What kind of fat should we cook with?

What are good fats?

Should we skip added fats?

It all seems so confusing, right?

To fat or not to fat.

Let's get the lowdown on fat as we go back to the cutting board today on Christina Cooks.

(upbeat music) ♪ (female speaker) Underwriting for Christina Cooks is provided by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties, sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

Additional funding is also provided by Old Yankee Cutting Boards, designed for durability, and custom crafted by hand with Yankee pride and craftsmanship.

♪ Jonathan's Spoons, individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

♪ Additional funding is also provided by: Hi, I'm Christina Pirello, and this is Christina Cooks, where each week, we take fresh, seasonal ingredients and whip them into amazing dishes.

Will they all be plant-based?

Yup.

Will they be delicious?

Uh, yeah.

So, there's a huge, okay, controversy sounds a little dramatic, but you'd be surprised.

There's this huge controversy about the use of added oil in our diets, and is that healthy or not healthy?

Should we, shouldn't we?

To be, or not to be?

To oil, or not to oil?

And there's a huge discussion happening.

The truth of the matter is that some of us have health conditions where we could probably use a little less oil, but for most of us, we need a little bit of added oil to be able to digest fat-soluble nutrients like vitamin D and other nutrients.

So, I am an advocate for using added oil.

Now, I'm not talking about french fries and onion rings at the mall.

I'm talking about good-quality oils like extra-virgin olive oil.

The real stuff.

Not the vat you buy at a big-box store, but real extra-virgin olive oil and extra-virgin avocado oil are the two that I use in my kitchen.

I don't use coconut oil.

You can if you like to.

I use those two oils because they're monounsaturates.

The body can break them down, but they're also fine under heat.

Speaking of under heat, let's turn this oil on.

So in this pan, I have avocado oil that I'm going to bring to a slow temperature because we're gonna shallow-fry some veggies in a tempura batter.

It's amazing.

So, the first thing we'll do is get the veggies ready.

So, I have cremini mushrooms here.

Now, cremini mushrooms, some people call them "baby portobellos," but they're creminis.

And what I like about them is they have an earthier flavor than white button mushrooms, but if you want to use white button, go ahead.

I like cremini because of the flavor and the color and all the other things that they give us.

Now, all mushrooms help the body to relax and get rid of muscle tension, so mushrooms are a good thing.

Okay, the next thing we're gonna slice is sweet potato.

Don't peel it.

Just wash it and cut it into thin slices.

There's a reason we're cutting it in thin slices.

The thin slices allow the sweet potatoes to cook so I don't have to pre-blanche them.

I'm a really lazy chef.

If I don't have to do a step, I don't do it.

So we're just gonna take them and slice them thinly so they cook quickly.

The next thing I'm gonna do is take burdock.

This is a burdock.

Burdock is the root of the thistle plant.

If you've walked through the forest and come out with burs on your pants, you walked through burdock.

Burdock is very high in folic acid and is a blood purifier, but it tastes mild like a potato, and it's always crispy.

Whenever you cook it, no matter how you cook it, it's always thinly sliced in a recipe.

It's never big chunks.

And it will always be slightly al dente.

You're never going to have burdock be overcooked.

So those are all the veggies we're gonna use in this dish.

So we have all kinds of energy happening here to make you feel strong and energized.

And, yes, we're using oil.

So what I'm gonna do is make a tempura batter.

So, to make a tempura batter, I'm gonna take about a cup of flour.

Mm, I don't know.

It seems like about a cup.

I don't know.

I don't even know what measuring cup I'm using, but it's about a cup, maybe a touch more.

Okay, so we have our flour.

Now we're gonna add to this a pinch of salt.

And then we're gonna take-- this is kuzu.

Now kuzu is--some people know it as kudzu.

Kuzu is a tuber root that grows usually in the south, and every farmer wants to get rid of it because it takes over the plot, but it's a very expensive starch, and what it does for us is help to alkalize the digestive tract so you can eat things and digest them well.

And you really can't switch out from this.

Kuzu is what makes this batter crispy.

And you just dissolve it in a little bit of cold water using your fingers because that's the best way to see there's no lumps.

And this goes in.

Now I usually don't flavor or add spices to my tempura batter because the thing I do that makes it puff is I use dark beer and that gives me my flavor.

Now, if you don't want to use beer for whatever reason, you may use sparkling water.

But beer batter is beer batter.

So, we're going to take a mixing spoon, mix the kuzu in a little bit.

And now slowly, slowly add the beer until you get a nice, thin batter.

A little bit thinner than a cake batter.

More like a pancake batter.

And you just keep mixing.

Add your beer.

I'm not a beer drinker, but many people who use beer batter also take a sip while they're doing this, but I'm not a beer drinker.

And, again, if you don't want to use alcohol, use sparkling water.

But then you can't call it beer batter.

So, just letting you know.

A little bit more.

You really want a nice, thin batter, but not thin like a crepe.

You want to have a nice texture to your batter.

We're almost there.

I'm gonna call that good.

Okay, so that's gonna set over there.

Get the beer out of the way.

And, now, we're gonna take red onion, and we have these slices, but now I want to break them apart so we have onion rings.

You know, onion rings?

Yeah.

So we're gonna pull these apart so that they're--they'll fry really quickly now.

Now, in this pan I have avocado oil, and what I've done is put it over low heat so that the center of the oil gets hot and it kind of moves out, and so the oil is really hot because what you want with tempura especially, go in the oil, stay there for a couple seconds and come out crispy golden brown.

You don't want it to sit in the oil for a ton of time.

So, now, we're gonna take our batter... ...and put the onion rings in.

And using your hands, you can use a spoon if you want to, but using your hands really makes this a much messier and more fun dish to make.

You want to coat the onion rings with batter and, then, you want to take them into the hot oil, and that sizzle is what you want to hear.

And so they go in.

And, then, these are gonna fry until they're golden and crispy.

Should take about a minute.

I'm gonna go in here and just kind of move them around so that they're submerged under the oil.

I don't really like to deep-fry.

You can deep-fry these, but there's using oil and then there's aye-yi-yi.

Okay, so, the next thing to go is mushrooms.

They're gonna go into the batter while we wait for the onion rings to come out.

We're gonna toss those around in the batter.

You just want to move them around till they're coated, right?

You want everything coated with batter.

Then we're gonna go in with a slotted spoon... ...and take our onion rings... ...out of the oil.

And I usually put them onto parchment which helps them to drain just a little bit.

(bubbling) Now, in go the mushrooms.

Once your oil is hot, this part goes fast, so I highly recommend that you make your batter, slice your veggies, and then heat your oil so you can just keep going.

What you may find happens as you're frying, if you do batches like this, is that your oil gets cool and things stay in the oil a little bit longer, but it shouldn't get so cool that they don't fry well.

Just move them around again.

Okay.

Then, the next thing that goes is our sweet potato.

Toss it around.

Once they're coated with batter, by that point, you can come over here and take the mushrooms out.

Okay.

Once the mushrooms all come out... ...the sweet potatoes go in.

Okay.

You clean your hands a lot when you make this dish.

Just letting you know.

Next go in pieces of thin slices of carrot.

Everything, everything should be small and thinly sliced.

Toss it around in the batter.

And by that point, you should be able to go over here and take your carrots out.

You can see things are taking a slightly longer time to fry.

These are sweet potatoes, sorry.

Carrots are in the bowl.

When you're doing a bunch of veggies, I tend to get confused.

Maybe I did drink some of that beer from the... No, I'm kidding.

So those are done.

And in go the carrots now.

(bubbling) And the last two things to go in while these fry... ...will be burdock and small broccoli florets.

You can do these in, you know, double things.

What you want to do is try to use up all of your batter.

So now we're gonna take out our carrots.

And, again, drain them on the parchment paper because that looks really nice... ...and it takes the excess oil out.

Your last things go in to fry.

And while these are frying... ...you can get the base ready for your dish.

So what we're doing is taking soba noodles.

Soba noodles are a Japanese noodle that are made from buckwheat, and they look sort of like capellini, but they're very, very hearty, and they're often served in what's called a noodles and broth kind of dish.

So you cook them and then make sure you rinse them because Japanese noodles are rolled in salt to dry, so you want to make sure you rinse them really well so that the--the salt of your dish isn't compromised.

So now we'll take this out, the last of the veg.

And then we'll do our last step before we pile the veggies on top.

This--in this pan is something called a "dashi," and a dashi is a soy sauce-based broth that has ginger, shiitake mushrooms, and soy sauce to create this flavorful broth with a little bit of kombu that helps you to digest the oil in your fried veggies.

So we're just gonna take the noodles, ladle some dashi over top.

You don't need it to float.

Then, we take our beautiful tempura veg... ...and just pile it on top.

Make sure you get a little bit of everything, mushrooms, burdock, carrots, sweet potato.

And I like to put the green broccoli on the top.

Sprinkle with a little bit of scallion, and you have a great, incredible main course.

♪ -Can a vegetable be a fruit?

-A fruit can be a vegetable.

What?

It can be both?

What happens if you swallow a seed?

(unintelligible).

-I don't get it.

-I am so confused.

♪ If I told you how many e-mails, letters, and phone calls we get in the office with people asking questions about getting their feet on the path to wellness, you'd be stunned.

So I was thinking, as we were planning the series, "Why don't I just have people come on the show and ask us some of their questions?"

So, today, I'm with Inge Szuks, who's been a student of mine for a very long time and dear friend, and I know you have something you want to learn about.

Yes, um, I hear so much about fatty liver disease.

What exactly is it, and what do we as health-conscious people need to eat in order not to get it?

So, if you eat a plant-based, whole, unprocessed diet, your chances of getting it are very slim because your body is doing what it needs to do.

Your liver is a very hard-working gland.

It manages hormones.

It takes care of detoxifying.

It cleanses the blood.

It helps the metabolizing of your macronutrients: fat, protein, and carbs.

So when the liver becomes overwhelmed, it just swells and becomes fatty.

It's actually the only gland in the body that can accumulate fat inside.

So fatty liver syndrome is the result of saturated fats, tons of white sugar and white flour, and alcohol.

So, that's what causes it.

And many, many, many Americans have it.

I don't know the exact number at this moment, but many Americans have it.

To treat it, you have to do kind of a 180 on your diet and move to a plant-based, low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate kind of diet which the liver will do its job.

Right, the liver regenerates itself.

If it's not damaged, every seven months you get a new one.

So you can do it without any magic potions.

But if you want to sort of keep your liver toned and working well as though it's fit, you can do something called hot lemon water, which is the juice of a quarter of a lemon, you pour a cup of hot water over it and you drink it hot.

And you do that every morning for a couple weeks, then you stop.

You do it every morning for a couple weeks again and you stop, and what that does is give your liver sort of the memory of, "Oh, this is what I'm supposed to do," and then you end up with a liver that's not overtaxed, and just by eating well, your liver manages.

(Inge) Oh, okay.

Are there any special foods you can eat?

(Christina) Well, you want to eat foods that are more sour, so oats, barley, lemons, limes, um, uh, chives and scallions and leeks.

Things like that will help the liver to do its job -a little bit better.

-Okay.

-Okay?

-Thank you.

All right, so take care of your liver and it will take care of you.

♪ You know, I wish you were in this room right now.

I don't think there's anything that smells better than extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, and onions in the entire world.

Not even chocolate.

This is like heaven.

I mean, wow.

So what I'm doing here is sautéing and reducing down some garlic and onions in some extra-virgin olive oil.

And, yes, I cook with extra-virgin olive oil, the good stuff.

If you're gonna cook with olive oil, please use real olive oil.

You can cook with it to over 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

You get all the benefits of olive oil for your heart with the polyphenols, and you get amazing flavor.

The only thing you have to do is start your oil, your onions, and your garlic in a cold pan, like a room temperature pan, and bring it up to sizzle.

And then you want to reduce your onions and garlic down so they become sweet.

Next thing we're gonna add to this is some canned chickpeas.

I told ya, I'm lazy.

I don't always cook chickpeas.

I always have cans of them around because they're really convenient and wonderful to have.

So they go in.

And chickpeas, when you get the good sort of balance between protein and fat in your diet, it's amazing what happens.

Chickpeas are the best.

They have compounds that control blood sugar, help to lower cholesterol, they're high in fiber so they satisfy you, they have protein so they make your muscles big and strong.

Amazing.

We're gonna add to this a little bit of white wine.

Again, if you don't want to use wine or you don't want to use any kind of alcohol, use broth or water, it's fine.

But I kind of want to let this reduce down and become like a syrupy sweet-and-savory sauce.

So the next thing to go in are sage leaves, and sage is one of those herbs that's really sort of earthy and has a strong flavor.

So with the sweetness of the onions and the mild-mannered chickpeas, sage will be like Superman in this dish, plus it's gonna help you to digest.

Then, greatest kitchen trick you'll ever, ever learn ever.

Take your lemons when you bring them home from the store-- please use organic-- and freeze them.

When they're frozen solid, take your Microplane or your zester and just start zesting to get zest and juice in a dish.

And you zest right through the skin, the pith, and into the flesh of the lemon.

And I know what you're thinking, "What about the bitter pith?"

Doesn't matter.

The flavor is so good.

When I learned this, I thought, "There's no way you can make the flavor of lemon even better than it is."

There is.

Do this.

And it's one step.

I don't have to zest and then juice and squirt it in my eye.

Amazing.

And you can kind of do as much as you want.

You want a little, you want a lot.

And now we go and we just stir this.

Season it with a tiny pinch of salt.

You can use black pepper as well.

A lot of people love black pepper.

I'm not a black pepper girl, so I don't use it, but you can.

Feel free.

You'll never get an argument out of me.

And you just want to cook this.

You see how the wine and the oil have become almost like a sauce?

Amazing.

Turn it off.

Right into your bowl.

And you have a wonderful main course or side dish that's high in protein and even higher in satisfaction.

(clanking) And there it is.

♪ If you've ever cooked chickpeas, you know that they could cook in four hours, four days, 40 minutes.

Right?

You can never kind of get a handle on them.

They're like an Italian sports car: some days, they work; some days, they don't.

So I'm in Israel teaching and I'm saying this about chickpeas, and all the ladies are looking at each other like, "What's wrong with her?"

One raises her hand sort of sheepishly and she goes, "You know, we just soak them with baking soda and they get tender and cook in 40 minutes."

What?

So, I went home, took my chickpeas, dry chickpeas, soaked 'em with baking soda.

Please make sure it's soda, not powder.

Soak them with a tablespoon of baking soda for every cup of chickpeas for about an hour, and they cook in 40 minutes every time.

So don't use canned.

Cook your chickpeas.

♪ So, when you're cooking, you can never get enough of dark leafy greens.

I know we're talking about oil and fats today, but we can't go anywhere without talking about greens.

Leafy greens are essential to your wellness, and we're gonna sauté them because most people are not used to eating things like kale and collard greens.

I know when I started eating well, I thought that kale was the garnish on the salad bar.

I didn't know people actually ate it.

So in this pan is olive oil, again, extra-virgin olive oil, good extra-virgin olive oil.

And we're going to sauté these onions with a pinch of salt.

And I don't know about you, -but are we good with hot?

-Yeah!

Okay.

A little?

(audience) Hotter!

Oh my goodness.

-And now?

-Hotter!

Ma basta!

All right, so, we're gonna--ooh, we're gonna sauté these onions until they wilt with hot spice and salt.

And then come over here, these are collard greens.

Collard greens, like every leafy green, have small root bed and a stem that carries all the nutrients from the soil up into the leaves.

So when you cook greens, you use the stems.

Stems are a little bit tougher than the rest of the greens, so they go in before the leaves so that they're nice and tender.

You don't want to throw them away.

They're like the highway that carries all the nutrients into your body, into the leaves.

So, now these are collard greens.

What we're gonna do is take them, I kind of roll them like a jelly roll so they're easier to cut.

And then you just take your knife and make long ribbons.

Now you can make smaller pieces if you want, but I really like long pieces of greens.

Maybe because it's more fun to watch people eat them when they have the piece of the greens dripping down their chin, but that's me.

You can make them smaller, whatever you want to do.

So now these are gonna go in.

Again, using good extra-virgin olive oil.

So you have hot spice, sweet onions, good olive oil, and then lovely crisp greens.

We're gonna add a touch more salt.

Maybe another touch more.

We're gonna sauté them just until they start to wilt.

Now because we're using oil, you want to make sure that people can digest it.

Because this is a quick cook, you want to make sure that the oil is easy to digest.

So how do we do that?

Well, we have hot spice, but we're also gonna go back to our favorite new trick, frozen lemon.

So you grate the zest, the pith, and the meat of the lemon right into your pan.

And you just do this to taste.

What's cool about this way of doing it, you can never use too much.

It's amazing.

My favorite kitchen trick in...

Ever.

Okay, so that goes in.

Now we're just gonna sauté these until they are wilted down.

When you cook greens, don't cook them until they turn black.

Everybody's Italian grandmother cooked escarole and broccoli rabe until it was this dark olive, khaki green when, really, what you want is the greens to be barely cooked.

Maybe a minute to 30 seconds.

As soon as they stop looking raw, you're ready to go.

So...

These are ready.

Turn off the heat and serve them right into my serving plate.

I love this recipe, it's fast.

Good-quality fat.

You can never go wrong.

Okay.

♪ So what are you waiting for?

Let's get back to the cutting board, and I'll see you next time on Christina Cooks.

♪ ♪ ♪ (female speaker) Underwriting for Christina Cooks is provided by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties, sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

Additional funding is also provided by Old Yankee Cutting Boards, designed for durability, and custom crafted by hand with Yankee pride and craftsmanship.

♪ Jonathan's Spoons, individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

♪ Additional funding is also provided by: ♪ You can find today's recipes and learn more by visiting our website at christinacooks.com, and by following Christina on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

The companion cookbook Back to the Cutting Board takes you on a journey to reengage with the soul of cooking.

With more than 100 plant-based recipes, finding the joy in cooking has never been simpler.

To order your copy for $20 plus handling, call 800-266-5815.

And Christina's iconic book Cooking the Whole Foods Way, with 500 delicious plant-based recipes.

To order both books for $39.95 plus handling, call 800-266-5815.

♪ (bright music)