Photo provided by Ed Anderson/Penguin Random House/
One of the things I realized when I sat down to interview Michael Symon is that we seem to have some things in common. The famous TV chef and restaurateur who spoke to me on his way to New York to film an episode of “Beat Bobby Flay” is also half-Sicilian. He is sociable. He often laughs loudly and boisterously. He loves to talk about food in detail in any form. Plus, he's good at interjecting curse words into conversations at the right time.
Establishing himself as a superstar chef, his promotions included recognition as Food & Wine's Best Emerging Chef in 1998, and from that year on, he began to travel to Aspen annually for the Food & Wine Classic. I started visiting. He is a foodie on the network's Iron Chef and has appeared on shows such as “Burgers, Brew & 'Que.''“ He was ABC's resident chef and former co-host of the Emmy Award-winning television show “The Chew.”“ In addition, he has directed numerous award-winning restaurants and currently serves as chef and owner of three restaurants across the United States. He is the award-winning author of six of his cookbooks, four of which are on the New York Times bestseller list. His cookbook was on my mind when I contacted him for an interview with Foodstuff. In a sense.
“I was diagnosed with discoid lupus 25 years ago,” says Simon.
Chef and I have other things in common, but for me they are three. The mark on my arm started out as a red circle about the size of a quarter. Within a few months, my skin felt warm to the touch and redness spread from the base of my shoulders to halfway down my arms. There were days when I could barely bend my elbows. Repeated misdiagnoses, endless doctor visits, (very frustrating) roads to nowhere, blood tests, pain, rashes, fatigue, hair loss, headaches, and joint pain so severe that I can barely walk with a limp. After that, a diagnosis of lupus was made. It came back to me too.
Lupus is an incurable autoimmune disease, and there are various theories as to whether it can be treated with diet, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a try, so I gave Chef Simon the ring. Two of his books deal with cooking for autoimmune issues, so I purchased his second book on the subject, Fix it with Food: Every Meal Easy . (Published in 2021).
“You know, I'm a chef, so I eat a lot. I've always been active and exercised and taken care of myself,” he said. However, as he got older and the pain associated with his arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus increased, he began experimenting with different diets rather than aggressively taking medication.
It all started with a very restrictive eating plan.
“I was vegan for 30 days and it was really frustrating,” he said with a laugh. “I hate the word 'diet.' I have no intention of spending the rest of my life without dairy or sugar.”
Both of these foods are stimulating to him, but he is a big believer in doing everything in moderation.
“If I drink one bourbon, I don't have a hangover the next day. If I have four, I want to stick my head in an ice bath. For me, it's the same with food,” he said. Thus his anti-inflammatory cookbook was born.
“Fix it with Food: Every Meal Easy” is chock-full of easy-to-follow recipes, categorized by specific triggers (like the dairy-free section), and includes 10 simple breakfast, lunch, and lunch recipes. It starts with a reset. , the dinner does not contain dairy, flour, meat, or refined sugar. The recipes below are organized in this order, with each chapter reintroducing potential inflammatory ingredients, again organized by mealtime.
This may seem prescriptive, but from cauliflower soup with mushrooms and kale (no trigger ingredients) to a delicious-looking Vietnamese steak salad that contains meat but no dairy, flour, or refined products. A variety of foods are covered. sugar. Snack recipes are also included throughout, and Simon says each recipe is for either one person or two people, making it “easier to increase portion sizes.”
We've also included an easy-to-understand master list of substitutes, so if you don't like kale, use spinach.
“I don't often make the same thing twice, unless it's in a restaurant setting. When my recipes appear in books or I teach cooking on TV, I always want to teach techniques.” “Anything chicory green,” he says.
And while you won't see him in Aspen this summer, a severe bout of altitude-related migraines will keep him away from the classics indefinitely, he'll be back on the popular “Food Network show” Symon’s Dinners Cooking Out”.
Katherine Roberts is a Mid-Valley-based writer and marketing professional who will be getting travel tips from Chef Simon for her first trip to Italy in the spring.she She can be reached through her marketing and communications company, Carington Creative. katherine@caringtoncreative.com.
