Page Karen - The vegetarian flavor Bible : the essential guide to culinary creativity with vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and more, based on the wisdom of leading American chefs

In two decades of writing about food, Ive have had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing many of the worlds greatest chefs while studying their secrets for making food taste great. My work-related eating (including wine-tasting lunches and dinners) often took me to the dining rooms of DANIEL, Le Bernardin, and Per Seor, during a year spent eating at chefs favorite restaurants from coast to coast, sampling In-N-Out burgers, pork-and-crab soup dumplings, and both Pats and Genos cheese steaks. My life included an endless pursuit of deliciousness, and I was always thrilled to discover what Id learn from the next bite. But as more and more headlines trumpeted the relationship between nutrition and wellness, it dawned on me that for someone who ate for a living, Id thought surprisingly little about what to put in my body to keep myself healthy when I wasnt busy eating for professional reasons. After I lost both my father and stepmother to cancer between 2006 and 2009, I couldnt help thinking about my own half-century birthday looming on the horizon. It finally occurred to me, for the first time in my life, that I might want to start including healthfulness as a criterion for choosing what to eat.

After poring over dozens of books and websites on food and nutrition, I found myself confused by varying (and often contradictory) nutritional advice. If Ia graduate of Northwestern and Harvard and longtime culinary professionalwas having a tough time figuring out what makes a healthful diet, what about everyone else? I was not surprised, then, to discover that in a 2012 poll, over half of Americans polled said they found it easier to do their taxes than to figure out what to eat to keep themselves healthy. Now thats frustration. The general publics lack of nutritional knowledge is tragic, because it turns out that the leading cause of death in this country is nutritionally controllable diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Diets that forego animal protein in favor of plant protein are associated with a lower risk of all three. I eventually did find this common thread among what I learned to be the best-respected authorities: their advice to eat a plant-based diet, especially plentiful vegetables.

The corollary was to avoid processed junk foods with empty calories (especially from fat and sugar) and to instead opt for whole foods as much as possible. When I finally decided to experiment with virtually full-time vegetarianism in May 2012, I kept quiet about itbecause having grown up in the heart of the Midwest, eating meat at least two and often three times a day, I had serious doubts that I could stick with a meatless diet for even a week or two. My husband, Andrewwho had cooked professionally at some of the best restaurants in Boston and New York City, and who bravely joined me in my experiment in meatless eatingtypically did our grocery shopping and most of the cooking. I provided help by giving him a list of what not to buy: Junk foods. Soft drinks. White flour, white sugar, white rice.