Eat Like You Give A Fork and Thrive

Eat Like You Give A Fork and Thrive
The real dish on eating to thrive

Article by: Linda Kissam
Photos and recipe courtesy of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.

Looking to eat more mindfully? Already tried going Paleo, raw vegan, dairy free, nut free, fat free or grain free? Disappointing results? Are you chomping at the bit to go healthy with flavorful choices? Eat Like You Give A Fork: The Real Dish on Eating To Thrive by Mareya Ibrahim (St. Martin’s Griffin June 2019) could be just what you’re hungering for. Just sayin’…

Author Mareya Ibrahim comes with some inspiring credentials. Think nutritionist, award-winning inventor, and the signature chef and meal plan designer for the bestselling diet book The Daniel Plan.

Author Mareya Ibrahim

In this current book, Mareya offers a non diet, diet plan where you will, “…plan, shop and eat with intention.” The content focuses on a positive approach to healthy eating by retraining your taste buds. I know it sounds strange, but as Mareya says, “The tongue wags the dog.”

The author says you  have to learn to like the flavors that make you healthy. She’s right. Dump the pizza and donuts.  Embrace nutritional and macro-nutrient foods that rock your palate.

Avoiding sweet and salty foods in favor of those chock full with sour, bitter, and umami flavors, such as dark leafy greens, toasted seaweed, and pickled vegetables are her secret sauce to feeling great, losing weight and eating with intent.

The book is divided into eight strategies, such as restocking a kitchen with wholesome foods and “going vegan two days a week.” Each section concludes with a handful of recipes. There are eighty “forking delicious” recipes that support eight essential nutritional strategies.

Vitality Tonic

 

This diet will come easiest to those who already like a Mediterranean or vegetarian type diet. It’s going to be a bit more difficult for the meat loving, sugar devoted, fridge surfing eaters to get into it.

I think if you’re truly ready to eat clean and with intent, you’ll like this book. Re-training your taste buds, re stocking your fridge and pantry is a process and a journey. With the author nudging you through the first week or two with a gentle touch and some humor, if your mind set is to change the way you eat, this may be a path you can walk.

Smoked Salmon Chive Spread

 

There are several recipes that are really tasteful and attention grabbing. You don’t have to be on this plan to try the recipes.  The beautiful color photos and the spice-induced recipes are a motivator that may send you on the way to healthier eating. Here are some of my favorites.

The Real Dish Row Salad
Moroccan Spiced Chicken Legs*
MedMex Lettuce Cup Tacos
Real Vitality Tonic
Curry Cashew Chicken Lettuce Cups
Smoked Salmon and Chive Mousse on Cucumber Slices

Recipe

Makes 4 Servings

*MOROCCAN SPICED CHICKEN LEGS

Moroccan Spiced Chicken Legs

 

Ras el hanout is a North African spice mix, the name of which means “head of the shop” or “top shelf” in Arabic (the best spices the shop has to offer). What I love about it is that you pretty much don’t need anything else for seasoning. It’s got cumin, cardamom, clove, allspice, chile, ginger, turmeric, paprika, and a rainbow of other ingredients, so when you have it on hand, you can use it as a seasoning for shrimp, fish, veggies, tempeh, and anything else your exotic heart desires. Spice blends rock!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons ras el hanout

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 tablespoons raw coconut oil, melted

8 large chicken legs, removing skin is optional

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

2) In a medium bowl, combine the ras el hanout, garlic powder, salt, white pepper, and coconut oil and stir to form a paste. Pat the chicken legs dry and slather them with the spice paste until evenly coated.

3) Place the chicken legs in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet (or in a baking dish), leaving room between them. Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more, until the internal temperature at the thickest point (without touching the bone) reaches 165ºF and the skin or flesh is golden brown. Enjoy with Molokhia Soup (page 108) or on their own, hot or at room temperature.

From Eat Like You Give a Fork by Mareya Ibrahim. Copyright © 2019 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.

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Although the author received a free copy of this book to review, the opinions are her own.

Eat Like You Give A Fork: The Real Dish on Eating To Thrive by Mareya Ibrahim
Hardcover / About $27.00

 

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