Years ago, Fort Bend Herald photographer extraordinaire Russell Autrey and I had a conversation about food. Both of us love a good plate of Texas barbecue or enchiladas.

The conversation took a turn to cooking healthier meals. I have a theory – food that’s low in fat and low in calories tastes bad. Food that’s high in fat and high in calories tastes good.

To prove my point, I named all the food that’s high in calories and high in fat that tastes good. The list included ice cream, chocolate in any form except dark chocolate, doughnuts, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese.

I challenged Russell – name a food that’s high in calories and high in fat that tastes bad.

Couldn’t think of one.

Then I asked him to name all the foods that were low in calories and fat and tasted good.

Silence.

I formed this belief when I was a little girl. My mom boiled spinach and then sliced a hard-boiled egg on the top for a decoration. I refused to take one bite.

I went to bed hungry that night, but Mom sneaked a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to me before I went to sleep.

As an adult, I’ve learned to like brussels sprouts, peas, green beans and broccoli as long as there’s butter and salt covering those vegetables on my plate. Throw in some bacon, and we’re talking feast.

But surely, Russell challenged me, there has to be some tasty vegetables that are low in calories and taste good.

I thought about celery, but that has no taste whatsoever. Carrots at least have some taste and crunch, but would I choose a bowl of carrots over a bowl of chocolate decadence ice cream?

No way.

Russell finally piped up with a food he considered low in calories and high in taste.

His answer – beets.

I asked if he’d ever eaten a beet. Russell admitted he’d never eaten a beet, but they looked pretty.

Not pretty enough to eat, I replied.

I told my mom about this conversation, and she said she likes beet salad.

Of course she does.

Beet salad often has olive oil, avocados or maple syrup in the recipe.

Fruit is usually a healthy choice. It’s hard to beat the taste of sweet watermelon, plump blueberries and red strawberries in the middle of the summer. Those fruits are high in sugar, but we overlook that detail because fruit is healthy.

Unless, of course, you cover the fruit with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a cup of whipped cream.

In trying to change my eating habits once again, I went back to the basics. Salads, I knew, are a healthy choice.

I went to a salad bar recently, and all the healthy choices were there. I chose wisely until I got to the end of the serving line. There were bread rolls, tomato soup – 300 calories a cup – and a variety of salad dressings.

I looked at all of them, and with the exception of straight vinegar, most dressings were 250 calories for a tablespoon.

I’m one of those who like a lot of dressing on my greens, so if I put two tablespoons of dressing on this healthy salad, I could’ve had a Big Mac for the same calorie count.

Big Mac:  High in fat. High in calories. High in flavor.

Salad with no dressing:  Are you kidding?

So go ahead, name a food that’s low in calories and fat and tastes good without the benefit of salad dressings, bacon drippings or butter.

As long as it’s not beets.

 

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.