It's All Good

Introduction

On Cooking, Panic Attacks, and Somatization^*

One sunny afternoon in London, in the spring of 2011, I thought—without sounding overly dramatic—that I was going to die. I had just served lunch in the garden at home. I had felt unwell while I was preparing it, but I couldn't pinpoint why. I had a vague feeling that I was going to faint, and I wasn't forming thoughts correctly. I didn't say much while we all ate. My family had friends joining us, and it was a beautiful, warm Sunday, but I couldn't really take it in. I was worried. I stood up to clear the table and found that my right hand wasn't working as it should, and then everything went blurry. I got a searing pain in my head, I couldn't speak, and I felt as if I couldn't breathe. I thought I was having a stroke.

My girlfriend held my hand and talked me into a calm state. As it turned out, I was having a horrible migraine and a panic attack. It took me hours to get my equilibrium back. As I tried to sleep it off, I could hear my children playing in the garden, and I was struck by the fear that my health could separate me from them, even for an afternoon. That next week, I set off to see doctors for every imaginable kind of checkup. I was told I had a benign cyst on my ovary that needed to be removed immediately, that I had a nodule on my parathyroid that was causing a lot of my fatigue, that my thyroid wasn't functioning properly, and that I needed to adjust my hormones with more hormones. It was not a good picture.

I had had a very exciting and busy year, and I knew I was worn down from the plane rides, the adrenaline, and the stress. But I didn't realize how this intense period of continuously pressing the override button on my already exhausted system, coupled with lots of French fries and wine, had taken a toll on me. Not to mention these rather serious-sounding physical manifestations of all the stress. I needed to do something. It was time for real change.

I had always been into health kicks and cleanses and the idea of "being healthy" for the most part, but I usually interspersed this clean living with hearty chunks of happy indulgence. And clearly I had gotten out of balance. I decided I needed to do something to build myself back up, and off I went to see my doctor and good friend Dr. Alejandro Junger. He had blood drawn for many tests, and when he called me a few days later to discuss the results, he sounded surprised. In addition to what had been found in London, I was severely anemic, I was vitamin D deficient, my liver was very congested, my stress levels were sky-high (something about my adrenals), there was a lot of inflammation in my system, and my hormones were off.

Dr. Junger said I needed to go on an elimination diet to clear out my system, heal my gut, and revive my body with good nutrients. This meant no coffee, no alcohol, no dairy, no eggs, no sugar, no shellfish, no deepwater fish, no potatoes, no tomatoes, no bell pepper, no eggplant, no corn, no wheat, no meat, no soy, nothing processed at all—tough words for a foodie to hear. Although it was difficult and I was often stumped about what to eat, I followed the diet to the letter, and three weeks later, I was a different person, according to my blood work. Thrilled that I had accomplished the mission, I asked Dr. Junger when I could go off this incredibly strict diet. "Well, it's hard for me to tell you this because I don't do it myself all the time," he said, "but this is the way you should try to eat for the rest of your life."

The rest of my life? Without Parmesan cheese and fried zucchini and pasta and baguettes and Pinot Noir? I could understand it for a limited time, but always? That was not going to happen, let's face it. However, could it become my baseline? The way I would eat most days, with the occasional cheat day? Could I lean toward it more? I decided I could. I could certainly try. And in the past couple of years, this has become the way I strive to eat and the diet I go back to and adhere to strictly when I have been overindulging, when I need to rebuild or clean out.

That spring in London (when my health and well-being came sharply into focus) became a very important time in my kitchen for my family's health. As I started to focus on eating a very clean, very healthy (sometimes ascetic-feeling) diet, I wondered if it would be possible to make dishes that fit all my new guidelines but tasted, looked, and smelled like the food I usually make. Comfort food with a very healthy bent. Very healthy food that didn't make me feel as if I was missing anything (except the glass of wine!). So I decided to call up my old pal Julia Turshen.

I met Julia during the filming of a food documentary series I did with Mario Batali in 2007 called Spain…On the Road Again. Julia was all smiles and all curls and all enthusiasm for food, and before the end of the shoot, we had become fast friends. I asked her what she did when she wasn't at far-flung locations and she said she cooked for a family in New York. In the following months, I found myself in NYC with my family for a week, working hard and unable to prepare our meals. I had an idea: I would ask Julia if she was available to step in. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and an incredible collaboration. We realized we loved to cook together, and that the sum of our parts was pretty great. I started to talk to her about an idea I had been thinking over for a long time, a cookbook, My Father's Daughter. Julia became my assistant in the kitchen, and the rest is history. She was my biggest support while I created every recipe for My Father's Daughter, standing over my shoulder, taking notes, approximating amounts, and being the best company ever while I worked.

When it was time to think about my next book, I knew I wanted to do it with Julia, but not as my assistant, as my coauthor. We decided to develop all the recipes together this time, bringing that greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts magic to its utmost manifestation, and having the best f*@£ing time doing it. When thinking of ways to make super-healthy comfort food, inspiration and collaboration were more important than ever. We developed a real partnership in culinary imagination, and it is one of the most fruitful relationships I've ever had.

During this same time, Dr. Junger referred me to Dr. Habib Sadeghi, a doctor who has changed (and continues to change) my life. Dr. Sadeghi is a conventionally trained physician who also practices other integrative healing methods. He has immersed himself in the study of nutrition and osteopathic manipulative medicine, and uses techniques from the worlds of Ayurveda, Tibetan medicine, anthroposophical medicine, acupuncture, and energy healing. Basically, the kind of doctor I had been searching for. While I understood about the power of food and the power of detoxification, I had never really taken into account the emotional aspect of what we put into our bodies and why.

Dr. Sadeghi took my healing to another level. He asked what unspoken emotions could be contributing to my stress, and gave me another roster of tests, which revealed high levels of metals and a blood parasite, among other things—things that are often left undiagnosed and have incredibly negative impacts on our well-being. My whole family was tested for food sensitivities and allergies (something I would highly recommend to anyone looking to feel better, shed weight, etc.), and the results were enlightening. Everyone in my house is intolerant of gluten, dairy, and chickens' eggs, among many other surprising foods I had always thought were healthy. What do you feed kids who can't eat gluten when pasta and bread are their favorite things on earth? What do you give a kid for dessert who is allergic to cow's milk?

I decided that we needed to create this book, not only for my family, but also for anyone out there who struggles with finding truly delicious food to feed their family when health issues need to be addressed. So no matter if you are doing Dr. Junger's Clean Program, which focuses on the elimination diet; a lean-protein-based weight-loss diet; or a food allergy program that steers you away from gluten and dairy; or if you just want to focus a bit more on nutritious food—there are recipes and weekly menus here for you. And most importantly, no matter what you want or need to cut out, for whatever reason, mealtimes should always feel happy. Not like a punishment. If I've learned anything, it's that it's all a process. "Falling off" your plan is part of it, not a reason to beat yourself up. It takes time to make these changes. It's all good. —Gwyneth Paltrow

Pantry

Julia here. Once, after a long day of work and travel, Gwyneth and I found ourselves late at night with a small group of hungry people in a kitchen that hadn't been used in months. We were more or less in the middle of nowhere and all the stores were closed. There was mustard in the fridge and a package of duck bacon in the freezer. Oil, vinegar, and some chickpea flour were in the cupboard. Like a prize, a perfectly ripe avocado emerged from Gwyneth's carry-on. Armed with a flashlight, I made a quick trip to the vegetable garden. It was June, so the greens had just shot up, and I gathered fistfuls of arugula, a bunch of chives, and some rosemary. We got to work. We put a cast-iron pan into the oven to get hot and mixed the chickpea flour with water, salt, and olive oil. We poured the batter into the hot pan, sprinkled the top with fresh rosemary, and put it back into the oven. While the duck bacon was cooking, Gwyneth whisked together a simple vinaigrette and packed it with chopped chives. I washed the greens and diced the avocado, and she coated both with the dressing and then crumbled in the salty, crispy duck bacon. We all stood at the counter and feasted on the salad and sliced ourselves wedges of the chickpea pancake/frittata/baked-polenta-ish concoction. Something from seemingly nothing, the meal was a testament to the power of a pantry, no matter how sparsely it's stocked. With only a handful of ingredients, a comforting, healthy meal with real substance can be achieved anywhere, anytime. All of the recipes in this book depend entirely on great ingredients. Whether you've got room for every spice and grain or space for just a few, keeping good staples around is the first step toward cooking well at home. In the following pages, you'll find the ingredients we depend on the most. When we had questions about certain pantry items, we asked Dr. Alejandro Junger to share his expertise. You'll find his thoughts in places marked "Alejandro says."

IN THE FRIDGE

Fresh Produce!

Berries, dark leafy greens, leeks and scallions, carrots and cucumbers, fresh chili peppers and ginger, plenty of fresh herbs, asparagus, and more… Our lives would be bland and our bodies weak without plenty of fresh produce.

Jars and Bottles

Vegenaise: We basically can't live without Vegenaise—it's a little out of control. We prefer it over regular mayonnaise, we schlep it if we're going somewhere they don't sell it, we spread it on just about everything (see Avocado Toast here), we use it instead of oil in baked goods (see The Brownie Recipe That Could here), we mix it into dressings (see Creamy Parsley Dressing here and Mexican Green Goddess here), and we save the jars to store salad dressings and homemade pickles in.

Good-quality maple syrup: We use maple syrup way beyond pancakes and waffles (but don't get us wrong, we love it on them!). It's one of our favorite natural sweeteners and is full of antioxidants and zinc. It's said to be great for digestion and even muscle recovery, and we depend on it to sweeten dressings, sauces, and baked goods.

Mustard: Good-quality Dijon mustard and coarse seeded mustard find their way into lots of our dressings.

Pickles and kimchi: Whether it's a full-sour Bubbies pickle or a tangle of spicy cabbage kimchi, fermented foods add assertive punches of flavor to and alongside our dishes. It doesn't hurt that fermented vegetables are said to reduce cholesterol and support the digestive system and are a huge boost for the immune system, so much so that kimchi is considered a cancer-fighting food. Kimchi is available at your neighborhood Asian market, at Hmart.com, and at Whole Foods, and is increasingly found in major grocery stores.

Miso paste: Offering the same health benefits as pickles and kimchi, miso paste is made of fermented soybeans. Its flavor enlivens lots of our dressings and sauces (check out the Carrot-Ginger Dressing here and Lee's Hoisin Sauce here). We mostly use sweet white miso and red miso made from soybeans, but misos made with brown rice and barley are really nice, too. Experiment to find which ones you like best, since they keep in the fridge forever!

A Note on Miso: Why is miso good for you?

Alejandro says…

"Miso is a fermented food and therefore has great benefits for health, such as a high content of readily absorbable B vitamins, pre- and probiotics, and minerals. Always go for GMO-free miso (that's miso without any genetically modified organisms); organic is preferable."

Raw coconut water: Basically nature's sports drink, raw coconut water has more potassium per serving than a banana and is full of electrolytes. While it's pretty perfect on its own, especially during or after a workout, we also like to use it in smoothies and even in some recipes like Black Rice with Fresh Coconut (see here). If you have access to fresh, young coconut and are fearless with a knife, that's the way to go. If you'd prefer something a bit more convenient and less messy, our favorite brand of coconut water, by far, is Harmless Harvest, which is sold at Whole Foods.

Almond milk: Nearly all of our shakes and smoothies would suffer without our favorite cow's milk alternative. We use almond milk in lots of baked goods, too. When we have time, we love to make our own (see here), but there's no shame in buying it—always look for plain unsweetened almond milk (unless you're making Bernardo's Pumpkin Pie Shake, here, which calls for unsweetened vanilla almond milk).

Dairy

We have mostly stayed away from dairy in this book (though if you put a ripe, runny, stinky cheese in front of either of us… watch out), but occasionally you'll see recipes that call for plain, full-fat sheep's or goat's milk yogurt (which we've been able to find at Whole Foods and health food stores all across the country). Way more digestible and less allergenic than cow's milk varieties, yogurt made from sheep's and goat's milk is full of protein, healthy bacteria, and probiotics. If you can find raw versions of either yogurt, so much the better. If needed or desired, regular cow's milk yogurt can be substituted.

Proteins

Eggs: We use only organic eggs, preferably local ones from chickens, ducks, and even quails.