by Kelly Martinsen
Robert Irvine, celebrity chef who has been featured on a number of Food Network shows, including Restaurant: Impossible, Dinner: Impossible and Worst Cooks in America, has been taking his expertise on the road. He is scheduled to be on Long Island for a fun evening of cooking on December 6 at the Paramount Theatre, in Huntington. Natural Awakenings of Long Island got a chance to ask him five of our favorite questions.NA: How did you choose the cooking/restaurant biz?
RI: I used to help my mom prepare Sunday roasts as a kid, but my first real interest in cooking came when I took a home economics class in high school. I still remember the first dish I had to make in that class. It was a quiche Lorraine. While not an overly complex dish, it is a great example of a simple food that is incredibly delicious when prepared to perfection. This is what fuels my passion for cooking—it’s the challenge of achieving perfection with no more than a few quality ingredients and watching how those foods can bring people together to enjoy its simple pleasures.
NA: What is your motivation to stay in the cooking/restaurant biz?
RI: I’m motivated by the impact that my work can have on people. Whether it’s watching folks enjoy a great dish I’ve created at a food festival, helping the owners of a struggling restaurant turn their business around, or traveling to Afghanistan with the USO [United Service Organizations] to entertain our troops, there is never a dull moment in my career nor is there one that does not bring some level of reward or inspiration for me.
NA: As you may well know, Natural Awakenings of Long Island is focused on healthy living. What is the best advice you could give for busy people that are looking to stay healthy?
RI: I’m really glad you’ve asked me this because this very question has been one that I’ve worked hard to respond to with my recent work. In fact, just this summer I published my first health and fitness guide, Fit Fuel: A Chef’s Guide to Eating Well, Getting Fit, and Living Your Best Life, which was created specifically to provide busy families with the nutritional and fitness tools and motivation to help change their lives for the better. Fit Fuel features healthy recipes for every meal, step-by-step fitness routines, and tips on how to stay on track. I’ve also included an overview on nutrition that outlines how to shop and eat healthy, even when your options are limited, and how to better understand food labels to help people make more educated choices at the grocery store.
NA: How do you spend your downtime?
RI: Downtime is a rarity for me. I spend more than 340 days on the road, so I always try to make time to hit the gym, even when traveling. And most importantly, I always look for opportunities to spend time with my wife, Gail, and my two daughters.
NA: What is your favorite easy healthy recipe right now?
RI: I always advise people to seek out recipes that include whole foods; lots of fresh produce; and very few bottled ingredients, like syrups and sugary marinades. Every flavor you desire can be created with fresh ingredients. Tomatoes, oranges, lemons, garlic—these are just a few examples of great ingredients that can be used to create simple homemade marinades and sauces. I also recommend that folks consider dishes that either contain or allow for an easy substitution of more nutrition-dense ingredients. Quinoa, for example, is packed with essential amino acids and twice the fiber of most other whole grains, and it is a great substitution for white rice or pastas.
One dish that I have always is roast chicken and mashed potatoes. But I feature a great roast chicken recipe in Fit Fuel that offers a lower sodium preparation of the chicken that focuses on natural flavor achieved from herbs and vegetables as well as a parsnip purée in place of mashed potatoes. It’s incredible.
Robert Irvine will be appearing at the Paramount Theatre (370 New York Ave., Huntington) December 6. For tickets and information, visit ParamountNY.com or TicketMaster.com.
