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Oprah then and now

E-mail|Link|Comments (3) Posted by Sheryl Julian December 22, 2008 03:12 PM

IMHO, the Oprah on the right looks fabulous. But everyone knows that once you get your weight down and then it crawls back up, you do feel bad. Oprah writes in the January issue that she's 160 in the left photo, 40 pounds heavier today, or "the dreaded 2-0-0."

In the same issue is a list of seven must-have pantry items:

Spanish or Italian tuna (packed in olive oil)
Passato di pomodoro (sweet-tangy tomato paste)
Harissa (North African hot pepper paste)
Mediterranean olives
Spanish piquillo peppers
Chickpeas
Capers in salt

They offer a recipe for chickpea and olive salad, another for fava bean puree, peppers stuffed with tuna, pork ribs with chilies, roast chicken with harissa, chickpea flatbreads, and wholewheat spaghetti with caper pesto.

We had a discussion at our food meeting last week about wholewheat pasta. We essentially voted it out of our pantry. Not one person likes it.

Come January, and our own dreaded numbers on the scale, wholewheat pasta might just look good.

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3 comments so far...

Whole wheat pasta is great with peanut sauce and chopped peanuts! You've got to work with the texture, and most commonly used sauces need a smoother pasta.

Posted by Kate December 23, 08 10:00 AM

Try Mama Rosie's whole grain/low fat ravioli. It has to be cooked a little longer and I don't think they say that on the package. It has five grams of fiber and actually tastes great.

Posted by nina edo December 23, 08 10:54 AM

Whole wheat pasta doesn't work for everything, but I find it works well with beans, greens and pasta. Cook's Illustrated has a recipe that works well and they're the reason that I even tried whole wheat pasta. I think they recommend Ronzoni.

Posted by C Kapadia December 23, 08 05:59 PM