Foodie Inspiration

Healthy eating and cooking for yourself go hand in hand. If you have the resources it is possible to eat healthy while dining out, but restaurants that don’t use processed foods can be difficult to find and tend to be pricey. They also limit you to a handful of different dishes that can become monotonous if you rely on them for most of your meals.

But keeping your healthstyle interesting can be a challenge even if you cook for yourself. Although shopping in season inevitably rotates you through new ingredients over the course of the year, we can still slip into the pattern of making the same dishes over and over again. And while repetition can be easy and comforting, it can also be problematic.

Monotony and boredom are your enemies if you are trying to make healthy eating a way of life; junk food will be extra tempting simply because it’s more interesting than the same boring meal you’ve had 10 times before.

To keep yourself from getting in a cooking rut you must actively seek inspiration for new dishes and flavor combinations. This is true for both kitchen newbies and seasoned chefs, and it gets easier with practice. The more you learn to outsource your creativity and experiment, the better you get at finding meal ideas in your daily life.

Inspiration can come from anywhere. These are some places I often find new ideas, but you are only limited by your imagination.

8 Places To Cook Up Recipe Inspiration

1. Farmers markets

My number one source of inspiration is always the beautiful produce and other goodies I find each week at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Not only do I often find interesting new ingredients to experiment with, I also find familiar foods that look so fresh and delicious I can’t help but buy them and turn them into something wonderful.

If you are thinking about buying something but do not know how to cook it, ask the vendor for ideas or common preparations. I recommend you get anything that looks new and interesting, since most vegetables are relatively cheap and Google puts a universe of recipes at your fingertips.

2. Restaurants

Most major cities (San Francisco especially) are home to amazingly talented and innovative chefs of all different styles and flavors. Steal their ideas! If you have a memorable meal while out on the town, take mental notes on the flavors and textures that capture its essence. You don’t have to be able to recreate it exactly at home, but you can definitely borrow the concept, simplify it and adapt it to your own skills and needs.

For example, I was recently struck by a dish at a spectacular restaurant that was composed of beets with dill–a flavor combination I had never tried. The dish was technically complicated and I wouldn’t bother attempting to make it the same way, but later that week I did roast some beets and change up my usual recipe to include dill instead of mint (sans chèvre). Turned out fantastic.

3. Food blogs

The number of outstanding food blogs today on the interwebs is staggering, and I love to skim through them looking for wonderful recipe ideas. I can’t even begin to list all my favorite sites here, but I try to highlight at least one mouthwatering recipe each week in For The Love of Food posts.

4. Travel

Nothing inspires enthusiasm for new flavors and recipes like traveling to a different locale. Eating traditional cuisines–the way they are supposed to be made–is one of the most intimate and meaningful ways to engage with a culture. Learn a few of the cuisine’s basic ingredients and cooking techniques and you can bring a tiny bit of your experience home with you. Think of this process as a procedural photograph you can use to remember your trip.

Again, you don’t have to recreate dishes exactly the same way in your own kitchen. Sometimes just a single special ingredient can evoke an entire cultural experience.

5. Friends

We all have that friend who is an amazing cook (love you guys!). Not only does this person sometimes hook you up with delicious treats, chances are your foodie friend also loves to talk about food and cooking. This is a goldmine for new ideas and sometimes even a little help and guidance. Maintain a healthy, food-centric relationship with this person and watch the inspiration roll in.

(Hint: If you don’t have a friend like this come hang out with me on Twitter @summertomato)

6. Books

Cookbooks are wonderful but, to be honest, I rarely use them. The reason is that I’m usually too busy to bother lugging the giant things off the shelf and thumbing through them for something specific. I usually either wing it in the kitchen or search online for what I need.

Literature, however, can be a huge inspiration for me to try out new things in the kitchen. It wasn’t until I read The Moor’s Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie that I really started exploring Indian cooking. The Last Chinese Chef helped me learn to appreciate the depth of Chinese cuisine. And I cannot eat enough Spanish tapas when I’m reading Hemingway.

7. Podcasts and radio

I love Mondays because all my favorite food podcasts are waiting on my iPhone for me to listen to on my commute. Both entertaining and educational, foodie podcasts never fail to inspire me to try new foods and cooking methods. They also make me a better cook by describing tips and techniques I am unfamiliar with.

8. TV

Although I do not watch TV regularly, there was a time when I would catch a periodic episode of Top Chef or other foodie show. What I enjoyed most about these programs was the times they would explain the decision making process that goes into creating a dish. But even if culinary improvisation isn’t in your cards, you can at least borrow their ideas (just like at a restaurant) and make similar meals for yourself at home. The recipes used are often posted online.

You can also get meal ideas from TV dramas and sitcoms. Remember Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi? That’s where I first learned about mulligatawny.

Recipe inspiration can come from anywhere, but if you aren’t looking for it a stroke of genius may pass you by.

Where do you get your inspiration in the kitchen?

Originally published February 24, 2010.

The amount of time I spend each day commuting, doing lab work, shopping, cooking, waiting for people and avoiding pointless conversations would be unbearably painful without my trusty headphones. Now instead of wasting all this time, I use it to learn about my favorite things: food and health.

Podcasts are wonderful audio resources, perfect for keeping up on foodie news and finding inspiration for new culinary adventures. (I’m also addicted to audiobooks from Audible.)

Great podcasts are defined by the personality of their host. Foodies are passionate people and the best hosts effortlessly broadcast their love of everything culinary through a medium that transmits neither taste nor smell. Amazing when you think about it.

These podcasts are truly inspiring and always leave me hungry for more.

Tip! Set your iTunes settings to play back at 2x speed to cut your listening time in half. Videos only play at standard speed.

Top 10 Food and Health Podcasts

Times listed are at standard play speed

1. KCRW’s Good Food

(1 hour)

KCRW Santa Monica has an amazing weekly podcast exploring all things food. Host Evan Kleiman shares stories and food narratives from around the country, while Pulitzer Prize winning food critic Jonathan Gold explores the vibrant LA food scene. I especially like Laura Avery’s Market Report from the Santa Monica farmers market, a glimpse into what ingredients LA chefs are excited about through the seasons.

2. Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie

(30 minutes video)

Though we were all devastated by the news of Gourmet‘s closing, it hit me extra hard when I thought we might be losing their brilliant podcast as well. Luckily, Diary of a Foodie is scheduled to stay. If you love to travel and explore international cooking you will be instantly hooked on this utterly brilliant glimpse into native cuisines around the globe. But be warned, this podcast is a video and can make short time of your player’s battery.

3. APM: The Splendid Table

(50 minutes)

Lynne Rossetto Kasper is an enchanting radio personality with a seemingly limitless knowledge and appreciation for food. Some of the most fascinating bits of information come from her answering callers’ questions about interesting dishes they’ve discovered or what to do with a special ingredient.

4. Nutrition Diva

(5-10 minutes)

I have yet to find a nutrition expert on the internet I trust more than Monica Reinagel, the Nutrition Diva. This quick and informative podcast is a fun and convenient supplement to her spectacular Nutrition Data blog.

5. The Restaurant Guys

(40 minutes)

Smart and irreverent, Mark Pascal and Francis Schott, tackle food issues big and small. The New Jersey based radio team has been described as “Car Talk for food.”

6. Munchcast

(30-60 minutes)

Though far from healthy, this junk food based podcast with San Francisco radio personality Cammy Blackstone and geek foodie Leo Laporte is both hilarious and informative, and definitely worth working into your listening schedule. Haven’t you ever wondered who invented the Jello shot?

7. The Minimalist

(3-5 minutes video)

I love Mark Bittman (New York Times) for many reasons, not the least of which is his ability to bridge the gap between culinary decadence and mostly-healthy delicacies. These short videos are perfect mini cooking lessons for urbanites on the go.

8. NPR: Food Podcast

(5-40 minutes)

National Public Radio has a knack for putting together quality radio shows, and NPR Food is no exception. Food stories from around the nation are interesting, informative and inspiring.

9. Epicurious

(3 minutes video)

Guest chefs and mixologists share their quick lessons on how to cook, shop, mix drinks and live like a foodie.

10. NPR: Your Health

(15-30 minutes)

Not exclusively food-related, but filled with useful health news and information.

What food and health podcasts do you love?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Thanks to all of you who humored me participated in last weekend’s completely childish melon caption contest!

The awesome commentor of the week award goes to Foodie Adventures!, because it really would take a jumbo melon to hit a head that big!

"Who wants to throw JUMBO produce at Kanye West?"

As usual there were a ton of great articles this week around the web. I can’t say enough good things about what Monica Reinagel is doing over at her Nutrition Data blog and podcast. Luckily I also learned this week that health podcasts can help you lose weight!

Check the links below to find some great ideas on how to preserve summer herbs, what to do with fresh shelling beans and some tricks to keeping your brain sharp.

Oh, and did you hear that a new study found organic produce is actually more nutritious? Share your thoughts in the comments.

I also encourage all of you to sign this petition against the Smart Choices food labeling program, which has been widely criticized as a slap in the face to both consumers and health experts. It’s easy and I had no trouble unsubscribing to their mailings after I got the first one.

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For complete reading lists join me on the social bookmarking sites StumbleUpon and Delicious. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you there. (Note: If you want a follow back on Twitter introduce yourself with an @ message).

I also invite you to submit your own best food and health articles for next week’s For The Love of Food, just drop me an email using the contact form. I am also accepting guest posts at Summer Tomato for any awesome healthstyle tips and recipes you’d like to share.

This post is an open thread. Share your thoughts, writing (links welcome!) and delicious healthy meals of the week in the comments below.

For The Love of Food

• Are you an American? Then you’re probably not at low risk of heart disease <<Can you believe less than 8% of the US population qualifies as having “low risk” for heart disease? I’m sure glad I’m one of them, and I hope you are too! (Los Angeles Times)
• Genetics of obesity: Why we’re never going to find one diet that’s right for everyone <<It is getting harder and harder for me to choose which Nutrition Data blog posts to link to because they are all so amazingly good. You may as well just subscribe.
• Put in those ear buds and watch the scale numbers go down <<I’m not surprised at all by this news that listening to health podcasts can help people lose weight. I’ll be posting a list of my favorites soon. Please send me your suggestions!! (Los Angeles Times)
• 10 Easy Ways To Preserve Herbs <<With winter around the corner, you may want to plan ahead and start preserving all the wonderful summer herbs we can get these days at the farmers market. (Tipnut)
• Should You Trust an iPhone App That Says to Skip Buying Organic? <<Let’s just say that if you think you need an iPhone app‘s help, don’t bother with any of it because you have totally missed the point. (Tree Hugger)
• Organic is Healthier and More Nutritious <<Sure last month you heard different news about organic produce, but really this is nothing new. Food grown in better soil has more nutrients (and tastes better). Conventional food growers, however, will fight tooth and nail to convince you otherwise. (Foodmagazine)
• Fresh Shelling Bean Salad <<I have never really known what to do with the fresh shelling beans I often find at the farmers market. David Lebovitz is an inspiration with these recipes! (david lebovitz)
• Y Water is a Healthy Kid-Friendly Beverage <<B.S. of the week Have you ever seen anything so irresponsible?! (Oh wait). Putting vitamins in candy does not make it healthy! The sad part is that I was torn between this and two other obscenely horrible articles by Diets In Review. *Sigh*
• New food safety website from the USDA <<Amazingly the USDA has created a website to inform people about food safety issues. Too bad not everyone can shop at farmers markets and avoid these issues altogether. But at least we now have an official resource other than Bill Marler.
• 47 Ways to Fine Tune Your Brain <<Fun tips to keep your brain sharp! (Dumb Little Man)

What stories moved you this week?