Name: Norene Gilletz
Birthday: May 29
Location: Toronto, Canada
Website:
www.gourmania.com
Diet Detective: Hello,
Norene. It
was great chatting with you via telephone a last week.
It’s always nice to talk to someone who is interested
in healthy living. And thanks so much for agreeing to do
this interview. I just love your book, and your entire
approach to healthy cooking. My first question is really
about your becoming a cookbook author—how did you get
into cooking, and becoming an author? Did you have any
formal training?
Noreen:
I was fascinated by food from the time I was a young
child. When I was 3 or 4 years old, I would sit at the
kitchen table watching my mother cook and bake,
transforming basic ingredients into delicious dishes.
There was no TV then – my mom was MY food network!
My first “culinary invention” was
when I was 9 years old and baked brownies for the first
time. I cleaned up while they were baking in the oven,
and found the eggs sitting on the countertop – I
forgot to add them to the brownie batter. When I tasted
the baked brownies, they were just like candy – yum! I
was so proud of myself. I decided to frost them, but
there was no icing sugar in the pantry, so I combined
flour with granulated sugar - uggh. That did NOT work.
I still had lots to learn!
My mom was the queen of recycling,
always finding creative ways to use up leftovers.
Cooking 101 at its finest! I moved from Winnipeg
to Montreal when I was 20 but couldn’t cook very well,
so I would phone my mom long distance and ask her for
advice. My first cookbook was the Betty Crocker Picture
Cookbook, which I read from cover to cover.
When I was a young bride, I was involved
in writing a fundraising cookbook called Second Helpings
Please. I discovered that the bean and barley soup
recipe had no beans and the tomato rice soup had no
rice. Back to the testing and editing of recipes! Second
Helpings was first published in 1968 and is still
selling well today, nearly 40 years later.
People started to call me for cooking
and baking advice so I eventually started teaching. I
didn’t have any formal training, so I took a week of
intensive cooking classes in Florida with Jacques Pepin
in 1980 and learned so much from him. I also took
classes in Chicago with Ann Willan of La Varenne. I
traveled to Milwaukee to learn about microwaving from
Barbara Harris. I invited guest chefs to my suburban
Montreal cooking school and attended cooking classes
with Rose Levy Beranbaum, Shirley Corriher and other
experts.
Diet Detective: How did you get
so involved with healthy cooking and nutrition? Was it
an early passion? What was your motivation?
Norene: I’ve struggled with my
weight for years, so learning healthy cooking techniques
became a necessity. If I didn’t cook and eat the way I
do today, I’d probably weigh about 100 pounds more!
It’s been an ongoing learning experience and I still
continue to learn each and every day. I find it
fascinating to adapt and modify recipes to lower the
calorie and fat content, yet still retain the flavor.
My motto is “Food that’s good for you should taste
good!”
Diet Detective: You recently
wrote a book called Norene’s Healthy Kitchen.
What made you decide to write that book? What can we
expect to find? Are the recipes complex?
Norene: Norene’s Healthy
Kitchen is not my first healthy cookbook. I also
wrote MealLeaniYumm! (now out of print), retitled
Healthy Helpings. People loved my recipes because they
were so easy to make, tasted great and were healthy,
too. They kept asking me to write another cookbook, so I
did.
What a big job! It took me 4 years to
write Norene’s Healthy Kitchen. Once again, my
recipes in this new book are quick, easy and healthy –
and they work with today’s most popular diets. Each
recipe comes with a nutrient analysis, making the book a
wonderful resource for people with diabetes, those with
weight loss concerns, or for time-starved people who
want good food fast! I offer lots of options, so if you
don’t have one ingredient, you can easily substitute
what you have on hand. I’ve also included lots of
information about the glycemic index and focus on smart
carbs that digest slowly to prevent rebound hunger.
It’s just what the doctor ordered!
Diet Detective: I know you
specialize in Kosher meals--does that mean that those of
us who are not Kosher will not be interested in this
book?
Norene: This book can be used by
everybody, whether or not they’re Jewish. The recipes
are about preparing good food from ingredients that you
can find in any supermarket. There’s a wonderful
selection of international recipes that follow Kosher
dietary guidelines, so people who keep Kosher won’t
have to make any modifications to my recipes. Kosher
means that I don’t combine dairy and meat ingredients
in the same recipe and there are no recipes that use
pork or shellfish. But since there are over 600 easy,
delicious recipes to choose from, I doubt if anyone will
go hungry!
Diet Detective: How do you create
your healthy recipes---are there any tips you can share
with us?
Norene: I start with recipes that
are family favorites, then use simple techniques to
modify them and make them healthier.
When baking, I use fruit purees such as
applesauce or pureed prunes to replace part of the fat.
I replace part or all of the flour with whole wheat
flour, finely ground rolled oats or ground almonds.
Sometimes I add wheat germ or flaxseed. I use canola oil
or soft tub margarine in my baked goods rather than
butter. I try to incorporate fruit into many of my
desserts. And I love chocolate, but I keep portions
small, saving them for a special treat. (You know that
chocolate comes from the cocoa bean – and everyone
knows that beans are good for you!)
In cooking, I use small amounts of olive
oil and use nonstick cookware and nonstick spray. I add
lots of vegetables and some lean protein to my pasta,
rice (brown or basmati) or whole grain dishes to bulk
them up, adding fiber, flavor and volume. I also like to
use fresh herbs whenever possible. I also make lots of
hearty fiber-filled soups, adding lentils or beans and
barley, plus lots of veggies. Fiber makes you feel full
and soup is a terrific way to help control hunger.
Diet Detective: Do you have a
fancy gourmet kitchen?
Norene: Not at all! I have a very
simple kitchen with basic appliances, but I hope to
renovate and update it when I have some free time. My
work area is compact, which I like - it’s very
efficient. I love time-saving appliances and make good
use of them: my food processor, microwave oven, bread
machine, slow cooker, blender, immersion blender, an
assortment of kitchen gadgets, several chef’s knives,
utility knives and spatulas, measuring and baking
equipment, outdoor gas grill…I really do love my
kitchen toys!
Diet Detective: Tell us the
biggest secret that chefs typically don’t tell anyone
about healthy cooking, but should?
Norene: I don’t think there’s
one special secret to cooking healthy dishes. Each chef
has his or her own tricks and techniques that they use
to create the dishes they enjoy making. In my new book,
I’ve shared all my favorite cooking secrets with my
readers – I didn’t hide anything. Knowledge is
power!
Diet Detective: You say that you
can teach people how to transfer the advice from their
doctor or dietitian straight to their plate. And that
your motto is “Food that’s good for you should taste
good!” Do most people believe that healthy food
has to taste bad? What are some key ways to make healthy
foods thar are lower in calories, but still taste great.
Give us some of your best tips please?
Norene: A lot of “healthy”
foods are things that are brown and tasteless, like
brown rice and tofu. To me, the only great tasting brown
food is chocolate! I find that if I infuse my foods with
flavorful fresh herbs, spices, good quality olive oil
used judiciously, foods that are healthy are also packed
with flavor!
A friend of mine who worked in a
doctor’s office told me that the doctor would tell his
patients: “You need to go on a diet! You have to lose
weight!” But the doctor would never tell his patient
how to do it. They would be given a list of allowable
foods, but no one told them how to put them together
into something that was a “live-it” – and not a
“die-it!”
People are motivated by two things: pain
and pleasure. Because I create recipes that are healthy
AND also taste good, the pleasure principle is there and
people can stick to a healthy eating lifestyle without
it being a painful experience. It’s total pleasure!
Diet Detective: Can anyone
prepare healthy foods? Or are some people not made to
cook?
Norene: If you can read, you can
cook! If you enjoy eating good food and you let your
taste buds be your guide, you can probably be a
wonderful cook. But if you feel uncomfortable in the
kitchen, it will definitely be more difficult for you.
What’s my advice? Get in the kitchen
and cook – something, anything! If necessary, cook
with a friend. It’s much easier when you have someone
to share the workload. If you learn the basic principles
of healthy cooking, then you’ll know how to apply
these principles to create your own signature dishes.
You’ll also know when you can break the rules.
If you feel you need help, take some
cooking classes, watch cooking shows on TV, buy a good
cookbook. Don’t be afraid to fail – the only failure
in life is failing to try.
Now a few more personal questions so
readers can get to know about you.
Diet Detective: If you could eat
one unhealthy food (candy, cakes, etc..) whenever
you wanted without gaining weight, what would it be?
Norene: I’m a candy monster. I
love chewy candy of all sorts: jelly bellies, ju-jubes,
gum drops and licorice. I also love M&M’s. I limit
my quantities because they’re not good for my health.
When I eat too much junk, I feel sick, so I don’t
think that weight is the main issue here.
I do adore Burgundy cherry ice cream or
tiramisu gelato! In fact, they would be at the top of my
list. I enjoy these treats occasionally and don’t
bother with going on a guilt trip. I just get back to my
healthy eating program as quickly as possible.
It’s the small choices that I make
each day that make the biggest difference in how I look
and feel.
Diet Detective: What’s your
favorite breakfast?
Norene: I love oatmeal, berries
and yogurt and eat a big bowlful most mornings. I also
love omelets with spinach, red peppers, onions, cheese
(Cheddar, Swiss or feta) and mushrooms – that’s a
favorite weekend treat. I find that an omelet
keeps me satisfied.
Diet Detective: What’s your
favorite recipe?
Norene: Usually it’s whatever
I’m eating at the moment! I don’t really have one
favorite dish. It all depends on my mood. There’s not
much that I don’t like! I do love salmon prepared all
sorts of ways, assorted grilled veggies, sweet potatoes.
I’m always flipping ingredients around in my head,
trying to come up with interesting, easy and yummy
combinations.
And I occasionally indulge and have a
hot pastrami sandwich on rye a couple of times a year
– and enjoy every bite!
Diet Detective: Do you have time
to exercise? What do you do?
Norene: I don’t have much time
to exercise due to a heavy workload, so I try to be as
active as possible. I try to walk most days and find it
relaxing and invigorating. I wear a pedometer and make
myself add additional steps to my day. I like to walk
with friends because it gives me a chance to catch up on
what’s happening in the world. It makes walking much
more pleasant! On the weekend, I like to go for long
walks in the nearby ravine with my dog and a friend or
two. I also love to dance and find it a
wonderful way to exercise.
Diet Detective: What’s your
favorite healthy ingredient? What’s the one thing
you’d suggest people keep in their kitchen if they
want to cook healthy meals?
Norene: My favorite healthy
ingredient is probably garlic – along with onions! I
use them all the time in my cooking. They add
fabulous flavor to everything. And fresh basil is my
favorite herb – it’s a terrific flavor booster and
it also makes me feel calm when I smell it.
Diet Detective: What’s the one
kitchen utensil or tool that you can’t live without?
Norene: My food processor. I
actually wrote a whole cookbook on how to use your food
processor – The Food Processor Bible. I use my
food processor for both cooking and baking and find it
invaluable. It’s a wonderful time-saver.
Diet Detective: What do you
consider the world’s most perfect food?
Norene: I love eggs. They can be
used both in cooking and baking and they’re probably
my favorite comfort food. They’re relatively low in
calories, are high in protein and are very satisfying.
However, I have to limit my quantities because of my
cholesterol levels.
Diet Detective: If you had to
pick one healthy cookbook to recommend (or two) which
would you choose?
Norene: I love the information in
“You on a Diet” (Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen) and
also enjoyed “Eat, Drink and Be Healthy” (Walter
Willett) – very informative. I rarely follow other
people’s recipes so I read cookbooks as my inspiration
for ways of combining ingredients in creative ways.
Actually, my favorite healthy cookbook
is my own book “Norene’s Healthy Kitchen” because
it has all the things in it that I love to eat!
Diet Detective: Do you have a
Calorie Bargain?
Norene: Cherry yogurt is my
Calorie Bargain, replacing burgundy cherry ice cream,
which is absolutely addictive!
Diet Detective: What was your
worst summer job?
Norene: I loved my summer job. I
worked as a lifeguard and spent my summers at the
swimming pool. Can’t beat that!
Diet Detective: What did
you want to be at the age of 5? (as far as a career)?
Norene: I wanted to be a movie
star. I loved to go to the movies and was determined
that I would be famous one day!
You can check out some of Norene's
Grill
'N Chill Asparagus:
Thank you!!!!
