Healthy and Tasty: "Deliciously Healthy" Cooking Demo Class in Eastwood Mall

- September 13, 2015, Sunday.

- Healthy food and tasty food don't often go together in most people's minds, but many chefs and amateur cooks around the world have proven otherwise. Today, I was fortunate to have participated in a healthy-food demo cooking class in Eastwood Mall. I was invited by my amazing food-blogger friend, Clarisse (aka "The Tummy Train; click here for blog,) to accompany her to this event. The demo class is the third of the "Food Tastings" demo-cooking class series organized by ABS-CBN's Food Magazine, in celebration of the magazine's 20th anniversary. (Click here and here for the first two "Food Tastings" events.)

Still having a hard time taking selfies with a really heavy SLR.

Our emcee for the afternoon.

Ms. Nana Ozaeta, Food Magazine's editor-in-chief.

- Today's dishes were mostly familiar dishes that were jazzed up, either in manner of preparation or quality of ingredients - or both, to make everyone's comfort dishes healthier, without sacrificing taste. Honestly, I think that some of these even taste uniquely better than the regular (and oilier) version of the dishes.

- The first presenter was fitness coach Anthony Macaraeg, owner of Fit Burger. Coach Macaraeg made a Fit Burger, which tasted like a normal burger, although the bread used was a wheat pita bread instead of the usual burger bun. However, what caught my taste buds' attention was Coach Macaraeg's Breakfast Burger. Apart from the wheat pita bread and the regular beef patty, the burger also has a vegetable omelette and its secret ingredient - double smoked bacon. This kind of bacon is healthier because it is less salty (less cured) as compared to the regular commercial bacon. This type of bacon is leaner, and tastes like real and fresh meat, which meant more natural nutrients. (I liked the burger so much that I asked for the whole burger on display after the event, after everyone else was able to take their photos and when the crew started to pack up; the organizers allowed me to have the burger, so I was able to eat to my heart's content.)

Coach Macaraeg and his assistant.

My favorite breakfast burger.

Fit burger.

- The second presenter for the afternoon was Chef Deejay Santos from Tefal Kitchen Appliances. He made a dish called "Mediterranean chicken and couscous." The dish was a bit on the bland side for most people, but it was perfect for my taste. It was a salad-like dish that allowed a person to taste the natural flavors from the bell peppers, chickpeas, olives, tomatoes, zucchini/cucumber slices, and the oregano-marinated chicken breast. The dressing, made of olive oil, lemon/lime juice, cane vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper, added a little bit of acidity to enhance the flavor of the main ingredients.

Chef Deejay Santos.

Couscous.

- Afterwards, Chef Matthew Bates from  the Early Bird Breakfast Club prepared two dishes. First, he made a breakfast sausage tart, which is a savory tart that holds everyone's breakfast favorites in one tender crush - sausages, bacon, onions, tomatoes, fresh cheese, mushrooms, lettuce, and tomatoes. Personally, I am not the biggest tart fan, but because my love for breakfast food is greater than my non-preference for tart, I liked this particular tart, especially since the crust wasn't a choking hazard like many other tarts I've eaten in my life.

Chef Bates, his assistant, and the cameraman.

This fabulous tart is the crowning glory of the salad underneath.

Hungry me.

- Chef Bates' second dish was poached salmon aioli, which has the least amount of ingredients among all the dishes made this afternoon. It only needed slices of toasted whole-grain bread, poached salmon, poached egg, and a lemon wedge. This dish was also on the bland side for most people, but because my tongue is sensitive to taste, I was able to appreciate the simplicity of the dish, particularly the ability of the dish to make me taste the light flavor of the poached salmon.

His poached salmon.

A relatively simple dish.

- Next, Chef Nancy Dizon from The British School Manila (she also appeared during the first "Food Tastings" even in Project Pie; click here) made a similar dish she made during the pizza-and-pasta demo class in Project Pie. She made a seafood past with black ink, but this time, she used sotanghon instead of the regular Italian pasta. She also made a simple mango-graham dessert afterwards.

Chef Nancy's style is to have a volunteer, and the volunteer does the cooking while she instructs the volunteer how.

Plating.

Seafood sotanghon with black ink.

Dessert.

- Finally, Chef Robby Goco from Green Pastures made two dishes. While cooking his two dishes, Chef Goco exemplified his advocacy of supporting local farmers and local crops. As for his dishes, he was the one among all presenters who made the greatest twists to usual food. First he made a pad thai salad, which was like regular Thai pad thai without the noodles and with more veggies. The salad tasted exactly like pad thai, and adds itself to my list of "dishes I can eat all day, everyday."

Chef Robby.

This well-balanced salad.

- To cap off the afternoon, Chef Goco made the most complicated recipe among all the dishes made - mushroom and kale paella. Chef Goco's paella was vegetarian, and used mushroom instead of real meat, and even used deep fried mushroom slices (aka "mushroom fries") to garnish and add texture to the paella. His paella was also not fiery red, but of a brownish color, because of the red rice used (which is red-brown in color,) and the mushroom stock that serves as the main sauce of the paella. This paella had a sweeter-nuttier taste too, probably because of the combination of the mushroom and the rice. Chef Goco also imparted some techniques and secrets to making the perfect paella, such as putting a lot of onion, and his fired-up rosemary stalk (i,e. literally setting fire to a stalk and placing it in the pan.)

Chef Robby and his assistant.

Slightly blurred; it's them using the blowtorch to fire up the rosemary stalk.

Mix mix mix mix.

A very happy chef.

- Clarisse and I finished the food samples and waited for all the other food bloggers and instagrammers to finish taking photos before I mustered up the courage to ask for Coach Macaraeg's burger. All the samples were, of course, smaller in size with less presentation, while the dishes that the presenters cooked were full-sized, and with better presentations. Again, I was happy like a little kid when they allowed me to get ONE FULL BREAKFAST BURGER (I am too happy, and hence, the all caps.)

HAD TO CONTROL MYSELF WHILE HAVING THIS PHOTO TAKEN. Didn't want to waste a second but I just had to have a victory photo.

- Clarisse and I went home after receiving our goodie bags, thanks to the events' sponsors. Although I honestly am questioning the status of some of the dishes as "healthy food," it was another remarkable afternoon with plenty of good food and a good friend (and a good whole breakfast burger!!)