Guest Author - Jan Zeiger

I started watching The Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network last month and was immediately impressed. The host, Ina Garten, is the author of several best-selling cookbooks such as Barefoot Contessa at Home and The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. I truly enjoy her show and have already made some of her recipes which have turned out to be lovely and delicious. I find her personality soothing and warm and like the format of the show which often includes entertaining friends. While I can find recipes online any time, I find that I learn more by watching cooking shows like The Barefoot Contessa.

Meals from Scratch with Local Ingredients

I am recommending this show to my Natural Living readers here at Bella Online because Ina’s recipes always include fresh, natural ingredients. I’ve been watching her show for two months now and have rarely seen her use anything boxed or processed when preparing a meal. (While she doesn’t always use whole wheat flour, pasta, or bread, substitutions can be made fairly easily.) She cooks with extra virgin olive oil and even uses butter which, contrary to popular belief, is not so terrible when used in moderation. Margarine and other substitutes are filled with dyes, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and other undesirable ingredients. Butter is all natural and should always be chosen over margarine, but olive oil is an even better choice. I’ve noticed that Ina Garten often combines the two to get the flavor of butter with the higher smoke point of the oil, a trick I’ve used recently.

Ina’s show is based at her home in the Hamptons and she’s often shown driving to a local farm where she buys free range chicken and eggs. In addition, she often visits local produce stands for the best seasonal fruits and vegetables. I enjoy watching The Barefoot Contessa each evening immensely because of the fact she prepares hearty, delicious meals for her guests from scratch using ingredients from local farms. This is important to me because so many other cooking shows feature recipes made with unhealthy, processed foods that shorten prep time. In addition to using fresh ingredients that have been produced locally, Ina shows viewers that cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be difficult by sharing helpful tips and simple recipes for wonderful meals.

All Natural Desserts

While Ina prepares dessert often, it is always made from scratch and is free of harmful additives such as high fructose corn syrup and artificial dyes. (She tends to use white granulated sugar, but substitutions can be easily made with organic unrefined sugar being used instead.) I hope to try the pumpkin mousse parfaits that she made for guests on yesterday‘s show. They looked wonderful and so easy to make! These are one of the few things I’ve seen her make with a prepared food product (ginger cookies), but they look so good. I would simply make my own cookies ahead of time or find an organic version at the health food store. We don’t have dessert every night, but I do make it a couple of times a month as a special treat. Ina recently made homemade vanilla ice cream to serve on top of warm apple crisp which I plan to make next week. There’s certainly nothing wrong with a little dessert as long as it’s all natural!



The Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network

I like to cook and am often experimenting with new recipes, so I DVR The Barefoot Contessa each day to watch after my little ones are in bed. We’re eating poultry a bit these days, so I made Ina’s delicious turkey meatloaf last night for dinner along with a green salad and mashed potatoes. I’ve enjoyed Ina’s show so much that I plan to buy one of her cookbooks the next time I’m at the bookstore. I’ve heard they are well-written with a personal touch and packed with recipes that receive excellent reviews from family and friends. Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa is a pleasure to watch and provides me with new ideas for meals made with natural ingredients that I feel good about serving my family.

Vegan or vegetarian? I recommend Christina Cooks on your local PBS station. Also check out Living Fresh on the Discovery Home Channel. This show features organic foods and tips for green living.