I approach this subject with some slight trepidation... My last seafood post, extolling the virtues of wild-caught salmon, engendered some heated discussion -- not to mention my being mildly vilified on some obscure Alaskan Seafood blog.

Nevertheless, I embarked upon this article determined, and delighted, to rehabilitate the reputation of...

Imagine you are an Inca Indian, living at dizzying heights in the Andes Mountains more than 6000 years ago. Your entire culture is built around "The Mother Grain", a life-giving seed delivered from the heavens by a sacred bird. Your God-King uses a golden...

That's me, with a week-old harbor seal pup whose mother has vanished, leaving him stranded and hungry. Cute, huh? And without someone to scoop him up and ferry him to "fish school", he would die the proverbial "slow and agonizing death" from hunger and...

Now that the cool evenings of Fall are upon us, my thoughts turn to stoking the fireplace, to sliding into the jacuzzi, and to cooking up a big pot of butternut squash soup -- though not necessarily in that order!

Winter squash, of which butternut squash is simply one of...

I have a confession to make. Until recently, my affection for all things organic was as much affectation as inclination; hazy remnants of my hippie days, as well as my generally liberal political leanings, seemed to dictate the necessity of relentlessly championing the inherent...

I must confess, I had rarely thought too much about the ubiquitous walnut, beyond observing it in the occasional trendy salad (and wishing it were pecans instead), or enjoying it in a chunk of honey-dripping baklava. And yes, the occasional silverware box made of walnut wood has caught my eye...

Quick, actual fact or urban legend: nectarines are a cross between a peach and a plum. Yeah, I got it wrong too. It turns out nectarines are not affiliated with plums at all, but rather are the product of a specific recessive gene in what would have been a peach,...

Overhead, the sky is a crystalline expanse of blue punctuated by drifting billows of clouds. Towering pines look down on a raging torrent of river that wildly sweeps and eddies. Knee-deep in that torrent stands the majestic brown bear, his paws grasping a twisting, gleaming prize -- a plump, delicious...

As I was doubled over sucking in air during boot camp the other morning, after sprinting across a vast lawn sandwiched between two triathletes-in-training, I found myself pondering the usefulness and pitfalls of the need to compete. Okay, that's a lie... at that very moment, it was all about filling...

A version of this post appears in my "Eat Smart" column in the July issue of Better Nutrition Magazine.

Mention the word "cilantro" in any social gathering and you're likely to get one of two responses: a rapturous "Love it!", or an...

So here I am, only one week into this rigorous adventure, and already I'm hearing voices -- the container of Haagen-Dazs Dulce de Leche was seductively whispering to me from the freezer last night, and now it's the vodka bottle beside it preaching sedition and urging insurrection at the cocktail...

Let's be honest, as a private chef to the definitely rich and occasionally famous, I have become happily and inevitably accustomed to eating extremely well. And what is an excellent meal without a suitably satisfying glass (or three) of an intriguing red wine?

So what happens when said private chef,...

A version of this post appears in my "Eat Smart" column in Better Nutrition Magazine for February. Check it out!

"Honey, I'm home!" That refrain has undoubtedly been heard in domestic dwellings since ancient times. In modern times, it has been immortalized on-screen in 1950's sit-coms and tweaked in...

Okay guys and gals, you want to get some killer jewelry as the perfect Christmas gift, but somehow another anonymous, mass-produced bit of sparkle from the local mall doesn't quite seem to fit the bill anymore. And besides, you're into "green" these days, and...

Let's face it, the sweet potato is not the most gorgeous veggie in the cornucopia. If Disney were sketching out a new fairy tale with anthropomorphized vegetables, the homely sweet potato would most likely be cast as the Ugly Stepsister, or even the Troll Under the Bridge.

But beneath...