Goat cheese on my salad makes me happy!

This title only works if you sing it to the tune of the John Denver song. If you don't know which song I mean, here's a link.

Now everyone!

Goat cheese....on my salad....makes me happy!

I've been singing this for about a week now. Out loud. I can't get it out of my head. Keith just stares at me. Maybe it's because he doesn't care for goat cheese. Or maybe it's because he thinks I'm nuts.

Lest you also think I'm losing it (lost it), let me explain. For me, a little sprinkling of crumbled goat cheese (chèvre) can take an ordinary dish (salad, chicken, veggies) to the level of close-my-eyes-on-first-bite delicious. I love it that much. If I see it in a dish at a restaurant, I order it...often without even caring what the goat cheese is on top of.

Here's what I love about it (besides the yumminess, of course). Goat cheese is strong-flavored, so a little goes a long way. Don't get me wrong, cheese is by no means a low-calorie diet food. However, it follows the theory in my "umami" post about how strong flavors in small amounts can transform food with little caloric impact -- you can take a bland chicken breast, for instance, add a tablespoon or two of chopped umami-rich calamata olives, and you'll have a flavor explosion. Don't even get me started on calamata olives coupled with goat cheese. Bliss. Anyway, my point is that 1/2 an ounce of goat cheese (about 2 tablespoons, if you're using crumbles) only has 38 calories. This is all you need to sprinkle a single portion of salad, chicken, whatever. If you're like Keith and goat cheese isn't your thing, you can choose 1/2 ounce of any strong-flavored cheese for the same calorie range (1/2 oz of blue cheese crumbles clocks in at 50 calories, feta at 38, and Parmigiano Reggiano at about 40).

By the way, I highly recommend you pick up an inexpensive food scale (mine is plastic and was $5 at the grocery store), as many nutrition labels list portion size in ounces. Then you never have to guess! Once you get a food scale, you'll see what an actual portion should look like. You'll be shocked at first, but you'll get used to it and you'll still have plenty to eat. I promise. But that's a post for another day.

Goat cheese...on my salad...makes me happy!
Goat cheese...in my eyes...can make me cry!

...wait...that doesn't make sense. Catchy, though, isn't it?

So buy some goat cheese crumbles. Or blue cheese. Or feta. Or whatever strong-flavored crumbled or shredded cheese you like. Try it on your chicken, in your salads, in an egg white omelet, or over grilled sirloin -- just watch the amount you're using (like I said, a little goes a long way). You'll turn boring same-old entrees into fancy, flavorful fare. Let me know what you think and what flavor combination you come up with! And I apologize in advance if this goat cheese song is stuck in your head all week.

The Svelte Gourmet: A Month of Main Courses cookbook is available at www.thesveltegourmet.com/products.html. Enjoy!

Ahhh...Umami!

When I first started to see the new Kikkoman television ads claiming "Umami" as the 5th taste, I thought it was just a gimmick. But for some odd reason, the word stuck in my head. I think it's because it reminds me of that Friends episode where Ross is trying to teach Rachel and Phoebe "Unagi," a "total awareness" exercise in karate. In my world (and theirs!), unagi is freshwater eel (my favorite sushi). Makes me laugh every time! "Ahhh...unagi!"

Anyway, back to umami. I did a little digging and figured out that umami really is classified as the 5th taste, and means "flavor" or "taste" in Japan. It is characterized by the presence of naturally occuring glutamates in foods. Brothy, meaty and savory have been proposed as additional translations.

So now we have salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami. So what does this mean for us? What I figured out during my umami research is that The Svelte Gourmet: A Month of Main Courses cookbook is largely based on this flavor profile. Why? Because focusing on the flavors found in umami-rich foods, along with some salty, some sour and some sweet, creates big taste in small amounts! You get a ton of flavor, without adding a lot of fat and calories.

So based on the Kikkoman campaign, we can surmise that many Asian flavors are umami-rich. I've read that this includes the use of MSG (monosodium glutamate) as a flavor enhancer, but I'm talking about the naturally occuring glutamates in foods. No worries! So what other foods have umami flavors? Here's a quick list of the ones I love:

- beef, pork, chicken, fish, shellfish -- OK, so anything protein-rich!
- tomatoes
- mushrooms
- truffles
- soybeans
- carrots
- aged cheeses -- Parmesan, cheddar, Gruyere, emmental, blue cheese, romano
- yogurt and sour cream

So what does this say to me? It says -- and umami experts agree -- that pizza with tomato sauce, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese is an umami triple threat! That's even without the meat. Lucky for you, there's a healthy pizza recipe in the cookbook that even the kids will gobble up! Not only is this recipe full of umami-rich ingredients, the entire 8-inch Svelte Gourmet pizza has less than 400 calories! That's less than one slice of take-out! But I digress...

Mix these umami flavors with some of the other strong but healthful players, like salty olives, sweet honey, and sour citrus and you have entrees packed with flavor. These foods may not seem "svelte" to you, but used sparingly, these flavors pack a big punch in just a small amount. Perfect when you're trying to make healthy food taste great!

I've been walking around the kitchen saying "ahhh...umami" for about a month now. Keith and the kids think I'm a bit odd, but that's ok. I was formulating this blog entry in my head, wondering how I could best get the point across. Then this past weekend, I was preparing a client dinner -- starting with a lovely whole wheat crostini topped with roasted tomatoes, kalamata olives, garlic and basil chiffonade. Taylor walked into the kitchen, smelled it and said, "Yum, what are you making? It smells beefy." Well there you go. Ahhh....Umami!

The Svelte Gourmet: A Month of Main Courses is available at www.thesveltegourmet.com/products.html. Enjoy!