Sometimes I feel I have an undeserved reputation for being a brilliant chef. Let there be no mistake, I most certainly am not. A true chef has years of training and a magic ability to turn the good into the sublime. I am proud to know several amazing San Francisco chefs, and I am the first to admit there is not a single thing I could teach any of them about taste or the culinary arts.

So how have I fooled people?

I will acknowledge I have a well-developed gustatory sense. I can tell delicious from ordinary even with a stuffy nose. In fact it was precisely my taste for exquisite food that forced me to learn a few tricks in the kitchen, since financial concerns make it impossible for me to eat at my favorite restaurants every night. To spare myself from accepting the mediocre (which is never okay), I had to learn to prepare my own great food.

In this quest I have discovered a few cardinal rules of food preparation. First, fresh, seasonal, high-quality ingredients are the cornerstone of any excellent dish. Logic dictates that your meal can only be as good as the ingredients from which it was made. They may cost a little extra (though not prohibitively so), but exceptional ingredients are more than worth the price, especially when compared to a night at the Slanted Door.

Second, meat is not needed in a meal if plants are utilized correctly. Ten years ago I would not have believed this, but today I live by it. Don’t get me wrong, I love high-quality meat, poultry and seafood with a passion. But I have learned that they are not necessary on most days to create delicious, satisfying dishes.

Third, most bad food is either overcooked or poorly (i.e., insufficiently) seasoned, or both. Great ingredients do not need much cooking and fresh herbs are a requirement if you want your food to have flavor.

Finally, over the past few years I have picked up several tips and tricks in the kitchen that invariably cause people (myself included) to marvel at my creations. These tricks, which I will feature in a new series called Simple Gourmet, are not extravagant recipes and sauces that baffle with their complexity. Rather, they are little hints to make a good meal great, and turn simple things like salad into something extraordinary. Unleash these tricks on your friends and family and they will literally be eating out of your hand.

Today’s lesson: Fire-Roasted Peppers

We are currently at the height of pepper season and this should make you very excited. Peppers are one of the most naturally rich and complexly flavored vegetable families on the planet. And nothing brings out the deep flavor of both sweet and spicy peppers like roasting them on an open flame.

For those of you with an electric stove, I apologize in advance. You do not have access to fire so you must roast your peppers in the oven, which requires significantly more time. I am afraid my method will be far less useful to you.

If you have a gas stove, turn it on low and simply lay your pepper on the burner (see pic). When the skin of the pepper becomes blackened, use tongs to turn it to another side. Continue to roast and turn the pepper until is blackened on all sides, about ten minutes. Be careful not to let the pepper catch fire or allow the skin to turn ashen white. You will find that words cannot describe the deep, sultry smell of a fire-roasted pepper as its flesh softens and its sugars caramelize.

When the pepper is finished roasting use tongs to move it to a plate or cutting board and allow it to cool, about five minutes. When the pepper is cool enough to handle, grab it by the stem and use the sharp side of a knife to gently scrape off the blackened skin. Do not worry if some small burnt pieces stick to the pepper. Resist the urge to rinse the pepper with water; doing so will remove many of the aromatic oils that give it its flavor.

Once the skin is removed slice open the pepper and cut out the seeds and stem. If you used a spicy pepper be especially careful to avoid touching the capsaicin-filled seeds. The oil can stick to your skin for hours and is easily transferred to other body parts such as your eyes. Use gloves if necessary.

You can then cut your roasted pepper into strips or squares. Try sprinkling them in salads or use as an accompaniment to vegetable and egg dishes for a rich, late-summer flavor. They also pair exceptionally well with goat cheese. Honestly though, the smell alone will keep you coming back for more.

Tags: roasted peppers

• Charentais melon
• Emerald beaut pluots
• Autumn flame peaches
• Summer squash
• Fresh eggs
• Hot peppers
• Padrones
• Mediterranean cucumbers
• Strawberries
• Baby leeks
• Wild arugula
• Rainbow chard
• Early girl tomatoes
• Organic coffee

Do you ever find yourself on Monday wondering if you went a little overboard with the chips and dip over the weekend? And maybe even with those brownies at the party the weekend before? Oh yeah, and that “fourth meal” burrito from El Farolito Saturday night?

If you generally use weekends as an excuse to indulge a little, you are not alone. And according to a study published last month in Obesity, there is a good chance that weekend splurges are the reason you are gaining weight (or at least one reason it is so difficult to lose it).

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis wanted to understand how weekends affect weight fluctuations in free-living individuals under different weight loss plans. To address this, they split participants into three groups and followed them for one year. One group was put on a calorie-restricted diet and another was given an exercise regimen. Both the calorie restricted and exercise group interventions were designed to create similar calorie deficits – 16-20 percent of total baseline energy expenditure for each individual – so that the effects of weight loss induced by each method could be compared. The third group was not given any intervention.

Because one goal of the study was to observe free-living individuals (i.e., people at home and not in a clinic), researchers utilized a comprehensive battery of measurements to determine energy intake, physical activity, energy expenditure, body composition and body weight. For instance, participants were provided with a special scientific scale that was collected at the end of each recording period. Body weights were then double checked on a calibrated scale in a clinic on several of the weight recording days. Duel-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to measure body composition (lean mass versus fat mass) on multiple occasions throughout the study. Food diaries were kept by the participants to record daily food intake, and they received detailed instructions on how to weigh, measure and record everything consumed. Physical activity was measured with both triaxial accelerometers and urine samples using the doubly labeled water method.

Detailed documentation of variables and outcome measures is critical in experiments where people’s activity is not controlled in a laboratory, because self-reporting—particularly when weight loss and eating are involved – is notoriously unreliable. Though the methods used here do not guarantee accurate measurements, the double and triple validation that the scientists performed throughout the study certainly minimizes sampling biases.

The first interesting observations were found when scientists took baseline measurements during the 2-4 weeks before the experimental interventions began. During this period body weight at baseline increased significantly on weekends and was followed by a non-significant trend of weight loss on weekdays. Unfortunately this resulted in an increase of 0.077 kilograms (0.17 pounds) per week.

This increase may not sound like much, but it amounts to about 4.0 kilograms (9 pounds) gained per year. The authors of the study suggest that this finding may be an artifact of the anticipation individuals feel when beginning a weight loss regimen, because on average people gain less than 1 kilogram per year. Regardless, the finding that weight gain occurs on weekends and not on weekdays is significant.

Also during baseline measurements the researchers found that calorie intake was highest on Saturdays, averaging about 200 calories more than weekdays. Physical activity during this time was lowest on Sundays and highest on Saturdays.

During the experimental interventions, the weekend affect on body weight was still evident. As expected, both the calorie restricted and exercise groups lost weight over the course of an average week. On weekends, however, the calorie-restricted group stopped losing weight and the exercise group actually gained weight. The control group did not have significant weight changes on weekdays compared to weekends.

Interestingly, during the experiment all three trial groups consumed significantly more calories on weekends than on weekdays. Those on calorie-restricted diets ate more on Saturdays, while those on the exercise regimen consumed more on both Saturdays and Sundays. The control group ate more only on Sundays.

In contrast, physical activity did not decrease on weekends during the experiment. In the exercise group physical activity remained constant relative to weekdays. The calorie-restricted group actually increased activity on both Saturday and Sunday. In the control group there was a trend toward more physical activity on weekends.

These findings suggest that weekend behavior has a tremendous impact on weight gain in average people and makes weight loss more difficult for those undergoing a calorie restricted or exercise program. Furthermore, the weekend calorie imbalance is primarily caused by increased eating rather than decreased physical activity.

This research is consistent with that of the National Weight Control Registry report in 2004, which suggests that people whose diets are more consistent from weekdays to weekends are more likely to be successful in losing weight and keeping it off. It also agrees with two studies published in the International Journal of Obesity last month showing that human energy expenditure has not changed in America or Europe in the past 20 years and is still comparable to the amount spent by indigenous populations and even animals in the wild.

The bottom line is that while increased physical activity can aid in weight loss, excessive calorie consumption is the primary reason for weight gain in our time.

This story can also be found at Synapse.

This past weekend was my program’s annual retreat at Asilomar conference grounds in Monterey, California. It goes without saying that healthy eating is tough on a retreat because you have very little control over your meals. Over the years I have learned a few tricks to minimize the damage during events like this.

First it is important to accept that the food is going to be awful no matter what. Every meal is bad, the meat is bad, the vegetables are bad, the dessert is bad; so if you are not going to enjoy it you may as well focus on eating as healthy as you can so that only your taste buds suffer, not your waistline.

For this reason I always request the vegetarian meal tickets, even though I am not vegetarian. I imagine this sounds a little crazy to some of you, but please hear me out. Generally the people running the kitchen are picky about giving out vegetarian meals, because they have a limited supply. So it is never a problem to get the regular meal, but you will have trouble getting a vegetarian meal unless you requested it. In other words, having a vegetarian ticket gives you two meal options rather than one. If the vegetarian dish looks gross, you can always fall back on the mystery meat.

That brings me to my next point. Mystery meat tastes bad. Bland vegetables taste bad. But bland vegetables are far better for you than mystery meat, and you have the added bonus of having at least a little bit of an idea what you are putting into your body. Vegetables are also much lower in calories and may even be higher in vitamins (but with vegetables of this quality it is hard to be sure). So the vegetarian dish may be gross, but it is unlikely to be grosser (and frequently it is a little better) than the meat option. The important difference is that in this case, vegetarian is a much smarter decision.

But unfortunately, relying on vegetarian meals is not usually enough to survive Asilomar. Picking through soggy vegetables can be rather unsatisfying and it is a good idea to bring some of your own food to supplement.

I always bring several pieces of fruit, nuts/trail mix and granola. It is also wise to bring your own supply of water. I snack on these throughout the day, whenever hungry. A handful of nuts before heading to the dining hall can curb your appetite, making the gross dessert less tempting after your unsatisfying meal (otherwise it is surprisingly difficult to pass up a slice of cake in front of you, even if you know it will not be good). Fruit, nuts and granola are also a good alternative to the powdered egg breakfast.

Finally, on trips like this I advise skipping dessert. Why bother? Save your indulgences for something that is worth it. Bring your own chocolate or eat fruit if you need something sweet after dinner.

As long as your trip is short, these guidelines can help you make it through without too much collateral damage. You may even lose a few pounds in the process.

I use these same strategies on long flights. I am going to go out on a limb here, but I think maybe airplane mystery meat is a little worse than it is at Asilomar.

What are your favorite tricks to surviving flights and conferences?