How to loose the kilos without depriving yourself of your favourite foods!

Book launch at Tangs Singapore

Thanks to my passion in cookery, I get to travel and meet people of all ages and from all walks of life. One question that I am often ask is  "how to loose the kilos without depriving yourself of your favourite foods?". 

If you don't already know me, I am a television cook - specializing in healthy eating.  I was once an overweight teenager and I'd remember how miserable I was to be fat.  I love food and I'd realised that I was picking on the wrong foods and the portions. It started at the age of 13, my weight just went up and up and I always needed to buy jeans with one size bigger. At the age of 18,  I decided that I had to do something about it and one thing for sure, I don't want to deprive myself of my favourite meals and treats.

I then started educating myself about eating, nutrition and its biological implication. I went on a low fat regime and adapted my favourite food to a low fat healthy alternative. Through this, I lost 30 kilos and have kept  the fat off ever since without hitting the gym nor undergo a stringent diet program.

We all know that there are many kinds of diets that one can go on, and these may work for some but for others, these diets may not be practical nor sustainable. More so, there are too many diets that get the weight off so fast that it is impossible to sustain.

Through my personal experiences, diets generally do not work. Why? Because they restrict you; they tell you never to touch this or that.

What does that create? Bingeing.

My way is to eat sensibly and well every day with time off for a little indulgence now and again. I have found making small changes over time will make big differences, and it will be something you can maintain without too much of a struggle.

The philosophy that underlies my recipes is that "You can have great food without having the extra fats and calories". Through the years, I have learned to master simple and easy to do recipes.  I have personally used these recipes  to shed those kilos and I have made it my mission to share with as many people as possible to help educate people about food and to help them loose those extra kilos.

Miso Salmon -Chef Daniel's signature dish on KLM

Above all, I believe food must be exciting and tasty. I get to demonstrate my techniques and ideas to viewers all over the world through my television programs and my cookbooks. With my recipes, my viewers will be able to enjoy all their favourite foods and lose weight.

For starters, the easiest thing to do is to buy my cookbook. It will show how great food can be tasty that happens to be healthy. It will also show you how easy it is to cook up a healthy tasty meal with my fuss-free recipes that would inspire you to do more home cooking!

Today, Chef Daniel Green has authored 6 cook books (Green's Cuisine, Green's Green, Healthy Eating for Lower Cholesterol, World Dining for Life, Modern Dining for Life and Healthy Dining for Life). The 5th book - Modern Dining for Life has recently been awarded as "2010 The Best Television Celebrity Cookbook (Singapore)" by Gourmand International - World Gourmand Cook book Awards" and is available in all major bookstores. Price SGD 32.00 (excl. gst). For more information, please contact vivien.lee@ themodelcook.com.

Exclusives: Award Winning TV Celebrity Speaks.

Meet the Model Cook, Daniel Green.

Food has always been Daniel's first love ever since his grandma gave him his first recipe at the age of five. Winning this prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Award is a testament to Daniel's continued passion for healthier ways to prepare food and more importantly, to manage the way one eats when it came to food.

The Award winning book, Modern Dining for Life is the fifth book in Daniel's career as a Culinary author. Here's our exclusive interview with Daniel Green:

Congratulations Daniel ! We are indeed very happy for you on this impressive milestone in your career.

Tell us what's the theme of this book about?

This book is about trendy foods, modern, restaurant foods but made healthy. People always think diet food and low fat food must be bland and boring and, I wanted to show how you can eat what's in vogue, without the fat.

What inspire you to develop this theme and those recipes?

Travel, travel and more travel. I am so lucky to get to move around the globe, and to see what the trend is with food, so I eat out and then adapt what I love to a healthier version.

How did you come up with the title?

My friend Layne, who also travels so much - he helped me with the name the Modern Menu, then my wonderful partner Viv got it all together.

Which is/are your favourite food (s) and why?

 

Oh there are so many I love, whenever there is a new project , I cook the food so much so it is fresh in my mind, but anything Miso is my favourite right now.

What can one learn from this book?

How to eat the food you love when you dine out, and make it easy and healthy. With this book you can always make these fine trendy restaurant foods at home using my recipes.

You have a section on food safety practices at home which is very unique. What prompted you to include that section in your cookbook?

My partner Viv was passionate about this. In today's world we forget about the most important rules, maybe we are not being taught at home as much, as everything is fast food and convienience, so we lost the basics, here are just some rules to know.

You’ve dedicated this book to your parents. What do you think they'd say?

They already said it. They are just so proud. I never had much of an idea what I wanted to do at school and I did not show much passion for work. I don’t  think they could have ever dreamed I would do something so passionate and so exciting. They mean the world to me, so to have a book dedicated to them, is the best thing ever as it will continue after me.

Did you expect to win this Award?

No, I never expect anything in life. I aspire to many things and have the drive and motivation to do so, but I never expect anything.

Many said that you are like "James Bond of Healthy Culinary Arts" on the cover photo. What do you say to that?

Flattered, very flattered, but not deserved.

Winning this award, what would be your wish list going forward?

To always make recipes that work, that are easy and help people to loose weight

It can taste good to be thin.

How confident are you to win the GOURMAND BEST IN THE WORLD competition?

I only want people to know about my food, as it works – eat this way and you will loose weight. I don’t know of anyone else that can show this style of cooking that I am testament to. I already feel I have won just by publishing books.

Is there anything else you like to say?

I would like to thank my partner Viv, my publisher, Chris Newson for giving me the opportunity, Violet & Lydia who have been great editors, the team at Marshall Cavendish Cuisine Asia, my lovely wife, Jane and the love of my life, Eleanor and everyone who bought this book.

Thanks Daniel. It was very nice to speak with you and once again, Congratulations to you from the team at Astra Worldwide Ltd, Hong Kong and The Model Cook Pty Ltd, Australia.

2010 Award Winning Cook Book "Modern Dining for Life"

Modern Dining for Life, a high quality 144-page cookbook is certainly an inspiration to all home cooks. Seldom does one find Western cookbooks are an easy read; let alone ingredients that one has to spend time googling; and then the hassles of finding those ingredients in local markets especially in Asia which, at most times, unavailable. Also, one would generally find in most Western cookbooks, the cooking instructions are not simple to follow. Another challenge is the text which is normally presented in small font sizes. If one is aged 40 and above, be sure to have the good old handy magnifying glass ready! By the time you are done with reading, one is so stressed out, which is why Western cookbooks are, but only a decorative item that rests on the library shelves of most Asian homes.

This Award winning cookbook presents a fresh, new approach to Western authoured cookbooks. It fits perfectly into today's consumers lifestyle where one has great desire and passion  to cook up a healthy meal for their loved ones but, has limited time to cook, let alone do labourious research into the recipes.

One would find in this book, just a simple list of fresh ingredients - be assured that they are very common ones that one would find in any supermarkets in the world - just 2 to 4 steps cooking instructions  delivered in simple English and the meal is done in just minutes! A meal that can be proudly served as a gourmet fine dining dish at home;  is full of flavour and comes with  great visual appeal that happens to be healthy.  How simple can that be!

One more positive point about this book that touches the hearts of every home cook is that one does not need to invest into a full genre of a Michelin Star Chef's tools to cook up the recipes. More so, having to wash up loads of cooking utensils after cooking a meal which are such a common de-motivation factor for every home cook. This book is neither. It just uses simple classic home cooking tools and the focus is really, the ingredients and the cooking methods to cook up a healthy and tasty meal within minutes.

Crab and Avocado Tower

There are over 60 healthy and delicious recipes - from appetisers to salads to rice, meat, seafoods and desserts - all the recipes come with mouth-watering photos. To top it all,  it also provides basic recipes for creating one own stock as well as dressings!

It is certainly no surprise that this book is honoured with the prestigious Gourmand International - Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2010 as THE BEST TELEVISION CELEBRITY COOKBOOK. The concept and approach are refreshing vs traditional cookbooks and will certainly revolutionized the way cookbooks can be innovatively presented that matches with, if not exceeds today's new age consumers expectations.

Celebrity Chef Daniel Green Won Gourmand World Cookbooks Award 2010

Paris, France - 15 December 2010

Healthy Eating Chef Daniel Green won the THE BEST CELEBRITY COOKBOOK AWARD 2010 by the industry's most respected Gourmand International - Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for his recent release titled - Modern Dining for Life. This is the fifth healthy cookbook authored by Chef Daniel Green published by industry's reputable publisher Marshall Cavendish Cuisine Asia, headquartered in Singapore. This book is one of a three-part series under "Green's Twists" and was just released for sales worldwide this fall 2010.


A total of 154 countries participated in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, entering books in 53 categories. According to Mr. Edouard Cointreau, President and founder of Gourmand International - Gourmand World Cookbook Awards," this year the major trend is the rise in quality in Asia and Latin America, the "new world" of cookbooks, while the crisis is limiting the investments of many publishers in the West. The sector is in good health, with the number of cookbook titles increasing from 5 - 10% in the West, such as 9% in France in the first nine months of 2010 inspite of the crisis. In Asia or Latin America the increase is 10 to 20%. For wine books titles, it is even higher".

"It's indeed a proud moment for me and my family. With this award, my wish is to touch as many people as possible about healthy eating and that cooking a healthy meal is really very easy to do. All my cookbooks show how healthy meals can be just as tasty and delicious-on-the-eye and it is just so simple to do" says Daniel. One of the added benefit of this book, Modern Dining for Life, apart from all the simple, easy to do, fuss free tasty recipes that one can cook at home, it also shows how food can be presented well." My goal is to inspire home cooks to be confident with their dishes when entertaining friends at home."

Modern Dining for Life will represent Singapore to compete for the next level "Gourmand Best In The World" Competition. The results will be announced on March 3, 2010 at the annual Awards event which will take place in Paris at Le 104, the new artistic Centre of the City of Paris, on the first day of Paris Cookbook Fair.

Modern Dining for Life is available at all major bookstores and costs SGD 32.00 (excl. gst). For more information, please contact vivien.lee@themodelcook.com.