Bloody Brilliant: Jamie Oliver Starts Food Fight

Where was Jamie Oliver two decades ago when America’s obesity and diabetes rates weren’t yet out-of-control? This blistering British brood swept into America to start a food revolution in one community that has been particularly hard-hit by this public health epidemic. This bold Brit transformed the hearts, minds and mid-sections of a small, West Virginia town and I hope he’s not stopping there.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution isn’t just about food; it’s about changing the culture around how this country thinks and feels about food. I’ve said before that we love to eat and eat to love; that food evokes emotions and emotions evoke the desire for food. And it’s up to us to balance our minds’ satisfaction of cravings with our bodies’ requirements for nutrition.

That’s just what Sir Oliver did for Huntington, West Virginia. Starting in the public schools, with the help of a few teenage champions, Jamie taught administrators, principals, teachers, school-food staff, parents and students about one of my passions – core cooking. He showed them that nutritious food can taste good and can be prepared quickly to serve a busy family or several hundred hungry students.

This show is about the power of education in transforming the health of an entire community. After overcoming several challenges and barriers in the schools, Jamie took his food fury to the streets of Huntington, where he was able to get more than 1,000 people through his community kitchen to learn about nutrition and cooking basics.

Jamie gave individuals and organizations the knowledge and confidence to motivate change in school-food procurement processes and shopping, cooking and eating habits. He introduced this community to a new way of life that can be sustainable, hopefully resulting in healthier, happier people.

If you missed the show’s broadcast you can watch full episodes online at ABC.com. I also encourage you to get involved by visiting Jamie Oliver’s site at www.jamieoliver.com.

Green with Envy

After countless disappointing encounters with store-bought salsa, I decided to make my own. I don’t typically like tomatillo salsa because of its too-often bitter flavor. But, inspired by one of Real Simple’s daily recipes that called for tomatillos, I thought perhaps roasting the tomatillos was the trick. So I conducted some research online to learn how to properly roast tomatillos and, to my surprise, it is easy and fast. And once you roast the tomatillos the only thing left to do is add the remaining ingredients to a food processor and enjoy. Salsas are an easy and fun way to experiment in the kitchen; find your preferred base and then toss in your favorite flavors.

1 lb tomatillos
½ small red onion, cut in wedges
½ lime, juiced
1 large handful cilantro, stems and leaves
2 large cloves garlic, cut in half
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1 tsp salt

Preheat broiler on high. Remove husks from tomatillos and cut in half. Place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil for 7 minutes, or until tomatillos are lightly charred; remove from oven and let cool.

Transfer the tomatillos and all their juices to a food processor. Add onion, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno pepper and salt. Pulse until well blended; serve with chips.