Healthy Cooking with Mike Milken

Mike Milken once revolutionized Wall Street and now Mike is revolutionizing food and diet.

His current endeavor, a crusade in the fight against cancer, stems from events that have affected both him and his family. He has lost seven members of his family to cancer and he himself was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 1993. Mike was given 12 to 18 months to live and he fought the battle with cancer all the way.

"I was determined to change to a low-fat diet in order to beat my disease," Mike says. It was out of this determination that The Taste for Living cookbook was born. This cookbook is unlike any other diet cookbook in that it contains recipes for really good, interesting, tasty food with a focus on healthy ingredients.

"I've found the key to a well-balanced nutritional diet is not to change the foods you eat, but rather to change the ingredients you use," Mike says. "[By recreating] traditional foods using low-fat and soy-based ingredients, instantly, my bland but healthy diet was replaced by tasty and healthy favorites--chili, Reuben sandwiches, Caesar salads, lasagna and more."

"Taking Charge of My Own Illness"

According to statistics Mike cites in the introduction to The Taste for Living, one in two men in the United States will develop cancer; one in three women in the United States will develop cancer. He further notes that, "I learned that Americans have a five times higher incidence of prostate cancer than people living in Asia and eating a traditional Asian diet."

And, with no cure for cancer immediately in sight, cancer patients really need to do a lot for themselves. In his introduction to the cookbook, Mike relates how his father and Steve Ross, his closest friend and former chairman of Time Warner, had lost their battles against cancer because they had participated so little in their own treatment. "I decided to shift my energy and concentration into changing my lifestyle and diet and taking charge of my own illness," he says.

Fueled by a burning desire to wage war against his cancer, Mike created CaP CURE, the Association for the Cure of Cancer of the Prostate.

"A Star at Breakfast Eating Contests"

For Mike, there was no denying the fact that if he wanted to beat cancer, he would have to make changes in the types of food he was eating. In the introduction to The Taste for Living, Mike relates eating "2,000 to 3,000 meals" while standing at his trading desk on Wall Street. His heavy consumption of food, he points out, was not due to hunger but as a reaction to the stresses of his job.

Earlier in his life, while attending the University of California at Berkeley, Mike recalls becoming "a star at breakfast eating contests in our fraternity kitchen....I would routinely put away 10 pancakes, 3 eggs over easy, 12 pieces of bacon, and cereal. I retired undefeated after reading about a college student who dropped dead after winning an eating contest," he relates in the introduction to The Taste for Living.

"Perhaps the only thing that kept my weight under control was my extremely fast metabolism," Mike says. But after his cancer diagnosis, Mike decided to take control of his eating habit and his health by switching to a low-fat diet. "Replacing my beloved hot dogs and hamburgers with rice cakes and steamed broccoli was not very satisfying to say the least," he says.

Good Food That's Good for You

"That's when Chef Beth Ginsberg (co-author of The Taste for Living) and I came up with the idea to recreate traditional foods using low-fat and soy-based ingredients," Mike says. "The recipes in The Taste for Living Cookbook are the same great dishes you're accustomed to, but they're created with healthy ingredients that will lead you to a healthier lifestyle."

In the introduction to The Taste for Living, Mike shares one such "re-created" beverage, a fruit smoothie, as an example of how healthy ingredients can still be used to create delicious food and drink. "I could hardly guess that the drink was full of soy protein and other potential cancer-fighters like lemon and orange zest," he says--a far cry from the medicinal soy protein drinks of years past.

The Taste for Living is a book for anyone who's watching diet and health. Because it features real food, it's really good for both families and individuals who want to eat healthy. And you can too. Below, you'll find two recipes from The Taste for Living Cookbook that are "classics made over" with ingredients, such as soy and tofu, that'll help you on your way to a healthier diet.

Spinach Cannelloni in Fresh Tomato Sauce

Serves 6

For the Crepes

Canola oil cooking spray

1. To Make the Crepes Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and mix until smooth. Pour batter into a bowl, and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Spray a 6- or 7-inch nonstick omelet pan or other small nonstick frying pan with cooking spray. Heat the pan over low heat. Using a ladle, pour 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan. Swirl and tilt pan to coat the bottom. Batter will form a large, thin pancake. Cook over very low heat until mixture thickens and browns around the edges. Flip the crepe with the tip of a paring knife or a small spatula, and cook the other side for 2 minutes. Flip cooked crepe onto a clean platter, and repeat process until batter is used up. If the pan heats up so that the crepes start cooking too quickly, remove pan from heat to let it cool for a few minutes. To freeze crepes for later use, layer cooled crepes between sheets of parchment paper, wrap the stack in plastic wrap and then in foil, and freeze up to 1 month.

2. To Make the Spinach Filling If you're using a raw onion, peel and slice the onion. Spray a saute pan once with cooking spray, and add onion to the pan. Cook over low heat until onion is soft and light brown, about 10 minutes. Blanch spinach in boiling water for 2 minutes (if using frozen spinach, skip this step). Strain. Place all ingredients in a food processor, and puree. Scrape mixture into a bowl.

3. To Make the Fresh Tomato Sauce Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Core tomatoes, and cut an X on the bottom with a paring knife. Place tomatoes in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes to loosen skin. Transfer to a bowl of cold water until they're cool enough to handle. Peel tomatoes, cut in half, and squeeze each over a bowl to remove seeds. Discard seeds. In batches, place tomatoes in a blender or food processor, and puree. Spray a large saucepan once with cooking spray, and place over low heat. Add chopped garlic to the pan and dried basil, if using, and cook for 1 minute. Add pureed tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add fresh basil and salt when sauce has finished cooking.

4. To Assemble the Spinach Cannelloni Heat the oven to 350º. Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of filling in the center of a crepe, and roll it up. Repeat with remaining crepes and filling. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of a 3-quart casserole dish. Place cannelloni on top of sauce. Cover cannelloni with remaining sauce. Cover pan with foil, and bake until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

*To roast the onion, place it, unpeeled, on a baking dish and bake at 350º until soft, about 45 minutes. It will keep in the refrigerator for about 1 week.

Caesar Salad with Herb Croutons

A remake of the classic, this is best served in a wooden bowl and garnished with fresh herb croutons.

Serves 4

For the Herb Croutons

1 cup Caesar Salad Dressing (see directions below)

1. To Make the Herb Croutons Preheat oven to 350º. Cut bread slices into 1-inch squares with a serrated knife. Place squares in a mixing bowl. Add basil, rosemary, parsley and garlic to the bowl and toss well. Spray a baking sheet once with cooking spray. Place croutons on the sheet and bake until the croutons are light brown, about 20 minutes. Use immediately or cool before storing. These will keep up to 1 month if stored in an airtight container.

2. To Make the Caesar Salad Dressing Place the garlic in a food processor fitted with a metal blade; chop the garlic finely. Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. The dressing will keep up to 4 days if stored in a glass container in the refrigerator. If it thickens, add a little water to thin it.

3. To Make the Salad Wash the romaine lettuce; dry by patting the leaves dry with paper towels or place leaves in a salad spinner and spin dry. Tear the leaves into bite-size pieces. (Tearing the lettuce leaves, rather than cutting them with a knife, keeps them from turning brown at the edges.) Place the lettuce, croutons, soy cheese and the dressing in a serving bowl and toss. Serve.

SPECIAL THANKS

Beth Ginsberg

Mike Milken

Larry Weisenberg

These recipes have been adapted from The Taste for Living Cookbook by Beth Ginsberg and Mike Milken. Copyright 1998 CaP CURE. Reprinted by permission.

Related Links: To learn more about Mike Milken and his non-profit activities, visit his Web site at mikemilken.com.

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