Articles in the Cook Naked Category

Chef James Masterclass: The Art of Cooking Gluten-Free

We talk a great deal about wheat, gluten, and learning to live a gluten-free lifestyle. With the massive increase in the number of people who are sensitive to this wheat protein, it’s becoming essential to learn where it hides and how to cook without it.
We all know that bread has gluten in it, but I bet you didn’t realize many savory foods – from salad dressings to meatballs – have it hiding in unusual places. As a result, it can be very challenging to eat gluten-free if you’re not making …

Written by Chef James on 20/02/13 am28 02:00 AM

 

Chef James Masterclass: 5 strategies for making healthier holiday treats

Written by Chef James

Everyone, and I mean everyone, associates the holidays with treats. From chocolate coins and candy canes to pumpkin pie and holiday themed bins of tri-colored popcorn, we’ve been taught to believe that the holidays are a time for gluttony and abandon. Isn’t there a middle ground? Is it possible to have a treat but make it a ‘healthy’ treat? I’d like to share a few principles and a recipe on how you can make your holiday treats more “naked”. 
 
Keys to making healthy desserts:

Choose quality ingredients. Despite what …

Written by Chef James on 11/12/12 pm31 07:24 PM

 

Chef James’ Cooking Masterclass: The perfect yogurt

Written by Chef James

Raise your hand if you eat yogurt for the beneficial probiotic properties.
Some people even go so far as to purchase frozen yogurt with the hopes of reaping some sort of healthy benefit. Sorry to burst any bubbles, but commercial yogurt is not what it used to be. Store bought yogurt, by definition, must have minimum of at least 10 million colony forming units of microorganisms which sounds like a lot, but in the culture world, that’s nothing.
Nowadays most yogurt comes with two strains of bacteria whereas traditional …

Written by Chef James on 14/11/12 am30 08:03 AM

 

The Art of Salad: Five tricks to take your salad over the top

Written by Chef James

Salads have come far from the iceberg lettuce, tomato and vinaigrette days of yesteryear. As a child, I wouldn’t have anything to do with salads. My “salad” was eating a carrot. Now ask me my favorite item to make, and I’ll say salad dressings. I love a good salad.
By definition, salad is a cold, usually raw mix of vegetables with a dressing that are eaten as just one part of a larger meal. In more recent times, salads have become complicated, stand alone meals.
As a salad connoisseur …

Written by Chef James on 02/10/12 am31 08:04 AM

 

Healing Foods 101: Seven reasons to add bone broth to your daily diet.

When we talk about eating naked, we’re usually talking about the basics: eating real, whole food in a form that’s as close to its origin as possible, and prepared in a way that either preserves or enhances its nutritional value.
Now, I don’t like to discriminate, but there are some naked foods that are truly super foods, and bone broth is at the top of my list.
Bone broth – or “stock” as it’s sometimes called – is a cornerstone of traditional diets. We’ve been consuming broth in some form since Paleolithic …

Written by Margaret Floyd on 18/09/12 pm30 03:22 PM

 

Easy Food Presentation Tips to Up Your Dinner’s Visual Appeal

Written by Chef James

So much of our focus on food is on its health benefits and flavor, but it’s really important not to undermine the whole experience of eating. When food is visually appealing, it stimulates our digestive juices, which help us maximize our body’s absorption of the nutrients while increasing the pleasure we experience from eating. It’s not just a nicety – proper food presentation can actually aid your digestion!
Does this mean you need to eat at 5-star gourmet restaurants to give your food a visual boost? Not at …

Written by Chef James on 14/08/12 pm31 03:00 PM

 

Get hydrated this summer, the naked way!

What if I told you there isn’t one thing that happens in your body that doesn’t depend on proper hydration? Yet, the quality and source of water has gotten very cumbersome and confusing. Remember the time when you just stuck a glass under a faucet, filled it and drank?
The age old recommendation to drink eight 8oz glasses of water a day doesn’t really apply today now that we are more aware of our bio-individual needs depending on body size and environment. The truth is, water is necessary and most of …

Written by Chef James on 09/07/12 am31 08:58 AM

 

No Garden, No Problem: How to save with a kitchen garden

One of the questions I get asked most often when it comes to eating naked is “how do you eat naked on a budget?” There’s certainly the impression that real food is more expensive than over-processed junk.
Sadly, real food is often more expensive than the other stuff. Grass-fed beef costs more than feedlot beef. Organic heirloom tomatoes cost more than the cardboard-y uniform ones you find in major supermarkets. And a happy meal costs a fraction of what dinner at a restaurant serving fresh food would cost.
But don’t fret. This …

Written by Margaret Floyd on 02/07/12 am31 08:03 AM

 

Cook Naked: Easy BBQ Sauce Recipe

Summer has arrived. Time to clean the grill and get your sauce on. Nothing sings of summer more than the laughter of children playing outside and the smell of a barbecue.
I grew up eating BBQ and must admit one of my favorite comfort foods is BBQ pork ribs. I don’t eat them much these days, (let’s face it, all that charcoal tastes good but it’s carcinogenic) but on the special occasions where I do indulge, the adult who cares about what he puts in his body steps into focus.
Sugar is …

Written by Chef James on 05/06/12 am30 04:30 AM

 

To Juice or Not To Juice? If if’s, when’s and why’s of juicing.

Juicing. Some swear by it. Others swear off it. I’ve been on both ends of this spectrum and, like so many things, have found my happy place somewhere in the middle.
Juicing, by strict definition, isn’t fully naked. When we extract just the juice from a fruit or vegetable, we’re leaving behind the fiber – a vitally important nutrient. But this doesn’t mean that I write off juicing completely. There’s a time and a place where it’s very appropriate.
Now, just to be clear, when I talk about juicing I’m talking about …

Written by Margaret Floyd on 21/05/12 pm31 05:06 PM

 
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