Sheryl Crow
If it makes you healthy, it can’t be that bad
Words: Sheryl Crow
When I was a kid growing up in Kennett, Missouri, life was pretty simple. I could walk to school every day, I could ride my bike anywhere in town, and I could always count on six o’clock dinner.
Dinnertime in the Crow household was a nightly event. Every evening, my family sat down to a tasty, well-balanced meal lovingly prepared by my mother. Mealtime was a wonderful ritual comprised of discussing the day’s events at school and any other topics that might come up—no matter how busy our schedules would ultimately become, dinner was rarely missed.
My mother was and continues to be an excellent cook. She has always been someone who finds enjoyment in reading recipes. Considering there was no authentic ethnic food and certainly nothing consciously raised organic in my southern
Missouri town, my mom always tried to be creative—I think she was the first person in our neighborhood to own a wok (although I vividly remember my father saying, “What are peanuts doing in the chicken!?). For the most part, we ate very Midwestern fare: pot roast, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy. And cholesterol was never in short supply.
Because my mom was such a good cook, I never really took any interest in learning how to cook myself. Instead, I was one of four designated table-setters.
When I left home, I didn’t bother to learn because by then I had only myself to cook for. Meals were grabbed on the go, except on social occasions, and with a busy recording and touring life I found I lived mostly off hotel room service menus, tuna salad sandwiches in the dressing room, and overcooked catering spreads. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February of 2006 that I began paying close attention to the foods I put into my body.
Eating for Good Health
My cancer diagnosis was a real game changer for me, someone who has always been fit and healthy, although not a healthy eater by any stretch of the imagination.
My cancer diagnosis screamed “vulnerable” to me. Never once in my life had I really considered what I put into my body as having a direct connection to my wellness. Aside from the conventional treatment for my breast cancer, my oncologist suggested I meet with a nutritionist. That’s when I was introduced to Rachel Beller, an extraordinary nutritionist, and I quickly became an enthusiastic student of wellness and nutrition. It just made sense to me. I learned the benefits of nutrients such as omega-3 (a fatty acid with disease-fighting properties), and lycopene (found primarily in tomatoes and which has been shown to help prevent cancer), and began to eat what I call an Eskimo diet—lots of salmon, brown rice, and colorful vegetables, the rule being whenever possible to eat the colorful version of a vegetable.
I completed radiation in April, two months after the diagnosis, and headed out for a summer tour. Because it’s always been challenging to eat healthfully on the road, I decided to hire a chef to cook for the band, the crew, and me. Not only did Chuck White come highly recommended, he really was an answered prayer on my road to eating for a healthy future.
Chuck White Enters My Life
Chuck is modest and laid-back—he reminds me of a surfer—and I immediately fell in love with what he did with food. I wanted Chuck to continue with the nutritional path I was following so I connected him with Rachel. It was clear to both Rachel and me that Chuck had already been mastering cooking for health and wellness and was very current on all the latest dietary studies and information.
Chuck approaches cooking the way I approach songwriting. Just as I’ve grown up listening to great artists and building a repertoire of influences, he seems to have a dictionary of cooking references. He doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but rather notes my particular tastes and pays careful attention to my health concerns and my energy level.
Being on the road so much and not being a great cook at home, I had become stuck in a rut eating the same things over and over, and Chuck has brought diversity and originality to my day. He was already incorporating into his own approach to cooking the steps that the nutritionist had recommended, but he has taken the job a hundred times further. He cooks with foods that are good for me and that I like, and presents them in original and inspiring ways that are always delicious and often surprising. For example, incorporating lycopene into my diet is tricky because I’m not a huge fan of tomatoes, but Chuck came up with delicious soups with simple and unobtrusive tomato bases. I wanted to eat a lot of fish for the omega-3 nutrients that reduce inflammation, but found myself bored with grilled salmon and halibut. Chuck came to the rescue, never being at a loss for ways to prepare fish that were fresh and original.
My nutritionist had suggested eating the more colorful version of any given vegetable whenever possible, because they have the most nutrients. Already being an ardent produce lover, Chuck introduced me to coleslaw made with just-picked purple cabbage that is full of vitamins. He visits both the farmers’ market and supermarket and picks out what is freshest or in season. He selects produce with the brightest purples or oranges and whatever is highest in nutrients, and builds a meal around it. All this for someone who never realized that potatoes and cauliflower came in colors other than white!
Chuck’s dishes incorporate spices that have cancer-fighting properties, such as cinnamon and cumin. There is much to know about spices that can be beneficial to general wellness and disease prevention and that each of us can easily incorporate into our daily nutrition routine.
As important as my health is and regardless of how dedicated I am to eating healthfully, I’m also a believer in the 10 percent cheat zone. This explains why I think it’s important to have dessert. Chuck manages to make desserts that are tasty and extremely inventive—and still pretty healthy! For example, he makes a chocolate mousse thickened with avocado—which is truly amazing and maybe has to be tasted to be believed. He also grills juicy summer peaches and fills them with lavender-infused cream cheese.
Motherhood Changed Me Even More
Since I’ve become a mother, my appreciation for Chuck has grown even stronger.
My kids are the most important part of my life, and like every mom, I want to nourish them with the best, most healthful food possible. I consider myself lucky that I have access to great food and recipes—thanks to Chuck’s mentoring—that help their little bodies grow and thrive. I think the real struggle with feeding kids is being creative and not giving in to the mac-and-cheese box or the frozen chicken fingers, but instead finding ways to give them the tastes they love in a healthy way.
It’s also important to me that my children grow up eating the same dishes I eat at mealtime. It’s the way it was in my house growing up. In fact, I remember my mother saying on numerous occasions when one of us would complain about wanting something other than what we were having for that particular meal, “Do I look like a short-order cook?!” That’s why I love dishes such as Chuck’s quinoa pasta or his corn chowder, which happens to have popcorn sprinkled on top.
What kid doesn’t love popcorn? I know Wyatt does; and meanwhile, we are eating healthfully.
I have said time and again that I have been fortunate enough to travel the world and to eat in some of the best and most famous restaurants. I’ve eaten meals cooked by some of the most recognizable and most successful chefs in the business, but I can honestly say that the best meals I’ve ever had have been right here in my own home outside Nashville, where I live with Wyatt and Levi. In this book, I want to welcome readers into my kitchen and introduce them to Chef Chuck, the man who changed everything for me. I hope my readers will then set off on their own path toward a better, healthier way of living for them and their families.
Extract from If it makes you healthy by Sheryl Crow and Chuck White with Mary Goodbody, published by St. Martin’s Press, $29.99
Watermelon Margaritas
Serves 4
4½ cups peeled, diced seedless watermelon
¾ cup high-quality tequila (I prefer Patrón Silver tequila)
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons triple sec
4 cups ice
1. In a blender, process half the watermelon, half the tequila, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, 1 tablespoon of triple sec, and 2 cups of ice until smooth. Transfer to a pitcher.
2. Repeat with the remaining watermelon, tequila, sugar, lime juice, triple sec, and ice. Add this second batch to the first and refrigerate until ready to serve.
