As we have aged it becomes more of a challenge to prepare meals. Food allergies have suddenly emerged as a deal breaker and now it is important in our house to consider a gluten intolerant condition when buying and preparing meals.

For others cholesterol issues and addressing diabetes is important as well. However, shopping for someone with a gluten intolerance has become easier recently because more and more food manufacturers are posting “gluten free” on their labels, which is a terrific help.

Not only that, but now many restaurants have a Gluten Free Menu which makes going out to dinner not the ordeal it was in the past. Then your waitperson had to go back to the kitchen several times to speak to the chef because they were not properly informed to answer that most important of questions, “Is there wheat (flour) in any of the preparation?”

Personally, hitting the gym as many days in the week as possible, nixing carbonated drinks, holding back on my good friends Ben and Jerry and remembering to include brown rice, whole grain breads and a variety of beans has been a successful game plan.
Recently we had close friends from home visiting with us. I say “home” because my buddy believes that no matter where I hang my proverbial hat, Chattanooga is still going to be my home.

In planning several meals during their brief stay, I knew that seafood would be a mainstay. While many people have the misconception that all the seafood in the Gulf might be contaminated by the oil spill, in comparison to the actual size of the Gulf, there is only a small area that is affected at this time.

As for my visitors there were cholesterol and diabetic issues to consider. However, in today’s world these are really non-issue because there are so many ways to prepare healthy meals.

As luck would have it, the local supermarket was having an awesome sale on fresh veggies. At 99-cent-a-pound for squash, zucchini and eggplant to a gazillion ears of corn for far less than a gallon of gas it was a no-brainer.

Tomatoes are also off the chart in low cost as is fresh okra and my wife’s favorite Brussel Sprouts. Currently you don’t have to consider a line-of-credit on your home to purchase all the great fresh veggies that we used to pull up to the Chattanooga Farmers Market down on 11th street half-a-century ago and buy by the basket full for pennies.

Cooking as Theater

it is easy to be a drama queen in the kitchen chopping and dicing and sautéing as seen on the Food Channel only without the histrionics of an English chef kicking over innocent garbage cans and threatening everyone with expulsion from the human race.

As a footnote if you sign up for a gourmet food arts course you might want to consider a martial arts course as well in case some lunatic in a white chef’s jacket doesn’t like the shape and cut of your carrot sticks.

Normally because of my wife’s food allergies stir fried veggies with rice noodles is one of our favorites but having gotten into a serious discussion with the Produce Guy at the supermarket, I took his suggestion and did a veggie burrito for the entrée and a tasty shrimp cerviche as the salad course for the first night of our guests visit.

There is little difference when stir frying veggies; it depends on whether you are doing Oriental or in this case Mexican. Using olive oil instead of sesame oil, adding chopped tomatoes as well as fresh cilantro and spicing with cumin and chili powder, it is obvious that the stir fry method works well with veggies period.

On the last night it was time to use the fresh okra. It was a toss up between a gumbo with seafood and chicken or use a rich tomato sauce I had on hand for either pizza or as a secondary sauce for fresh baked bread.

Regarding the bread you can purchase the raw dough at Publix’s where it is usually found in the bakery stashed in a corner of the cooler where the pies are held. It comes in traditional or whole wheat and if both are missing check with the bakery about availability.

Nothing smells better than bread baking in the oven when guests arrive and how impressive to present that just-baked-loaf later at the table. In addition if the meal is so-so that initial high of the bread will still bring raves at the end of the evening.

In this instance I went with the sauce for the okra and later turned the okra into a chicken gumbo with leftover chicken and rice. Very little goes to waste or down the disposal in my kitchen, however occasionally there are some disasters when my creativity crashes and burns both literally and figuratively.

While our visitors’ time here was brief, it was as, our good friend’s wife pointed out, quality time from walking the beach to fabulous food both in and out of our home to glorious weather. Our little piece of the Gulf still rocks!

Brussel Sprouts with Smoked Almonds (serves 4)

You will need:

8 oz of blanched or steamed sprouts split in half
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
¼ cup dried cranraisins
1/3 cup smoked almonds
1/ teaspoon Cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Bring the brown sugar and water to a boil and simmer before adding the sprouts. Toss the sprouts in the mixture until well coated and let cook on a low flame until they reach a nice brown slightly crispy outside but still moist inside. Add Cayenne, smoked almonds and cranraisins just to heat through prior to serving. Taste and correct seasonings.

The sprouts make an awesome presentation surrounding grilled fish with a dice of fresh tomatoes, chopped fennel and parsley sprinkled over the fish.

(Charles Siskin is a former Chattanoogan now living on the Florida coast with his wife, Cookie. He can be reached at cater1@embarqmail.com)