Your Newspaper - Your Health

Posted on: July 26, 2007

The 85/15 Diet

When it comes to eating, baby boomer Jesse Ziff Cool is good – very good. But when she’s bad, she’s still slim

By Bev Bennett
CTW Features

Jesse Ziff Cool is buff; she has the arms that make a T-shirt look great. She radiates energy. And if that’s not envy-inducing enough, Cool is in her 50s, the age when many women start to pack on pounds.

Cool, however, doesn’t spend all her time in a gym. She’s one of California’s top chefs, with restaurants, a catering service and cookbooks to her credit. Like any chef, she samples new food products offered by purveyors, tastes as she cooks and dines out on her days off.

If you want to know how Cool stays so fit, she’ll tell you it’s not easy. She exercises with weights on a regular basis.

Just as important, Cool developed an eating philosophy that allows her to splurge on the foods she loves, while controlling the foods that could wreck her diet. She balances food for sheer pleasure with food for good health.

“I think about it all the time,” says Cool, who lives in Palo Alto and is the owner of the Cool Cafe at Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center and the Flea Street Cafe and jZCool Eatery, both in Menlo Park.

“Being a chef means I have to think carefully about food, calories in and calories out,” says Cool, who describes a childhood with plenty of Miracle Whip.

Cool’s formula for healthy eating is what she calls the 85/15 approach. Eighty-five percent of the time she makes conscious choices about what she eats.

For example, Cool restricts herself to small tastes of food when she’s working in the kitchen. She occasionally keeps a food journal so she stays on track. When she’s dining out, she eats only half the food on the plate.

But when the urge strikes, she cashes in on her 15-percent allowance, whether it’s to indulge in two martinis and some chopped liver or a slice of dense, crusty bread slathered with butter.

It’s no healthier to deny yourself a food you really want than to overindulge, insists the chef.

“You have to try to enjoy what you’re eating. If we acknowledge we make choices and take pleasure in our choices, we’ll be OK,” Cool says.

She practices the same philosophy that guides her health when she serves her restaurant clients or develops recipes for her cookbooks, including the popular “One-Pot Cookbook” (Chronicle Books, 2006).

There’s a balance between the rich and the simple, between high-fat creams and virtuous vegetables. Last fall’s menu from the Flea Street Cafe included saffron fettuccini with vodka cream sauce; chili-glazed pork chops and portabello mushroom Wellington.

“I believe if you eat high-quality food and appreciate what you’re eating, you’ll be satisfied with less,” Cool says.

The following recipes are adapted from Cool's book, “One-Pot Cookbook.”

Mrs. Dent's Italian Sausage and Chicken Stew

1 (15 ml) tablespoon olive oil

1 (12-ounce; 375 g) package chicken-based Italian sausage, or 4 (3-ounce; 85g) sausages, cut into 1-inch thick slices

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size chunks

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 to 6 garlic cloves, minced

2 very ripe tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped

2 (30 ml) tablespoons minced fresh oregano

1/2 (125 ml) cup dry red wine

1 cup (250 ml) thinly sliced fresh basil, divided

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 (125 ml) cup grated Asiago cheese, optional

In a large heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and chicken and cook for 8 minutes or until lightly browned on all sides. Add the bell pepper, onion, garlic, tomatoes, red wine and 1/2 cup basil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the chicken is opaque throughout. Stir in the remaining basil. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon onto a large platter and sprinkle with the grated Asiago. Serves 6.

Each serving without the cheese has: 320 calories; 8 grams total fat; 14 grams protein; 6.5 grams carbohydrates; 52 milligrams cholesterol; 550 milligrams sodium (if seasoned with 1/4 teaspoon salt) and 1.5 grams dietary fiber.

Note: The sausage and chicken stew is excellent served over the saffron basmati rice recipe that follows.

Saffron Basmati Rice

1 3/4 (425 ml) cups chicken broth

4 or 5 saffron threads (see note)

1 cup (250 ml) brown basmati rice (see note)

2 green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

1/4 (1 ml) teaspoon salt

Bring chicken broth to boiling in large shallow pot. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the saffron, rice, onions and salt. Stir. Cover and simmer for 30 to 35 minutes or until rice is tender and broth is absorbed. Fluff rice with a fork. Serves 6 with stew.

Each serving has: 130 calories; 1.5 grams total fat; 5 grams protein; 25 grams carbohydrates; 320 milligrams sodium and 1 gram dietary fiber.

Note: Saffron is available in better supermarkets and gourmet food stores. Brown basmati rice is available at natural food stores and specialty food stores.

Avocado Jicama Relish

1 large ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped

2 cups (250 ml) jicama, peeled and finely chopped, about 1/2 medium jicama

1 green onion, trimmed and finely chopped

Juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Serves 6

Each serving has: 85 calories; 5 grams total fat; 1 gram protein; 10 grams carbohydrate; 100 milligrams sodium (if seasoned with 1/4 teaspoon salt) and 1 gram dietary fiber.

Note: If desired, add a pinch of medium chili powder to the relish. Serve this in place of a mayonnaise-laden salad accompaniment to a burger.

Bev Bennett, a veteran food writer and editor, is the author of "Dinner for Two: A Cookbook for Couples" and "30-Minute Meals for Dummies"