Slow Cooker

Healthy, tasty food? Cat Cora comes to it naturally

Cat Cora has always been around great food. She grew up in a family that owned a Greek restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and apprenticed under some of France’s greatest chefs to perfect her Mediterranean-Southern style cuisine. Now the Napa-based 38-year-old has two cookbooks under her apron, including the upcoming Cooking from the Hip, and is the only woman to win the Food Network’s Iron Chef: America competition. Last year she was appointed nutritional spokesperson for UNICEF, and she founded the nonprofit Chefs for Humanity (chefsforhumanity.org), which provides food, education, and money for hunger-related causes worldwide.

What inspired you to co-found Chefs for Humanity?
The Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. People didn’t have enough to eat and I couldn’t do anything to help them. Chefs are great nurturers and we needed our own version of Doctors Without Borders; this was a chance for us to do more than write a check. When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, we mobilized ourselves to Gulfport, Mississippi, and are still delivering food, fundraising, and building homes. I’m from Mississippi, so it’s very close to my heart.

How do you stay fit when you’re constantly cooking and feeding people?
I earned degrees in nutrition and exercise physiology before I went to cooking school, so I’m very conscious of health and fitness. I cook very healthy for my family [3-year-old son Zoran and partner Jennifer Say.] For example, I love making a grilled turkey meatloaf with whole-wheat breadcrumbs rather than the fattier traditional ground-beef and white-breadcrumb variety.  I also run, swim, bike, and practice yoga.

What’s the secret to making healthy food taste great?
Flavorful combinations of spices, citrus juices, and vinegar. Vinegar is a fantastic tool because it has virtually no fat or calories, but is versatile and adds lots of flavor. I use all kinds—balsamic, rice, sherry, red wine, and champagne—in sauces, marinades, or glazes for poultry and vegetables.

How does yoga fit into your life?
Yoga and cooking at home are very much connected. I am always going, going, going, but both make me slow down and enjoy life more. The difference between Cat the chef and Cat the mom is when I cook for my family I cook much more slowly.

Follow the link for one of Cat Cora's winning recipes.