The Inspiring Nutritionist’s Kitchen (Book) is Open to All

(Gerry Furth-Sides) It’s natural I suppose to look through a cookbook and let appealing recipes jump out at you. This is what I usually do, and with CARLY KNOWLES, MS, RDN, LD’s  new book, The Nutritionist’s Kitchen it was the same. Delicious, appealing, colorful – and healthy- recipes fill the second half of the book with clear directions on glossy pages. I didn’t have to read that they were sweet, savory, salty, crunchy, creamy flavorful foods; it was right there in the glorious photos!

We immediately found three we just had to make immediately! I was so excited about making the Creamy Red Pepper and Tomato Soup, the Salmon en Papillote (mostly because of the novelty of it) and the Mini Whole Wheat Apple Galettes (mostly because we discovered the regular size galettes this year). We did not even notice that the first two dishes are in the SUMMER recipe section and the Galette in the FALL one. We would make each of them again, and we note the changes we would make on them below.

What we also were taken about was that we were working in the field in East Los Angeles and saw how shoppers there came out of markets and super pharmacies with soda pop, beer, candy, chips –(large) bags and (large) bags of chips. More appalling was the percentage of morbidly obese people who were riding in a cart with such “junk food.”

They are the ones who could really use book. This is especially true since The Nutritionist’s Kitchen book is exactly that: a motivating, inspiring exploration of a professional’s own kitchen with explanations of the principles and information about how it is stocked, plus how to use the ingredients. In Carly’s own words, it is both a book on how to develop an ongoing way of eating and as “a guide to using whole foods as medicine.”

Readers here have access to Carly’s expertise and experience as a professional nutritionist. This is so vital now when health is a major concern. True, Carly’s content may cover general information familiar to anyone interested in healthy eating. But it also presents a comprehensive, concise up to date review, whether it is is in the benefits of currently fashionable turmeric or the difference in cooking oil nutrition because of content and processing.

Carly’s own career came about because of a life-changing experience. She has always loved cooking, but it was when she lived in a rural village in Peru that she saw just how big an impact food and nutrition can have on our health. It was a profound moment that made her realize that food truly is medicine and set her on a path to becoming a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN).

This took place when Carly was working in a remote village in Peru, deep in the desert, with no running water, electricity and little fresh food, Carly Knowles had an epiphany that changed her life. “I was trying to understand why many of the villagers had white spots on their eyes. Later, I discovered these were Bitot’s spots that would lead to blindness due to a deficiency in vitamin A, which is one of the leading preventable causes of vision loss in developing nations. I also learned that vitamin A can easily be found in foods like eggs, sweet potatoes, kale, spinach, pumpkin, whole cow’s milk, and carrots. As I learned more about nutrition I became more intrigued and, frankly, concerned. Eating vitamin A–rich foods is enough to prevent blindness—whoa!—and not eating enough vitamin A–rich foods can lead to blindness? This was a profound moment for me. Food really is medicine.”

So it is wonderful that the following dishes are both delicious and healthy.

Next came the Salmon en Papillote. We were so excited that we did not realize at first that the “shavings” were not the bell pepper strips they look to be from the photo but carrot and zucchini, which we went out and purchased. Next we prepared it with carrot and cabbage ribbons, which worked even better because the cabbage had more body. Since Carly encouraged variety, we were sure this would be fine and certainly healthy. In our final version (of the two pieces of salmon divided into four), we wrapped the fish inside a cabbage leave. Guests liked this version the best.

For dessert next came to the Mini Whole Wheat Apple Galettes from CARLY KNOWLES, MS, RDN, LD’s  new book, The Nutritionist’s Kitchen.

We were concerned that we could not “shingle” the apples in the The sides of our tart were not high enough. Carly wrote back that it was a rustic tart, and this was fine. But we wanted the same look and so made a larger one.

Whole Wheat Apple Galette from CARLY KNOWLES, MS, RDN, LD’s  new book, The Nutritionist’s Kitchen can work beautifully various ways. We made a larger single one, and overlapped the apples in a pinwheel. In the middle are Mediterranean plum prunes soaked in bourbon and homegrown kumquats on a bed of apricot preserves, grape juice sweetened.

The Nutritionist’s Kitchen is both an approachable, science based guide to support optimal health and wellness through everyday meals and a cookbook filled with enticing, bold recipes. Throughout the book are simple charts like “How to Understand Intuitive and Seasonal Changes in Nature and Identify Our Own Personal Climate” (page 61-62) to sidebars such as The Difference between Pickled and Fermented Foods (page 47) and The Best Way to Consume Flaxseeds (page 79).

Recipes range from the ones we loved that can be used for an entire meal from the Tomato Soup and to Whole Wheat Apple Galettes with Salted Honey primers on nutrient dense foods and how to shop for and prepare ingredients like beans and sea vegetables.

We also loved th list of Carly’s top pantry essentials. They included raw nuts and seeds stored in the freezer; nut and seed butter, such as almond and cashew; chickpeas and black beans (dried and canned), onions, potatoes, garlic, rolled oats, homemade unsweetened applesauce, who wheat pastry flour, dates (stored in the fridge) and vanilla extract.

Favorite kitchen “gadgets” that Carly used most are:

• High powered blender (we have, we love, and also have a food processor we love)
• Microplane grater (we have, we love and also have one that is curved for items such as nutmeg)
• Cast iron skillet (we have had in the family forever and just rediscovered a few years ago. Also started using the Le Crust enameled cast iron casserole and Dutch oven, which we love!)
• Salad spinner (we do not have because we purchase washed greens)

Her website offers new, nourishing and delicious recipes – and ideas- regularly:  CarlyKnowles.com. This is her first book. Carly lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and son.