Never Forget

Sometimes with all the flashy kales and arugulas going around, we forget our diet basics. We forget those simple rustic comfort foods in favor of the mint and pumpkin seed salad at Gwyneth’s guilty pleasure macrobiotic spot.

These are goods that got us through childhood. They melted away our baby fat and helped us to say “No, I’m not hungry” and look like we really meant it. Don’t be fooled when you see them at hotel salad bars or nestled in a plate of wedding hors d’oeuvres. They are still our allies. They still belong to us.

Spinach

You weren’t only my first salad green – you were my first solid food. When I was one, Mabinty made you into a puree and fed you to me. I hated you at the time (I was used to an all-liquid diet), but now I couldn’t love you more.

Celery

Dipped? You don’t need to be put in anything. That would only disguise how perfectly tasteless you are. Whenever I want the refreshment of water but am also craving something solid, if I don’t have any ice, I turn to you.

Cucumbers

Skin, seeds, fruit. You add so many textures while contributing zero calories or flavor. And you repair the skin, hair, nails – everything.

Cayenne Pepper

Excuse my indelicacy, but nothing inflames my colon like cayenne. It’s true. Cayenne pepper WAS my first cleanse, and it will probably return as my last. Plus you and your fellow peppers add great taste to a simple, water-driven diet.