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ROUSES.COM
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AT SEASON’S PEAK
Louisiana’s Health & Wellness Ambassador
Eric Griggs, M.D. is on a mission to teach
people how to live longer, healthier and happier
lives. He teamed up with our Chef Nino to talk
food and how it affects our health.
CHEF NINO:
Doc, your mantra is, “Get
checked. Get fit. Get moving!”
DOC GRIGGS:
Screenings find disease
before you have symptoms. Getting your
bloodpressure,blood glucose and cholesterol
checked is one of the most important things
you can do for your health.
CHEF NINO:
But a lot of folks take a head-
in-the sand approach to their health. If they
don’t “know,” it can’t be true.
DOC GRIGGS:
That’s unhealthy. Healthy is
wanting to know.
CHEF NINO:
A lot of folks also think
diseases are inevitable, which they aren’t,
even if you have a family history.
DOC GRIGGS:
I have a heredity risk for
diabetes,but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get
diabetes.Mydoctor and I keep a close eye out
for any symptoms. I exercise — I live by my
words — get fit, get moving.And I eat right.
CHEF NINO:
Explain what eating right is.
DOC GRIGGS:
Eating right is eating food
Rouses Red Peppers
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
1¼ pound of ground turkey
1
small onion, diced
3
green onion stalks, diced
3
garlic cloves, minced
1
stalk celery, diced
½ cup tomato paste
⅔ cup bullgar soaked in water and drained
1
teaspoon Italian Seasonings
Small pinch each Rouses salt and pepper
5
red bell peppers cut in half, seeds removed
1
tablespoon Rouses extra virgin olive oil
HOW TO PREP
In a medium-sized bowl, mix all the
ingredients together except the bell pepper
and olive oil. Place bell pepper halves, cut
sides up, in a baking dish. Fill each pepper
with the turkey and bulgur wheat mixture,
dividing evenly. Drizzle each with oil.
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and
bake stuffed peppers, until just soft, about
30 minutes. Remove foil. Continue to bake an
additional 10 minutes. Serve warm.
that tastes good and is good for you. I don’t
like the word diet. Focus on nutrient rich
foods — protein, whole grains, vegetables,
foods that are high in good fats and low in
saturated fats, trans fats and added sugars.
CHEF NINO:
We’re seeing just how much
of a roll nutrition plays in health in the class
we’re both taking at the Goldring Center
for Culinary Medicine. The center is a part
of the Tulane of School of Medicine.
DOC GRIGGS:
The executive director, Dr.
Tim Harland, is nicknamed Dr. Gourmet.
That says it all.
CHEF NINO:
They teach physicians about
food — how to cook, what to eat, and how
to help patients improve their diet. We’re
learning how to treat disease with food.
DOC GRIGGS:
Food is nature’s medicine ...
CHEF NINO:
Which would make Rouses
produce department a FARM-acy.
DOC GRIGGS:
Always with the puns.
CHEF NINO:
That’s my nickname, Atilla
the Pun.
DOC GRIGGS:
Atilla, you teach cooking
classes at Rouses Markets all over the Gulf
Coast.What do you tell your students about
eating healthy?
CHEF NINO:
You don’t have to give up your
favorite local foods, you just need to modify
them a bit. Eat brown rice with your red
beans or shrimp Creole. Thicken stuffed
peppers with bullgar wheat instead of bread
crumbs.That sort of thing. And you can get
everything you need at Rouses.
DOC GRIGGS:
I’m changing my mantra.
“Get checked. Get fit. Get moving. Get to
Rouses!”
Rouses Chef Nino & Eric Griggs, M.D.
photo by
Erika Goldring
The
Chef
& The
Doc