Last week (or so) Gluten Free Girl, Shauna James Ahern, wrote about a taboo issue in the food world-weight gain.  Chefs and foodies are sort of immune to weight criticism.  My roommate (a total foodie) once said to me, “I don’t trust chefs that are skinny.”  The underlying understanding that to be a chef or food critic, or food blogger, you are exposed to more food and eat more to do their job. I don’t subscribe to that belief entirely, but it is true that dedicating your life to food, will, have its effects.

After being diagnosed with celiac, I immediately lost 5 pounds.  I was cutting out probably 30% of my diet, without really replacing it.  I am a small girl to begin with, so those 5 pounds meant that my butt hurt from sitting on the subway seats for too long.  In the past 5 months, I’ve learned how to eat as much as I used to without gluten, mostly healthfully, but sometimes not.  I even saw a nutritionist (which was really helpful!).  An important lesson I’ve learned going through this is that cutting one item out of your diet (that was substantial and lots of the time, calorie-heavy) does not give you a free pass on eating whatever and thinking its going to have zero effect on your body. 

Living with a boy whose metabolism is so fast that he actually can eat whatever, is hard.  It gives the false sense that he’s eating healthfully, because he’s not gaing weight.  But that’s not true.  My boy will happily eat a bacon egg and cheese for breakfast, burger for lunch, and then steak for dinner.  Yikes!  He’s finally come to the realization that this is not good for him. Yay.  He has taken on the challenge of being more mindful of what he’s putting into his body and has asked me to help.  I was happy to. Here is what I made as a side to kick it off.

Asparagus Salad with Strawberries and Walnuts and Maple Tahini Dressing

serves 2

Salad

1 bunch of washed spinach leaves

1/2 bunch of asparagus, chopped into 1 inch pieces

5-10 strawberries cut into quarters

1/8 cup of walnuts

Dressing (from Gluten-Free Goddess)

2 tablespoons sesame tahini 

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Prepare the asparagus by snapping the bottom of the stems off and chopping the asparagus into 1 inch pieces.  Steam the asparagus for 1 minute, then run them under cold water to stop them from cooking (blanching). You want the asparagus crisp, but cooked.  Toss the asparagus with the spinach leaves, strawberries, and walnuts. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and drizzle over each plate.  You could also toss the salad with the dressing and serve it, but its not as pretty!