At first, a cookbook called “Clean Plates” may sound like a trendy new diet book or radical way of eating.
Though the recipe and eating guide promises a healthier lifestyle, it is full of advice for anyone looking to eat better without sacrificing taste.
“The Clean Plates Cookbook: Sustainable, Delicious and Healthier Eating for Everybody,” by Jared Koch, a health coach and nutritional consultant, with Jill Silverman Hough a cookbook author, food and wine writer, is somewhat of a sequel to Koch’s Clean Plates restaurant guides to New York City’s and Los Angeles’ healthy and sustainable restaurants.
While working as a one-on-one nutritional consultant with clients, Koch came up with the “Clean Plates” philosophy.
“I started to realize that while educating and supporting [my clients] was very important, the thing that was working the most consistently to get them to change was to provide them with well-curated recommendations of restaurants and products, and to make it simple for them.”
His previous Clean Plates books not only included a restaurant guide, buts also Koch’s nutrition and healthy eating beliefs.
“We were getting a lot of great feedback [on the Clean Plates philosophy], so we wanted to expand on that and get it out to a much larger audience,” said Koch.
“[We also wanted to] give people the tools and resources to take that philosophy and implement it at home,” he added.
In addition to 120 recipes from chefs, such as Jamie Oliver and Iron Chef Marc Forgione, sample menus and resources for a healthier lifestyle, in the cookbook Koch breaks down his Clean Plates way of eating into five aspects.
The first one is eating as a bio-individual, which is the idea that “the right foods for my body are going to be diff erent than the right foods for your body,” said Koch.
We are conditioned to think of food as either good or bad, he further explains, but it should be about what’s best for each person.
The second aspect is “don’t count your food, make your food count,” and emphasizes eating betterquality food that is organic, locally grown and has fewer chemicals.
Koch also believes everyone should have a diet with a plant-based foundation, but isn’t saying that everyone needs to go vegetarian or vegan.
For those that do eat meat, Koch’s fourth aspect is about eating meat in the most responsible way—hormone and antibiotic free, preferably pasture-raised and in moderation.
Finally, Koch believes in reducing the intake of processed, chemical foods, especially those with refi ned sugars and poor quality oil.
“We try to take an approach that is very reasonable. It’s not about reaching some ideal, it’s about making progress and improving,” said Koch. “When you start to make changes in that direction, the body really responds.”
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