a Tuesday night. The book is about the food we are making and putting into our bodies, that looks good and reflects creativity. It’s not a diet book but rather one celebrating fresh produce, vitamins, and complex carbs. For example, I’ve done makeovers of some classics, like tuna noodle casserole, by adding fiber with chickpeas. I’ve included a rich array of foods and tastes. There are some surprising recipes that will appeal to everybody and adapt to vegetarians or gluten-free members in the family. Yes, the recipes are budget-wise since they come from my kitchen, but I want people to spend smart and to spend with purpose.The value of this book is that is speaks to our health concerns.
Your book features Blueprints, a technique for healthy choices and creative cooking. How exactly do Blueprints work?
Recipes are designed to give people options and tend to be examples. When I cook, I see recipes as ideas. I don’t get bogged down by specifics. I’ve identified recipes that empower readers the most and turned them into blueprints offering strategies for cooks faced with what’s in the pantry and fridge. This “plug and play” formula lets cooks create their own version of a dish. I want readers to be rooted in the technique and show them how to change up protein or flavoring. If someone mastered these blueprints, their repertoire would go through the roof! The most important thing you can do to improve your cooking is to have few recipes in your hip pocket. Supermarket Healthy easily gives people that tool.
What advice do you have for families that want to cook together?
Cooking together is a source of joy and gets my kids interested in food. My biggest tip is to cook with kids when you have allotted time for it and you’re not on a deadline or simply trying to get a meal on the table, which can be a recipe for stress. Think of it as a family activity or craft. Start kids by giving them tasks you do not have to supervise, like drying washed kale. If they’re not skilled at cracking eggs, don’t give them that task. My kids help me all the time, and now I can just hand them a carton of eggs. They also do the breading station for chicken, make salad dressing, and help me get a meal on the table. All my recipes have some way to include kids—for example, scooping and mixing up a batch of trail mix is a good one to start with.
What tips do you have for keeping holiday dishes special and festive, but not pricey?
Fill up on what’s in season. Ignore stuff that is pricey and out of season, and be flexible with what’s in season. Start shopping in the produce aisle with a small cart. You’ll spend less. For the holiday there are some great buys. Groceries discount many meats, and you can get almost 50% off since supermarkets make meat a loss lead during holidays. Load up on pumpkin puree. It’s great in smoothies and gives body to stews. Kale is so cheap in winter and is versatile, so chop it up and freeze it. Check the flyers.
What will be on your holiday table this year?
For Christmas morning, I am making my easy and fast cinnamon popovers, which are in the book—all the flavors of a cinnamon roll but lighter. All week long my girls and I have been making bacon potato tortes for our yearly mother-daughter tea, a tradition which started with my mother when I was five. We just made scones for 125 guests!
