Making Smart Food Choices

Chef Doucet is all too familiar with the pitfalls of a hectic schedule. "You'd think a chef would take time to eat, but it's the opposite," he says. "You can grab a cookie or a brownie-you don't take time to eat [well] because you're running around." Anyone who has compounded their schedule by adding an exercise regimen can sympathize with the challenge of making nutritious food choices within a limited timeframe.

Planning and preparation "are the two most important things," emphasizes Chef Doucet, Executive Chef for Delta Hotels, here in Halifax. In fact, the organizational fundamentals that make world class restaurants succeed are the same principles Chef Doucet encourages the chef-at-home to adopt. "Being able to cook something quickly is all about planning in advance."

Doucet hopes to dispel the myth that good food isn't convenient. By planning in advance and partially preparing in advance even the most daunting recipe can become manageable. Besides, "fresh fruits and fresh vegetables are some of the best things for your body," reminds Chef Doucet; they're also some of the easiest things to prepare.

And it's not just chopped vegetable that can be prepared before hand. Grains like rice or protein packed quinoa (pronounced, "keen-wah") can be soaked in advance of cooking. "Par-cook, blanch, chop up some vegetables in advance&spend 15 or 20 minutes partially preparing the next day's meal&that is going to make it easier for you to cook with really fresh and good ingredients."

Chef Doucet has provided a recipe to try at home. The assembly of this tomato/basil pasta sauce takes minutes, but the flavours are best realized after simmering for an hour. Here's your chance to try something that can be cooked ahead, refrigerated and reheated on top of your favourite pasta. Better yet, make a large batch and freeze it for future use. If you intend on freezing it, leave out the fresh basil and include it when reheating the sauce. Reminds Doucet, " the basil is always nicer added at the end."

Tomato/Basil Pasta Sauce

Preparation time: 1 hour

This is a perfect sauce to use as a base. You can add a variety of other flavours to the finished sauce, just cooking for a few minutes to create a completely different dish.

Ingredients
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
¼-½ tsp dried chilli flakes

2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into chiffonade
kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
grated parmesan cheese, to serve

Method
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and gently cook the onion and garlic until softened. Stir in the tomatoes, chilli flakes, balsamic vinegar and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook slowly for 45 minutes-1 hour. Stir in the fresh basil and season with salt and pepper. This can be left chunky or blended in a food processor for a smooth sauce. Wait until the sauce is done before adding the basil.
2. Serve spooned over cooked pasta any shape topped with parmesan cheese.