Getting Healthy

Today, I'm joined by my cookbook author friend, Daniel Green

and low-fat recipes aren't the only thing I got stirring in my kitchen

Wait, you got some honey dripping from those sweet lips. We're starting off with Daniel's scrumptious chicken lettuce wraps

This is yummy, Daniel. Then Daniel shows me his healthy twist on an old Italian classic

Oh, that color. Look at that. See, that comes alight there, doesn't it? Beautiful, Daniel

And finally, I'm sweetening up the deal with my orange banana bread

Delicious. That is so moist. So join us today for some good times and great low-fat recipes

How great is that? You know, I was very excited for Daniel Green to come over today

His looks had preceded himself. So I was looking forward to meeting him in person

Follow, look back down. Hi! Oh! Come around here, precious. Hello, this is Daniel

Lovely to meet you. Hey, Daniel. You are handsome. I'm from London, and I moved over to the U.S. about seven years ago to Minneapolis

and my passion is all about healthy eating. I'm excited to kind of throw that with Paula and see what she thinks of it

and how we could kind of lighten up food and see her take on it, too

Let me feel. You got my undershirt. No. I wasn't embarrassed, but if I wasn't so tan

I think you would have seen me blush and be very red. No, I loved it. You're a model

Well, I used to be years ago. I lost a bit of weight through eating

so that's how I kind of got into the food scene. So if I read this book, will I look like you

Well, you know, I really believe in it. I believe in the kind of food that you..

I'm getting that beautiful hair change. Exactly, no time. Overnight. This will be a treat, a highlight, just working with her

Her energy and just kindness, a real treat for me. Have you ever had Chinese lettuce wraps

No. No? Okay. Really, really good, I hope. I'm going to try and do a really nice light version for you

which is lots of flavour, lots of caramelisation, something that we see in a few Chinese restaurants

Yes. But lighten it up a little bit. Okay. I'm going to use some onion and some shiitake mushrooms

Nice thin slices would be wonderful. Slices? Yeah, I think so. That would be good

And if you don't have shiitake mushrooms, you can use any kind of mushrooms. Okay. Now, I've got a nice hot pan heated

Yes. I need some oil. Well, I have vegetable. I've got olive

What do you want? Olive oil. I'm just trying to get you to say it

I'm sorry. Olive oil. So I'm going to pour some in here

Just a little bit. Now, I'm going to throw in some onions. You know, I always think you can add more fat after

So try to do as little as possible. More fat after. Get that going there

I think I've got lean mint somewhere. Some what baby I'm here some ground chicken. Yeah, I do it's down here in the refrigerator drawer. Oh, all right

You've got some radicchio. I'll have that after. Okay, so I'm gonna throw in

Those mushrooms so in your pan wonderful So tell me about you you have lost 65 pounds. Oh, yeah years ago became a model

And now you're on television and cook with Ryan. Oh, well, yeah

What a fascinating story. Well, I just, you know, I was at a point I was a teenager, and I was eating the junk

I was having all the fast food, I was having the burgers, having the fries

None of it tasted that good, and I just didn't feel good. I didn't feel like I had any confidence

So you were overweight young. When I was a kid, I wasn't

It was about 13 years old I started putting weight on. Wow

Was your mother a good cook? Yeah, very. Absolutely. Everything was cooked from scratch. Everything

I'm assuming that I can open these water chestnuts for you. I would love you to. That's perfect. I'm going to pop those in

If you wouldn't mind, maybe just we, if we could cut those up a little, it'd be perfect

Oh, okay. So just browning that mince. You can use ground pork, ground turkey, ground chicken

Now, how about this garlic that you got over here, Daniel? Oh, yeah. We need a little bit of that, too. Thank you for that. Perfect

Just a little bit. I didn't want to put it in the pan too early, so it wouldn't burn. It will burn

It will burn, won't it? So you obviously make sure this is cooked all the way through

Yeah. And then we're going to get some color in it. Oh, perfect. Very nice

Good, good, good. But I tried to make these ingredients as simple as possible so you can really make it at home. Yeah

Okay, how about the green onions? They would be wonderful. We're going to add those at the end. Okey-doke

Well, I'll go ahead and get these chopped up for you. But this is a really nice dish to make

I do this for the family because we all love it. So it's one of these dishes that it's nice when you're entertaining as well

because you wrap them yourselves and it's kind of fun to do as well

Okay, so that's caramelizing. I can add a few other ingredients So we got some sesame seeds Okay love sesame seeds This is the What did you call that mirin and this is a form of vinegar Yeah

It's like a rice vinegar, but it's got a sweetness to it. So it's used a lot in it. I want to taste it

Well throw it if you can throw a little bit in there. All right. Well now what do you call a little bit

That's perfect all of these ingredients you can get from just the Asian oil in your grocery store. Uh-huh

What is this? A little sesame oil. Oh, I love that, the smell of it. Do you

I do not. Well, yeah. I just love the aroma of it. Yeah, now that, to me, that's really potent

I mean, you really need just a drizzle of it because it kind of just gives a nutty flavor

when it's the sesame seeds. And what is this, the oyster sauce? That's the oyster sauce. Okay, how much do you..

Yeah, about a tablespoon would be great. Yeah, maybe, yeah, great. That's good

And then a little bit of that soy. Okay, and I see you're using the low sodium

Yeah, if you can. It makes a little bit of difference. And then that kind of orcasin, that's really, that's exactly what we want it to be

Caramelizing, getting that color. Yes. And then we'll throw in a little bit of color at the end of it with those scallions that you chopped for me

Ooh, smells good. Does it? I hope so. Yeah. And that's ready to go

All right, so it's time for the radicchio. Perfect. All right, and do you just peel the leaves off

Yeah, if I cut the core out sometimes, it's a bit easier. Oh, yeah, will you show me what you do

Just a little bit. If I take that. Okay. Just take that core out

Yeah. And then some of them don't work. Oh, yeah. See, they're nice little bite sizes like that

Right, right. So we'll take a few of those. And then what we do is we take a little teaspoon of that plum sauce

Okay. Sometimes you don't need it. And then we put it on top of our filling

Put it on the leaf and then we fill it. Yeah, so we take a little bit. And as they get smaller, so you can pop these out

These are great for entertaining. Perfect. Like that? Just perfect. A perfect amount

Exactly. And then we fill them like this. Wow. Great color

A little bit more onion. Do you like spring onion or scallions? I love, love, yes

Very good. There we go. Very nice. That's so pretty

And then you kind of roll it up a little bit. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Give it a whirl

Tell me what you think. I think if it'll make me look like you, it's a very good thing

Oh. This is yummy, Daniel. Coming up, Daniel's wonderful tomato and crab pasta

And that way it makes it kind of nice and light. Later, I'm sweetening things up with my orange banana bread

That's amazing. What do you see us, Daniel

Sun-dried tomato, pasta. Oh, okay. Lightening it up. All right, so we got our spaghetti drained

I'm going to add some sun-dried tomatoes, and if we can chop a few of those

And then we've got some cherry tomatoes, and those I'm just going to slice in half

and then we'll throw them in a pan, but I don't want them to break down too much. Okay

You said tomatoes. Tomatoes. And I say tomatoes. Tomatoes. I love it

And again, part of, you know, not worrying about the carb side, to me I kind of try and reduce the fat on things

That's been what I've done for the last, oh, my goodness, about 15, 20 years now

Well, it is working, darling. It is working. I live more of a Monday to Friday diet, which means pretty careful in the week

but then the weekends I have off and enjoy the food. You have to. You know, a lot of people do that

Yeah. Daniel practices what I've heard a lot of folks doing, and that's eating whatever he wants on the weekends

It's all about moderation, moderation, moderation. I'm going to grab some olive oil

Okie doke. And we're going to just drizzle a little bit here

Okay, okay. And break down some of these tomatoes, but I want to keep them pretty much in their form

Okay. So we'll just get those going a bit. Does your daughter like to cook with you

Oh, yeah. I love her to be in the kitchen. Oh! I love it. You know, I find with kids, they're in the kitchen, they get more involved

They want to cook. they're much more likely to try something new

Of course, because they did it. They had a hand in it. Because they did it

I am ready to go. I'm going to throw some of this pasta in, a little bit of this sun-dried tomato paste

Pasta. Pasta. Spaghetti. Pasta. Oh, that's hot. I should have used the tongs

And then what we do, see, this is the way they do it in Italy. They'll coat it in a little bit of sauce, not too much

and then everything seems to just, you know, absorb. Every strand is getting a little bit of that sauce, but not too much

And that way it makes it kind of nice and light Could I grab a little bit of parsley and we just chop that Yes yes yes So now pasta got a lot of carbs in it It does and I not so much you know into the you know carb diet

To me, it's more the fat content. I sometimes try to reduce the carbs maybe at night because your body doesn't need it

It's energy. So if you can have it more in the morning, lunch is a much better thing. Right. Because you can kind of have wasted calories

That is it. Oh, that color. Look at that. See, that comes alive. I know. Now we're going to put some crab in it and it's a good lump. Oh

This is the best. Yeah, that's the best. Yeah Yeah, now the thing about that is spend the extra few dollars. Yeah

And get some really really good crap for this that makes the ultimate difference But that's just absolutely perfect. Yeah, and we could get that and you're gonna pay for it

Yeah, you are I mean, it's expensive. You're gonna pay for it, but this is good good stuff in here

we're done And then we've got to make sure you get some of that sauce on the crab

Yes. A little bit more here. Beautiful, Daniel. Perfect. So no fat

No, very little. Just a little bit in that oil. And the sun-dried tomato

And hopefully nice, crunchy kind of pasta, a little bit al dente

And then I want to show you some little bit of video as well. Pasta. Pasta

I can't get over you calling it pasta. I would never know what you're talking about

It's pretty light. The crab is fantastic. Good

And the tomatoes are very, very hot. That crab made it really special

So would you like to see a little bit of footage of her? of my darling Elsie. I would love to

Here she is, going to the fridge, as always. Now, do you know what I'm making on The Paula Deen Show

No. I'm making your favourite. What? Have a guess. Letters, wraps? Yes, I am

She's beautiful. Thank you. Elsie, what's your favourite thing to cook? Salad

And she. I love to spend as much time with my daughter as I can, so obviously me being in the kitchen

and that's a lot of my work, she gets involved, and I just see how kids do so much more

when they get involved with the kitchen. She still loves the pizza and I wouldn't want to take that away from her as being a child

but I think that a lot of times people say, my kid doesn't eat anything other than hot dogs and pizza

Well, there's a reason for that, so you've got to get them interested. You know, we've got to have something sweet

so I'm going to make you something sweet. Oh, I can't wait. Coming up next, I'm t down

one of my favourite anytime snacks. Wouldn't you feel good about giving that to your child? Absolutely

All right, so I'm going to kind of end the day, you know, with something sweet for us

Very good. Because we've earned it. We have. Eating all your good low-fat stuff

And I'm going to make you an orange banana bread. Oh, that sounds wonderful

It is good. All right, so if you would, in this bowl, honey, get the wet for me

And another way we're lightening up is with yogurt. So what would you normally use

Instead of sour cream. Oh, sour cream. Oh, okay. That's a huge difference then. Yeah, well, you know, everything counts, doesn't it

Everything adds up. So there's your measuring cup. That's a third of a cup

I need two eggs, about a teaspoon of vanilla. So a third of a, because you've got to, you see, I'm not good at baking

It's got to be exact, hasn't it? You know, bacon is a formula. Yeah. It is a formula

Just level that off, and that should be a third for you. And while you're doing that..

And you want me to whisk two eggs in here? Yes, please. Big whites or just the egg

Whole egg. Very good. Now, would you normally take the yolk out

You know, maybe if there's a recipe with three eggs, I might just take one or one yolk out, just a little bit

But I have eggs a lot. I have eggs every day for breakfast. Right, once in a while I'll do that too

All right, and when you get through whisking that together, if you would mash these four bananas up for me

Very good. And there should be a... Yeah, here we go. There's a potato masher that works real well for that

Now, did you use a full-fat yogurt, or was it a low-fat yogurt

It was a low-fat. OK, so you can use that. Like I said, I'm trying to trim down, you know, just a little bit for you

And these bananas, they need to be very ripe, or are they kind of... Yeah. OK

In fact, for something like this, the riper, the better. All right, so there's my cup of wheat flour

My cup of all-purpose. I'm adding a half a teaspoon of cinnamon

and three-fourths of a teaspoon of baking soda. And now I'm going to add three-fourths of a teaspoon of the salt

What does the salt do with that? Well you know to me salt just gives it that little ump I just love that sweet and salty Now what do you eat every day at home I mean do you eat a lot of butter Do you have it It doesn

look like you do. And you have asked me a very interesting question. If you would, while

I'm answering you, because it's going to take me a few minutes, if you would zest me up

some of this orange. Absolutely. So, people have a misconception of me and other Southerners

You know, they think that we eat fried chicken, biscuits and gravy every day

We don't. We don't. Of course I don't eat this way every day

We eat more vegetables here than any other part of the states

that I've been in. And we all know how good our vegetables are for us

So, like I said, people think that everything we eat is fried, but it's not

And you put your vanilla in there, did you? No, I didn't. You did not? How much do you want

Okay, half a teaspoon, teaspoon, just eyeball it. So I think I... Uh-oh

I forgot a very important ingredient. We've got a fourth of a stick of melted butter

Oh, I knew it was there somewhere. I was wondering where that was. I thought I turned around and checked because I was about to miss it

We're just going to take these three bowls and combine them. And I'm going to..

Smells good. Yeah, so just dump, honey. Oh, okay. Just dump and mix

And I'm going to take our loaf pan and just spray that good so that our loaf of bread will come out

This is nice and easy. Yeah, it's one of those things you don't have to coddle

My style, you know, quick and easy. If you'd hold that bowl for me. Sure

Oh, that looks delicious. It does. Okey-doke. So we're going to put this in the oven 350 for about 50 minutes

And would you like to give me the pleasure of seeing you bend over and put that in the oven

Oh, there we go. Coming up next, y'all, Daniel and I are dressing up this wonderful, yummy orange banana bread

The banana comes through so much in that. Yes. I mean, that is absolutely making it perfect

So, our loaf of bread is out, doesn't it look good? The aroma is fantastic

It's cooled. And like I said, if you want to toast it up, put it in the black skillet, it's great

Now we've got some honey. We've got some peanut butter. We've got some bananas

I'll show you what I do. That's so moist and together, isn't it

Isn't that beautiful? Uh-oh. There is no butter on my counter. I threw it out

You threw it out! You know, it just makes for a very healthy snack or breakfast food

So I'm just slicing this kind of thin. That's going to look so prissy

Very nice. Yes, yes, yes. Love it. This has come out so beautifully

The consistency of it. So here it's sizzling in that skillet. And that's just to kind of warm it through, just toast it

Yeah, just like a toast. All right, but I'm going to... I've got to try

Yeah, I'm going to give you a little bit of cream cheese and let you taste that

And then I'm going to do you a little piece of peanut butter and honey and banana

Do you like it? Oh, that's amazing. Oh, good. You know what, the banana comes through so much in there

Yes. I mean, that is absolutely making it perfect. Oh, I'm so glad

That's so moist, and that's made with yogurt. Yeah, but you know what makes it so moist is the banana

Those mashed up bananas. Oh, that's just delicious. And the cinnamon, just such a hint

Yes. Oh, that is good stuff. I mean, wouldn't you feel good about giving that to your child

Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, you've got no preservatives. You've just made it all from fresh

This looks the best one. Wait, you've got some honey dripping from those sweet lips

Oh, this is just delicious, delicious. Isn't that yummy

Mm, mm-mm-mm, delicious. That is so moist. I gotta have a little cream cheese

I make this. As soon as I go home, I'm gonna do this. I like it toasted

And this is something you and Elina can get in the kitchen and make together

Because you see, you can't mess it up. You don't have to cuddle it

I've enjoyed this. This is brilliant