Elizabeth TenHouten takes a novel approach to cooking: She designs her recipes both to taste good and to make us more beautiful. Her book, Cooking Well: Beautiful Skin, will be published by Hatherleigh Press in fall 2009. Elizabeth is also the editor-in-chief of Celeb Staff magazine. She talks with us about antioxidants, cooking as self-love, and her obsession with pomegranates.
See Elizabeth's recipe for Pretty Poached Salmon.
LA Cooking Examiner: Were food and cooking a big part of your growing up? What foods do you remember most from childhood?
TenHouten: Healthy food and cooking was always a part of my life. Growing up in Laurel Canyon, we had a gigantic persimmon tree in our backyard. My mother presented them to us as treats, so the fruit was as special as an ice-cream cone. Picking them from our tree and eating them is a special childhood memory. I also couldn't wait for Halloween, because it marks the beginning of pomegranate season. What's better candy than a sea of ruby seeds that bursts in your mouth?! Pomegranates, high in antioxidant value, inspired many of my recipes.
LA Cooking Examiner: You used to be a model. Did you live on Diet Coke and cigarettes the way other models claim? Did modeling introduce any food issues into your life?
TenHouten: I have actually never tried a cigarette, and I rarely have even wine at dinner. It's not my style. For the record, though, the vice I occasionally indulge in is a regular Coke. I have a sensitive palate and I can totally taste the difference!
My lifestyle has always been very clean, so I did not succumb to any food issues while modeling. My relationship with food can be expressed in a word: love. The act of nourishing one's self with healthy cooking is an act of self-love. I believe most modeling/food issues arise when there is a lack of a positive relationship to one’s self and to food. I strive to exemplify the philosophy embodied in my book, which is to value one's authentic, inner self, as beautiful. Healthy eating nurtures that inner beauty.
LA Cooking Examiner: How did you get interested in the link between nutrition and beauty?
TenHouten: For me, beauty and health are synonymous. My core interest is skin health, and it was always very obvious to me that there was a direct link between the intake of nutrients and beautiful skin. It seemed that antioxidant drinks were all the rage, but no one knew which antioxidant foods to eat or cook with, other than blueberries. That’s why I wrote Cooking Well: Beautiful Skin. Antioxidants are chemical compounds that occur naturally in our bodies and in certain foods. They fight free radicals in the environment that wreak havoc on our skin. Our bodies can’t produce antioxidants, though. My recipes are infused with antioxidant-rich ingredients, so your skin will glow.
LA Cooking Examiner: Is your book a cookbook or a beauty guide?
TenHouten: I like to think of it as a beauty cookbook. While it is certainly nutritionally informative, with tons of delicious recipes, I also offer the reader “Beauty Bytes,” like de-puffing your eyes with warm teabags for pretty peepers!
LA Cooking Examiner: What's your favorite recipe from the book?
TenHouten: My Pretty Poached Salmon. It was the very first recipe I created for my book. I love salmon, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids -- wonderful for your skin, but it was always served at restaurants with tartar sauce, which sort of neutralized the skin-health benefits of the salmon. So I created an antioxidant glaze with blackberries and raspberries. It's beautiful and has a sensational flavor, sure to make your lips pucker...so eat it with someone special.
LA Cooking Examiner: What's likely to be on the menu at your next dinner party?
TenHouten: I'm in the mood for a hearts of palm, sprout, and red cabbage salad; a tropical lamb entree, served with mango salsa; and for dessert, coconut sorbet dusted with raw, dark chocolate powder. Yes, that sounds yummy to me!
LA Cooking Examiner: For those of us who never want to look old, what are the five most important things to eat?
TenHouten: 1) Berries and pomegranates (antioxidants); 2) seeds, nuts and sprouts, (protein and vitamin E); 3) fish (omega-3 fatty acids); 4) greens, the darkest you can find (vitamin A); and 5) whole grains (antioxidants). And pair whatever you eat with the true “drink of the gods”: water!
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Comments
I can't wait to eat your salmon dish!!! YUM!!! I am so hungry now after reading your article! Can't wait to read your book!!!
Since you are the icon for perfect skin, and I mean PERFECT skin, I will eat whatever your book prescribes for good skin.
Of course it was Shakespeare who said, 'if music be the food of love, play on!!' And now we have a most contemporary author to express just exactly how the true food of love is nature’s anitoxidants; beautiful little love bugs that they are. So ‘eat on’ for lovely skin and probably something even more profound: A love filled inside, too.
Elizabeth, now I learned how your skin was so beautiful which of course made you even more beautiful when I Photograph you for the magazine story. I'll pick up a copy of your Book!!
& pass the info to the actors & model's that I photograph about your book. I'll look forward to photographing you again in the future. ....... Your Doing Great Work!!!
Elizabeth is a woman who walks her walk. When you see her, you know she has the credentials to write about skin beauty for sure! I can't wait to read her book!
Beautifully written Elizabeth! Your recipes take a creative and healthy approach to cooking. Your book will enable people to realize that Antioxidants are the best defense against free radicals, therefore, reversing the signs of aging. Your inner and outer beauty is a perfect example of that!!!!!!
Elizabeth, You are one of my best subjects, now I know why, congratulations on the book. I will pick up a copy of your Book, please keep up the good work, and thaks for allowing me the opportunity to work with you.
Clinton H.Wallace
West Coast Staff Photographer
Globe Photos Inc
Wonderful interview! I am so excited about this book, it is so positive and inspiring.
I was so inspired I just bought some pomegranate juice.
I'm very excited to read and share the book!
i am very impressed Elizabeth...your intellegence shows during your interview and you still provide great advice. You are doing a lot for yourself and are taking the thought that models are dumb and turning it around. Good Luck!
Elizabeth! I'm very excited to see the release of your book announced. It is truly a compilation of one facet of your knowledge and expertise. Perhaps we'll see other books before long on additional topic! I appreciate your concern for people's health and your willingness to share what you have mastered. Keep it up!
Congrats Elizabeth...Im so excited for you.
Loved the interview! The best advice I got was the list of five things to eat at the end so I can grab something easy and fast that will help this tired, becoming-wrinkled face!Would love to see you again, Liz.
Elizabeth is living proof of cooking well for beautiful skin. She has found what works with sincere dedication to wellbeing. Food is not just to satisfy, but to balance and live in harmony with our inner beauty as it radiates, your example is Elizabeth... even more so as she reaches other people with her brilliant recipes.
This book sounds great. I can't wait to get a copy now!
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