creative
cooking
Sweetheart
of the
kıtchen
Healthy-cooking queen
whips up her fourth
HeartSmart cookbook
ROBER T WIGING TON
By Mark E. Stroder
SHE MAY BE HEALTH-CONSCIOUS, but
popular Toronto cooking instructor and
best-selling author Bonnie Stern still has her
food weaknesses.
GLENN LOWSON
The mere mention of coffee ice cream
makes her blush. “I love all kinds of desserts,”
Stern admits. “The trick is eating them in small
quantities and less often. I don’t forbid myself to
eat things. When something’s forbidden, you
want it more, and it becomes an issue.”
BONNIE STERN
It is this balanced approach that has made
Stern a natural partner with the Heart and
Stroke Foundation of Canada in developing
the HeartSmart cookbook series.
That balance is in evidence in her latest
cookbook, HeartSmart: The Best of HeartSmart Cooking, a compilation of the best
recipes from the series’ first three books, plus
100 new recipes, including mouth-watering
desserts—and plenty of delicious and
healthy cuisine.
“Many people think that when they’re
diagnosed with heart problems, they’re going
to have to stop eating great-tasting food,”
Stern tells The Connection. “The goal with
these books is to make heart-healthy cooking
fun and show people that HeartSmart
cooking can be delicious.”
Vegetable Paella
15 mL ( 1 Tbsp.) olive oil
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 mL ( 1 tsp.) smoked paprika
2 carrots, diced
1 large bulb fennel or celery,
trimmed and cut in chunks
1 sweet red pepper, seeded and
cut in chunks
125 g (1/4 lb.) mushrooms, trimmed
and quartered
11 796 mL (28-oz.) can plum tomatoes,
drained and chopped
500 mL ( 2 cups) brown or white
short-grain rice
5 mL ( 1 tsp.) salt
11 mL (1/4 tsp.) pepper
Pinch of crushed saffron or turmeric
750 mL ( 3 cups) vegetable stock
or hot water
250 mL ( 1 cup) corn
250 mL ( 1 cup) peas
1. Heat oil in a large ovenproof
saucepan or Dutch oven on medium
heat. Add onions, garlic and paprika
and cook gently for 5 minutes.
2. Add carrots, fennel, red pepper and
mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add 50 mL (1/4 cup) water at any time if
pot seems dry. Stir in tomatoes and rice.
Cook for a few minutes.
3. Add salt, pepper and saffron to hot
stock. Add stock to rice and bring to a
boil. Cover and bake in a preheated
180°C (350°F) oven for 1 hour (if you
are using white rice, bake for only
45 minutes).
4. Sprinkle top of rice with corn and
peas. Cover and bake for 5 minutes
longer. Toss gently. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Makes 8 servings.
Her latest HeartSmart is a collection of
creative recipes that combine healthy, deli- in Toronto 25 years ago, to teach people how people making my recipes are successful, then
cious ingredients. It also contains useful infor- to eat healthier—and have lots of enjoy- I’m successful.”
mation about which fats are good for you and ment in the kitchen. She admits the school Her goal is for cooks at home to achieve
which ones to avoid or eliminate, and about provides a reliable test kitchen for all of success—and joy—when making one of her
the amount of fat that should be part of a her creations. recipes. “I want people to know that Heart
healthy diet. In addition, the book offers tips “Because I have a cooking school that is Smart recipes are delicious, easy to prepare
and tools for shopping, eating out and main- open to the public, it helps me observe which and [result in] food the entire family will
taining your optimal body weight, all with the of my recipes people like to make, which ones love—and I also want there to be world
goals of protecting your health and reducing their families like the best and which ones are peace,” she laughs.
your risk of heart disease. the easiest to make,” says Stern. “I wanted to World peace? Anything is possible—espe-
Stern, who has written 12 cookbooks, make sure that this book had the most suc- cially if people begin at the dessert section of
started The Bonnie Stern School of Cooking cessful recipes for the sake of the people. If the her book. C
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