A tribute to healthy eating: Spinach and polenta gratin

A Cultural Encounter with Healthy Eating

Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are—Brillat-Savarin

Our eating habits and cooking strategies often reveal something about us.

Since I find this revelation to be true for myself, I’m sharing a story about inspiration . . . and how eating and cooking patterns can be influenced after experiencing life-changing OIC moments.

Wild herb soup—made with nettle, dandelion, and wild garlic
© Meredith Mullins

A Fasting Tale

Full disclosure. I am not a cook. I am also not a particularly healthy eater, which I conveniently blame on genetics. However, twice a year I go to the Buchinger-Wilhelmi clinic in Germany for a cleansing fast. (See OIC story.)

I come away with much more than a new lightness of being (physical, mental, and spiritual), a rested digestive tract, and the joy of fasting euphoria (although those treasures alone would be worth the trip). I see my visit as a cultural encounter with good health—in the moment and for the future.

A variety of choices for healthy eating
© Meredith Mullins

I am inspired to continue the program of healthy eating and to actually take the giant step of preparing some of the recipes that I have been shown. I also look forward to practicing some of the tips introduced in the demonstrations and lectures.

Sprout and apple salad—so fresh, so easy
© Meredith Mullins

First-Time Memories

I pause here to mention that the first time I came to the clinic, I was not especially embracing the idea of fasting. I updated my will before I made the journey and said goodbye to friends and family as if it were the last time I would see them. I was not convinced I would survive.

I had never fasted before, and had visions of hunger, heartburn, and hallucinations. As it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised.

Garden vegetable soup for a fasting dinner (you come to love it!)
© Meredith Mullins

It seems I was a natural. No hunger. No heartburn. And only a few hallucinations on the famous Day 5 of the fast (where they say one often begins to feel the fasting high).

At the clinic, it’s not just about what you are eating (or not eating). It’s about a total reset of your body so that healthy eating becomes a natural rhythm once you return to the outside world.

Chef Hubert Hohler explains the reason for minimizing oil in cooking.
© Meredith Mullins

A Spirit Guide with Heart

A large part of that healthy food experience comes from the heart of Chef Hubert Hohler. He has been with the clinic for 25 years and brings passion, exacting standards, and joy to his job.

He also is an expert in plant-based cooking with pure organic materials, and shares his knowledge with clinic guests via twice weekly cooking demonstrations.

Chef Hohler’s advice: Sauté with no oil. Just herbs and the natural liquid of the vegetable.
© Meredith Mullins

Chef Hohler is a good role model for clinic guests. He understands the fasting process, as he has fasted every year for the past 30 years. And, most of all, he loves to cook.

He is dedicated to creating delicious healthy organic food—the tasty broths for fasting and the vegetarian meals to lead in and out of the fast or for people who prefer just a low calorie healthy program.

Making fennel sauce or soup—you can decide after the basic preparation.
© Meredith Mullins

He visits other cultures and brings the best of those worlds to his recipes. He experiments constantly, all with a goal of increasing the health value of the food. And he knows that certain recipes, the ones that long-time guests look forward to, should remain as is. It is not necessary to make them “new.”

A favorite: the easy-to-make quinoa or cottage cheese soufflé
© Meredith Mullins

Five Basic Tips for Healthy Eating

Here are five tips I’ve learned at Buchinger-Wilhelmi from Chef Hohler (with a reminder that I’m not a cook, so I have much to learn.) I am happy to report that these have now become a part of my everyday healthy-eating processes.

1. Control oil (quantity and quality). Sauté vegetables without oil, as the natural liquid in the vegetables is sufficient. Add a touch of oil to your dish at the end to give taste. Make use of a variety of quality oils. For example, use almond oil to sweeten a bitter taste or walnut oil to add astringency to something sweet.
2. Use natural sweeteners rather than sugar. Ripe fruit serves as a sweetener (bananas, apples, apple juice).
3. Create salad dressings using blended vegetables (avocado, carrots, tomatoes) to minimize fat and calories. (Try the avocado vinaigrette in the free recipes below.)

The avocado vinaigrette dressing with a touch of tomato to change the taste and color
© Meredith Mullins

4. For soup or sauce, start with the basics: onion, potato, and a vegetable. The only difference between soup and sauce is the amount of liquid in relation to the vegetables and the fact that a soup must stand on its own, while a sauce accompanies something to complement it.

5. Use fresh herbs for seasoning rather than salt. As you think about seasoning, taste to see what you’re missing on your tongue’s taste buds (sweet, salt, bitter, sour). In other words, don’t just add salt. Be more creative. Think about what herb or spice can add the missing taste.

OIC invites you to download the special free recipes below for practical ways to use these tips.

Everything in this bouquet can be used in cooking.
© Meredith Mullins

Beyond Tips and Recipes

In addition to the tips from Chef Hohler, his spirit of cooking organically is everpresent. He is careful about all the products he uses. He knows the producers and what processes they use. And he relies on seasonal products to ensure the freshest of ingredients.

From his time as a teenager helping to harvest his family’s asparagus crop, he has learned to appreciate the work behind products.

Even though Chef Hohler had to wake up at 5 am to harvest his family’s white asparagus,
he still loves to cook with it.
© Meredith Mullins

He looks for producers who really care about what they’re doing. If something is grown with love, he feels that the love will be noticed. And, then, when the kitchen also prepares the food with love, he believes that combination is a real treasure for those who are eating.

A cooking demonstration that tempts all the senses.
© Meredith Mullins

A Change in Everyday Rhythms

Yes, it may be difficult to watch a cooking demonstration when fasting. After all, those wonderfully fresh vegetables and fruits seem very different from the broth for dinner. And the smells from the demo seem to touch all the senses in a cruelly heightened way.

Yes, desserts are allowed after the fast, so try this lavender cake with a pear topping
© Meredith Mullins

But what this theatre of food preparation is actually doing is providing a look into the future. This is what I’ll be doing when I leave Buchinger-Wilhelmi (albeit not in quite as nice a kitchen).

The sights and sounds and smells have found a way to some deeper place. This cultural encounter with healthy eating will now be a part of my everyday rhythm.

Ready for some easy-to-make, delicious, healthy food?  OIC offers this free download of favorite recipes for healthy eating from Chef Hubert Hohler. 

Thank you to the Buchinger-Wilhelmi Clinic for this inspiration for healthy eating.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.