5 Healthy Foods I Love Part 4

sunflower seeds

read part 1. part 2. part 3.

1. Salted Sunflower Seeds

I sprinkle these crunchy bits on nearly every salad I make. Full of beautiful, stick-with-me-til-snacktime fat. The saltiness is what I’m after.

chocolate

2. Chocolate

I very much dislike chocolate snobbery. It’s just unkind to be an elitist, especially when we’re talking chocolate. For this reason, I’m unabashedly fawning over every chocolate bar I come across. Milk, dark, white…they’re all creamy and intense and melting just as lustfully on my tongue. Chocolate satisfies my deepest, purest desires, and unlike every other food, it’s never once failed to make me smile.

salt and pepper

3. Salt & Pepper

Oh boy. Do I ever love salt. I shake her onto my meals as generously as I can. The tip I have that will change the way you cook is knowing that if you taste a dish and find something is lacking in flavor- if there’s just something missing- most often it’s either in need of salt or sugar.

And pepper? My mother has been peppering my meals to high heaven since I was a babe. Big bowls of macaroni and cheese need the most pepper, I find.

seltzer water

4. Sparkling Water, Club Soda, Seltzer

I’m into bubbles. Fizzy water, champagne, they all make me smile.

fave food 2 121

I like feeling as though I’m having fun while hydrating.

butter

5. Butter

Nothing compares to the taste of sweet cream salted butter. Not a thing.  I don’t believe in butter pools and butter spas and butter slip and slides on my plate. I believe in butter as a flavor.

When you use it respectfully, when you let a pat melt into the cracks of your baked potato, when you smear it on the tanned side of your toast, you really taste butter for the luscious cream that it is.

warm muffin with butter

Use butter when butter asks you to, and you’ll never regret it. And yes, she’ll ask.

So let’s hear it, what foods are you loving?

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26 thoughts on “5 Healthy Foods I Love Part 4

  1. AndreaSomething

    I think you mispelled #5. It’s actually “buttah”…or at least it is when I slather it on a piece of just-toasted baguette ;)

    Enjoying this series very much!

    Reply
  2. Kerry @ Newlywedcooks

    I looove me some salt and pepper. I need to learn that they don’t have to exist together though.. I’ve definitely ruined some dishes that way.

    I read a quote once that said “Salt and pepper are not married. They are just merely dating.”

    Amen!!

    Reply
  3. ally@GirlVFood

    You can stop climbing into my brain any time now…I put sunflower seeds on almost every single salad I make, and I am currently chugging a glass of strawberry-flavored seltzer (Polar Brand has the craziest flavors!). And as for chocolate? Let’s just say there’s a giant Ziploc bag for those.

    Reply
  4. Claire

    Your take on butter is perfect. I’m not a huge butter-lover myself, but have several close friends who tend to drown their meals in it. Guess that’s *why* I’ve learned not to love it. But just a little pat here or there can’t be bad, right?

    Currently loving:
    – Homemade strawberry jam
    – Kohlrabi
    – And (always) chocolate

    Reply
  5. The Chocolate Covered Kitchen

    I’m with you on the chocolate; while I don’t care at all for the waxy taste of a Hershey’s bar or other low-end bars that have more sugar than cocoa solids, there are so many outstanding milk and white chocolates out there that the dark fad makes about as much sense as only loving half your children because the other half have gotten all the attention. Give me a good milk chocolate or a well made white (with a side of somsething lime) anyday! (Or a bag of M&M’s?) Meanwhile, I’ll get to work on a salt and pepper milk chocolate bar infused with sunflower seeds for you. Smear it with butter and serve with seltzer and you’ll be in heaven . . .

    Reply
  6. Kristen @ Chocolate Covered Kristen

    That picture of butter and chocolate together made me swoon – two perfect foods! I am really into 2% Greek yogurt right now. I finally accepted the fact that a little fat in my yogurt won’t kill me and it worth it because it keeps me full longer and tastes sooooo much creamier than the not-fat stuff.

    Reply
  7. Gina

    I had the most amazing experience with a cheese plate last night! I was out with some friends for a nice summer glass (or 3) of a chilled, crisp Rose and their cheese master paired a plate for us with 5 different cheeses. He brought them out and talked about each one with such enthusiasm and detail for approximately the next 10-15 minutes. We were all left drooling! I love when folks working in the food industry can relay their enthusiasm in a way that makes you appreciate food just so…similar to your writing!

    Reply
  8. Sharon

    The best salad I’ve ever made (well, fanciest) was mixed greens with sunflower seeds, feta and a home-made lime, honey and chili vinaigrette. I took it to a Father’s Day BBQ and even my 87-year old grandpa was impressed by my salad!

    Sunflower seeds are awesome.

    Reply
  9. Lisa

    Have you tried dry roasted, salted, sunflower seeds? Yum! I agree with everything else you said except chocolate. It gives me heartburn, but sometimes I eat it anyway.

    Reply
  10. Ellen Renee

    I have never had sunflower seeds! Nor seltzer! Guess I should add them to the list – I do love something crunchy in my salad but tend to use chinese rice noodles. This week I am loving peaches – local orchard has a stand set up.

    Reply
  11. evan

    Pizza. Charred, yeasty, crispy, airy crust, with perfect tomato sauce, salty-creamy cheese, and fresh basil leaves. Perfection!

    Meatballs. Veal, beef, pork, a combination. Garlicky, herby, juicy, satisfying little bites of bliss- on a pizza? Even better.

    Extra virgin olive oil. The perfect combination of grassy and buttery rich, drizzled on vegetables, bread, even chocolate ice cream (with a sprinkle of salt, please).

    Ps. I’m totally not a chocolate snob either. How can anyone be snobbish about such a luxuriously inclusive food?

    Reply
  12. Riss

    I know I already commented on your last post about my “favorites” but I can’t resist. I have a few more to add!!

    1. Japanese sweet potatoes — I buy them like they going out of style
    2. Kabocha squash – soooo good oven-baked on a stone then drizzled with natural PB!
    3. Hungarian paprika – but it on umm… pretty much anything
    4. Tahini – makes the best salad dressing! Just mix 1T with some water, salt+pepper and hungarian paprika (see #3!)
    5. Nutritional yeast – sprinkle it on everything from steamed broc to salads!
    6. Tortillas – not those silly low-carb ones that stick to your mouth, either. Give me something I can sink my teeth into!!

    Reply
  13. Shawna

    okay, let’s talk about coconut. coconut milk(curries/soups and made into a sauce w/sticky rice and mangoes),coconut water, coconut ice cream (YUM!!!), coconut popcicles, coconut M&Ms (trust me, they are the bomb). best. food. ever.

    Reply
  14. Parita

    My life would not be complete w/o my daily dose of dark chocolate! And I really love goat cheese. You don’t need a lot to create great flavor!

    Reply
  15. Whit

    I, too, load my macaroni and cheese with pepper. I keep pepper packets in my desk at work for when I happen to bring leftover mac and cheese or Easy Mac for dinner. Otherwise? No good.

    Reply
  16. Tamara

    I am a chocolate snob. It’s impossible for me not to be. Every since I was a wee child I hated Hershey’s. Seriously, I wouldn’t even eat s’mores because of my dislike for their waxy texture. Ghirardelli? Tastes like soap to me. Now, Lindt or Dove or even Milka? White or matchless milk or decadent dark? Yes, please! (As I self remedy my period blues with a few choice truffles from aforesaid Lindt/Lindor)

    Reply

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