A Better Bag of Groceries

Cooking with Catherine Katz

Monday, April 19, 2010 at 07:03 AM

Today, I am delighted to introduce a new feature here on A Better Bag of Groceries:  Cooking with Catherine Katz!  Catherine, a mom of five children and a Ph. D. in neuroscience, is married to Dr. David Katz, founder of the ONQI algorithm which fuels NuVal scores.  I was thrilled to learn recently that Catherine is a fan of A Better Bag of Groceries and she and I have been connecting ever since. 

David and Catherine

Catherine is the creative force behind many, many recipes including those found in The Flavor-Full Diet, a book that she and David published in 2007.  I purchased a copy on Amazon and I am loving it!  Catherine and I sat down recently for an interview.  We covered a lot of ground, so here’s a small excerpt from our discussion:

Melissa:  You were raised in the South of France and moved to the United States at the age of 14.  What was different about the American way of eating and how did it affect you?

Catherine: Being raised in the south of France, eating a Mediterranean diet, walking to and from school every day and everywhere I needed to go, I never had an issue with my weight and never even thought about it.  So, when I moved to Houston, Texas at age 14 with my mom, it was a complete culture shock at every level!  First of all, nobody walked anywhere, my mother and I soon discovered that to fit in, we had to get a car or take the bus, so walking was out of the question.  Fascinated with the American ways and eager to do as Americans did, I was introduced to Burger King and McDonald’s (which at the time was not present in France, at least certainly not in the south of France).  I discovered sugary snacks available at all times of the day, even in school.  Baskin Robins with all those amazing flavors and huge scoops…(!)  So, I think it was about 6 months later I was literally shocked to discover that I had gained about 25 lbs!  All of a sudden, food became an issue and I struggled with my weight like everybody else, going on diets and losing the weight and gaining it back.  It wasn’t until I went to college in California that I rediscovered myself and my old ways of healthful eating and physical activity.  I finally stabilized my weight and I have ever since.

Melissa:  The recipes in The Flavor-Full Diet are incredible!  What was your inspiration for creating them?

Catherine:  Thank you so much! It always makes me so happy when I get that kind of feedback. David and my marriage are definitely the inspiration for The Flavor-Full Diet!  When we first met, we realized that his passion for health and my love of French cooking needed some tailoring!  As we built our “little” family, it became a passion for both of us to find ways to make food that our family would love but that would also love us back!  So, I started playing with my recipes and finding tricks to keep my sauces succulent and rich using healthy ingredients instead of cream or butter.  Little by little, my cooking began to change and the feedback I was getting was just wonderful, we never gave up anything in taste and lusciousness (wouldn’t have it any other way!) and gained such vitality and health for ourselves and our children.  One day David asked me to write up my recipes for this new book he was writing and he told me with great assurance that they would meet every stringent standard of the most healthful diet put to the test.  Although I knew I used only healthy ingredients and had been “converted” to healthy cooking, I was definitely intimidated by his statement and was a little dubious that I could meet every single requirement (I am talking optimum levels of calories, protein, sodium, fiber, healthy fat, cholesterol).  My words: ARE YOU KIDDING?(in my dainty French way!)  But sure enough, one by one, I submitted each one of my recipes to two dietitians and I was AMAZED myself, to see that he was….right! And so Flavor Full was born!

As I said, Catherine and I covered a lot of ground in our interview, and more exerpts are coming in future installments of Cooking with Catherine Katz.  She filled me in on tips for teaching five kids how to become healthy eaters, her summer camp for healthy children, Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative, how she feels about NuVal (hint: she loves it)  and even what it’s like to be married to David Katz!  Stay tuned.

Catherine with Natalia (14), Rebecca (21), Valerie (15), Corinda (20), and Gabriel (10)

In the meantime, my husband and I tried out our first recipe from The Flavor-Full Diet.  We chose Pan-Seared Tilapia with Lemon Chives and Capers since David and Catherine wrote that “even kids love it.”  They were right.  We made it, we loved it, and so did the kids!  This is a recipe you can serve for a grown-up dinner party and your kids will eat it too.  Amazing!

Ingredients:

Juice of 2 lemons (about 1/3 cup) (NuVal score:  99)

1 Tablespoon fresh chives, snipped (NuVal score: 96)

1 teaspoon rinsed and drained capers (NuVal score: 7)

3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (NuVal score: 11)

1 1/2 pounds fresh tilapia fillets (NuVal score: 82)

Salt (NuVal score: 1)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup Arrowhead Mills Organic Pastry Flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour – NuVal score: 91)

Directions:

1.  In a small bowl, stir together the lemon juice, chives, capers, dash of salt and 2 Tablespoons of the oil.  Set aside.

2.  Rinse the fish and pat dry.  Season with the salt (use no more than 1/8 teaspoon) and pepper.  Place the flour on a flat plate and dredge the fish, coating both sides.

3.  Heat the remaining 1 Tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the fish and cook, turning once, for 7 – 8 minutes, or until tender and browned on both sides.

4.  To serve, place a fillet on each of four plates and drizzle with the lemon mixture.

This photo came out a little blurry, I know.  We were in a hurry to eat it! 

Catherine was absolutely right.  Somehow the sauce seemed decadent and scrumptious, but as you can see from the ingredients, it was not.  I felt like we were eating in a restaurant (until I saw the dishes in the sink and realized that we would be doing them.)  Still, I was so happy that the kids gobbled it up.  We even had some leftover fillets and I reheated them with the sauce.  I think it was even more delicious the second time around!

I am very excited to be working with Catherine on this new feature.  I feel like I have my own French chef/consultant!  And she is delightful too.  I am one lucky lady!

Question of the Day

Which of these Flavor-Full recipes  do you think I should try next?

Posted by: Melissa 8 comments

Posted in: Cooking with Catherine Katz, Tilapia

Tags: Catherine Katz, David Katz, Tilapia