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Norene is a food consultant, food writer and columnist, cooking teacher and lecturer. She specializes in Recipe Makeovers for food-related websites, magazines, newspapers, cookbooks and the food service industry. She publishes cookbooks and provides nutrient analysis of recipes for cookbooks, food manufacturers and restaurants. Norene believes in people helping people. She puts her philosophy into practice by using her cooking demonstrations, lectures and cookbooks as fund-raising tools for many charitable organizations.
Norene is a Certified Culinary Professional (CCP) with the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). She is a member of Cuisine Canada, Women's Culinary Network of Toronto and Canadian Booksellers Association. She has pulished several heatlhy cookbooks, and has a lot to say about food and healthy cooking.
Name: Norene Gilletz
Birthday: May 29
Location: Toronto, Canada
Website: http://www.gourmania.com/
Diet Detective: Hello, Norene. It was great chatting with you via telephone a last week. It’s always nice to talk to someone who is interested in healthy living. And thanks so much for agreeing to do this interview. I just love your book, and your entire approach to healthy cooking. My first question is really about your becoming a cookbook author—how did you get into cooking, and becoming an author? Did you have any formal training?
 Noreen: I was fascinated by food from the time I was a young child. When I was 3 or 4 years old, I would sit at the kitchen table watching my mother cook and bake, transforming basic ingredients into delicious dishes. There was no TV then – my mom was MY food network!
My first “culinary invention” was when I was 9 years old and baked brownies for the first time. I cleaned up while they were baking in the oven, and found the eggs sitting on the countertop – I forgot to add them to the brownie batter. When I tasted the baked brownies, they were just like candy – yum! I was so proud of myself. I decided to frost them, but there was no icing sugar in the pantry, so I combined flour with granulated sugar - uggh. That did NOT work. I still had lots to learn!
My mom was the queen of recycling, always finding creative ways to use up leftovers. Cooking 101 at its finest! I moved from Winnipeg to Montreal when I was 20 but couldn’t cook very well, so I would phone my mom long distance and ask her for advice. My first cookbook was the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook, which I read from cover to cover.
When I was a young bride, I was involved in writing a fundraising cookbook called Second Helpings Please. I discovered that the bean and barley soup recipe had no beans and the tomato rice soup had no rice. Back to the testing and editing of recipes! Second Helpings was first published in 1968 and is still selling well today, nearly 40 years later.
People started to call me for cooking and baking advice so I eventually started teaching. I didn’t have any formal training, so I took a week of intensive cooking classes in Florida with Jacques Pepin in 1980 and learned so much from him. I also took classes in Chicago with Ann Willan of La Varenne. I traveled to Milwaukee to learn about microwaving from Barbara Harris. I invited guest chefs to my suburban Montreal cooking school and attended cooking classes with Rose Levy Beranbaum, Shirley Corriher and other experts.
Diet Detective: How did you get so involved with healthy cooking and nutrition? Was it an early passion? What was your motivation?
Norene: I’ve struggled with my weight for years, so learning healthy cooking techniques became a necessity. If I didn’t cook and eat the way I do today, I’d probably weigh about 100 pounds more! It’s been an ongoing learning experience and I still continue to learn each and every day. I find it fascinating to adapt and modify recipes to lower the calorie and fat content, yet still retain the flavor. My motto is “Food that’s good for you should taste good!”
Diet Detective: You recently wrote a book called Norene’s Healthy Kitchen. What made you decide to write that book? What can we expect to find? Are the recipes complex?
Norene: Norene’s Healthy Kitchen is not my first healthy cookbook. I also wrote MealLeaniYumm! (now out of print), retitled Healthy Helpings. People loved my recipes because they were so easy to make, tasted great and were healthy, too. They kept asking me to write another cookbook, so I did.
What a big job! It took me 4 years to write Norene’s Healthy Kitchen. Once again, my recipes in this new book are quick, easy and healthy – and they work with today’s most popular diets. Each recipe comes with a nutrient analysis, making the book a wonderful resource for people with diabetes, those with weight loss concerns, or for time-starved people who want good food fast! I offer lots of options, so if you don’t have one ingredient, you can easily substitute what you have on hand. I’ve also included lots of information about the glycemic index and focus on smart carbs that digest slowly to prevent rebound hunger. It’s just what the doctor ordered!
Diet Detective: I know you specialize in Kosher meals--does that mean that those of us who are not Kosher will not be interested in this book?
Norene: This book can be used by everybody, whether or not they’re Jewish. The recipes are about preparing good food from ingredients that you can find in any supermarket. There’s a wonderful selection of international recipes that follow Kosher dietary guidelines, so people who keep Kosher won’t have to make any modifications to my recipes. Kosher means that I don’t combine dairy and meat ingredients in the same recipe and there are no recipes that use pork or shellfish. But since there are over 600 easy, delicious recipes to choose from, I doubt if anyone will go hungry!
Diet Detective: How do you create your healthy recipes---are there any tips you can share with us?
Norene: I start with recipes that are family favorites, then use simple techniques to modify them and make them healthier.
When baking, I use fruit purees such as applesauce or pureed prunes to replace part of the fat. I replace part or all of the flour with whole wheat flour, finely ground rolled oats or ground almonds. Sometimes I add wheat germ or flaxseed. I use canola oil or soft tub margarine in my baked goods rather than butter. I try to incorporate fruit into many of my desserts. And I love chocolate, but I keep portions small, saving them for a special treat. (You know that chocolate comes from the cocoa bean – and everyone knows that beans are good for you!)
In cooking, I use small amounts of olive oil and use nonstick cookware and nonstick spray. I add lots of vegetables and some lean protein to my pasta, rice (brown or basmati) or whole grain dishes to bulk them up, adding fiber, flavor and volume. I also like to use fresh herbs whenever possible. I also make lots of hearty fiber-filled soups, adding lentils or beans and barley, plus lots of veggies. Fiber makes you feel full and soup is a terrific way to help control hunger.
Diet Detective: Do you have a fancy gourmet kitchen?
Norene: Not at all! I have a very simple kitchen with basic appliances, but I hope to renovate and update it when I have some free time. My work area is compact, which I like - it’s very efficient. I love time-saving appliances and make good use of them: my food processor, microwave oven, bread machine, slow cooker, blender, immersion blender, an assortment of kitchen gadgets, several chef’s knives, utility knives and spatulas, measuring and baking equipment, outdoor gas grill…I really do love my kitchen toys!
Diet Detective: Tell us the biggest secret that chefs typically don’t tell anyone about healthy cooking, but should?
Norene: I don’t think there’s one special secret to cooking healthy dishes. Each chef has his or her own tricks and techniques that they use to create the dishes they enjoy making. In my new book, I’ve shared all my favorite cooking secrets with my readers – I didn’t hide anything. Knowledge is power!
Diet Detective: You say that you can teach people how to transfer the advice from their doctor or dietitian straight to their plate. And that your motto is “Food that’s good for you should taste good!” Do most people believe that healthy food has to taste bad? What are some key ways to make healthy foods thar are lower in calories, but still taste great. Give us some of your best tips please?
Norene: A lot of “healthy” foods are things that are brown and tasteless, like brown rice and tofu. To me, the only great tasting brown food is chocolate! I find that if I infuse my foods with flavorful fresh herbs, spices, good quality olive oil used judiciously, foods that are healthy are also packed with flavor!
A friend of mine who worked in a doctor’s office told me that the doctor would tell his patients: “You need to go on a diet! You have to lose weight!” But the doctor would never tell his patient how to do it. They would be given a list of allowable foods, but no one told them how to put them together into something that was a “live-it” – and not a “die-it!”
People are motivated by two things: pain and pleasure. Because I create recipes that are healthy AND also taste good, the pleasure principle is there and people can stick to a healthy eating lifestyle without it being a painful experience. It’s total pleasure!
Diet Detective: Can anyone prepare healthy foods? Or are some people not made to cook?
Norene: If you can read, you can cook! If you enjoy eating good food and you let your taste buds be your guide, you can probably be a wonderful cook. But if you feel uncomfortable in the kitchen, it will definitely be more difficult for you.
What’s my advice? Get in the kitchen and cook – something, anything! If necessary, cook with a friend. It’s much easier when you have someone to share the workload. If you learn the basic principles of healthy cooking, then you’ll know how to apply these principles to create your own signature dishes. You’ll also know when you can break the rules.
If you feel you need help, take some cooking classes, watch cooking shows on TV, buy a good cookbook. Don’t be afraid to fail – the only failure in life is failing to try.
Now a few more personal questions so readers can get to know about you.
Diet Detective: If you could eat one unhealthy food (candy, cakes, etc..) whenever you wanted without gaining weight, what would it be?
Norene: I’m a candy monster. I love chewy candy of all sorts: jelly bellies, ju-jubes, gum drops and licorice. I also love M&M’s. I limit my quantities because they’re not good for my health. When I eat too much junk, I feel sick, so I don’t think that weight is the main issue here.
I do adore Burgundy cherry ice cream or tiramisu gelato! In fact, they would be at the top of my list. I enjoy these treats occasionally and don’t bother with going on a guilt trip. I just get back to my healthy eating program as quickly as possible.
It’s the small choices that I make each day that make the biggest difference in how I look and feel.
Diet Detective: What’s your favorite breakfast?
Norene: I love oatmeal, berries and yogurt and eat a big bowlful most mornings. I also love omelets with spinach, red peppers, onions, cheese (Cheddar, Swiss or feta) and mushrooms – that’s a favorite weekend treat. I find that an omelet keeps me satisfied.
Diet Detective: What’s your favorite recipe?
Norene: Usually it’s whatever I’m eating at the moment! I don’t really have one favorite dish. It all depends on my mood. There’s not much that I don’t like! I do love salmon prepared all sorts of ways, assorted grilled veggies, sweet potatoes. I’m always flipping ingredients around in my head, trying to come up with interesting, easy and yummy combinations.
And I occasionally indulge and have a hot pastrami sandwich on rye a couple of times a year – and enjoy every bite!
Diet Detective: Do you have time to exercise? What do you do?
Norene: I don’t have much time to exercise due to a heavy workload, so I try to be as active as possible. I try to walk most days and find it relaxing and invigorating. I wear a pedometer and make myself add additional steps to my day. I like to walk with friends because it gives me a chance to catch up on what’s happening in the world. It makes walking much more pleasant! On the weekend, I like to go for long walks in the nearby ravine with my dog and a friend or two. I also love to dance and find it a wonderful way to exercise.
Diet Detective: What’s your favorite healthy ingredient? What’s the one thing you’d suggest people keep in their kitchen if they want to cook healthy meals?
Norene: My favorite healthy ingredient is probably garlic – along with onions! I use them all the time in my cooking. They add fabulous flavor to everything. And fresh basil is my favorite herb – it’s a terrific flavor booster and it also makes me feel calm when I smell it.
Diet Detective: What’s the one kitchen utensil or tool that you can’t live without?
Norene: My food processor. I actually wrote a whole cookbook on how to use your food processor – The Food Processor Bible. I use my food processor for both cooking and baking and find it invaluable. It’s a wonderful time-saver.
Diet Detective: What do you consider the world’s most perfect food?
Norene: I love eggs. They can be used both in cooking and baking and they’re probably my favorite comfort food. They’re relatively low in calories, are high in protein and are very satisfying. However, I have to limit my quantities because of my cholesterol levels.
Diet Detective: If you had to pick one healthy cookbook to recommend (or two) which would you choose?
Norene: I love the information in “You on a Diet” (Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen) and also enjoyed “Eat, Drink and Be Healthy” (Walter Willett) – very informative. I rarely follow other people’s recipes so I read cookbooks as my inspiration for ways of combining ingredients in creative ways.
Actually, my favorite healthy cookbook is my own book “Norene’s Healthy Kitchen” because it has all the things in it that I love to eat!
Diet Detective: Do you have a Calorie Bargain?
Norene: Cherry yogurt is my Calorie Bargain, replacing burgundy cherry ice cream, which is absolutely addictive!
Diet Detective: What was your worst summer job?
Norene: I loved my summer job. I worked as a lifeguard and spent my summers at the swimming pool. Can’t beat that!
Diet Detective: What did you want to be at the age of 5? (as far as a career)?
Norene: I wanted to be a movie star. I loved to go to the movies and was determined that I would be famous one day!
You can check out some of Norene's Grill 'N Chill Asparagus:
Thank you!!!!
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