Salads – who would have thought they could be so inspiring?
The other day I came across a video by my number one food hero – Jamie Oliver. I know – he’s the kind of guy people either love or loath. Well, despite my impending marriage – I love Jamie Oliver! There, I said it!
But in all seriousness – this guy doesn’t just stand in front of a camera and cook stuff in hopes you will go away and make his recipe or buy his cookbooks. That’s just part of a much bigger aim. Everything Jamie does – from 30 Minute Meals to back to when he started out as the Naked Chef - is about education. He’s about teaching us everything from which flavours are friends with each other, to what is healthy for us to cooking techniques. He doesn’t assume everyone is a pro in the kitchen and he certainly doesn’t make you feel like crap if you aren’t.
Check out this video where he talks about the simple act of making a salad. Just in a few minutes you’ll feel so inspired – you’ll want to pop down to your fruit and veg shop, get some radicchio, a speed peeler and a jam jar and get shaking! Check it out:
See, I told you! Don’t you feel like you want to go out and try something a bit different? Maybe I’m hopeless – but I really do feel like I know a hell of a lot more about being creative with salad than before I watched this video. You and me, we’re trying to be healthy, right? Well I don’t know about you, but boring salad sure as hell doesn’t turn me on – but these ideas are exciting!
It’s about time someone became a hero for healthy eating – and I mean a true hero. Not someone who does it as a token gesture, or throws a bit of money at the situation. The unhealthy eating of our children today is a world-wide issue and while Jamie Oliver is only one man – he’s out there trying to be everywhere at once – doing what he can to make a difference.
Speaking of being everywhere all at once – he even popped into my modest hometown of Geelong, Victoria. He was actually at the head office of Target Australia – which I can see from my lounge room window – to announce that he is going to include Geelong in his Ministry of Food. That’s huge! I’m so excited I jumped on the website and put my name down to volunteer. I hope and pray that I get a call – because I want to make a difference too!
Jamie – if you’re reading this … PICK ME!! PRETTY PLEASE!! I want to help educate people about cooking and food – the nuts and bolts stuff that people should know – but for some reason the simple act of eating well seems to have been lost somewhere along the line.
Speaking of making a difference … you know how there are a lot of food blogs out there, right? Well, if you didn’t know, I can tell you that there are zillions of them! People like me and like you expressing our love for food and cooking in various different ways. Some have a point of difference, some don’t.
Well, lately I’ve been working on Uforic Food’s point of different. I want to be like Jamie Oliver – I want to think outside the box – to do things differently. I’m sure he didn’t aspire to just be a cute celebrity chef and I don’t really want to be just another food blogger.
One thing you see with food blogs is that they are often about one voice, one story. Well, I think it’s time to do something cool, something different. We are just a few posts away from announcing the changes which I hope will leave you all feeling more inspired, more educated, more open-minded about food, where it comes from, who cooks it and the stories behind it all. The only way to do that is to open up and welcome new ideas, new voices and great friends.
That is all … I’m off to make some salad!