Sun Sentinel: Congresswoman chronicles her culinary creations

Washington, DC, June 19, 2014
Debbie Wasserman Schultz is best known as a member of Congress and chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Now, she's become the clean cooking congresswoman. "I've really gone through this lifestyle change. I'm not a vegan or anything you could label. But I really started caring about what I put in my body," she said in an interview. And she's documenting it on social media. On the Instagram photo sharing and networking site, her page is "cleancookingcongresswoman," where she's been posting pictures since late April of what she creates at home in Weston and in Washington, plus commentary about the dishes.
By Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel
Debbie Wasserman Schultz is best known as a member of Congress and chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Now, she's become the clean cooking congresswoman.
"I've really gone through this lifestyle change. I'm not a vegan or anything you could label. But I really started caring about what I put in my body," she said in an interview. "And so the easiest way for me to keep track of it is to cook for myself."
And she's documenting it on social media. On the Instagram photo sharing and networking site, her page is "cleancookingcongresswoman," where she's been posting pictures since late April of what she creates at home in Weston and in Washington, plus commentary about the dishes.
She reported, for example, that one success was "a surprisingly awesome #chocolatecake made from #blackbeans! Blew my family's mind! .... To the un-indoctrinated, this sounds gross but was SO good!" She acknowledged in the interview that the cake "sounds disgusting … but it was really good."
"Is it exactly like a chocolate ganache flourless torte? No. But it tastes darn close," she said.
Her repertoire includes savory and sweet: chicken curry, chocolate peanut butter bites, cashew pesto over "noodles" made from zucchini. Another day, it was brie and pear pizza. The shrimp stuffed avocados with pico de gallo, corn and black beans were "really easy and really healthy and it was certainly better than the cheeseburger I would have eaten before."
Clean cooking emphasizes natural, whole foods, and features lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, plus grains, beans and legumes. Adherents eschew foods — such as refined sugar — that are processed.
Wasserman Schultz started clean cooking earlier this year, inspired by celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito. Fittingly for a Democrat, she saw him on MSNBC, the cable network favored by liberals. "I saw Rocco DiSpirito on 'Morning Joe' pitching his book, and then a couple of other places," Wasserman Schultz said. She said she didn't want or need to use the 850-calorie a day technique in his "The Pound a Day Diet," but still found it valuable.
"I just wanted to adjust how I eat and the recipes that he had in that book really gave me ways of being able to eat what I like without really serious deprivation because I knew I had to find a way to change how I eat in a sustainable way," she said.
She's also a fan of Ellie Krieger's "So Easy" cookbook. And she's discovered a "clean cooking community" online.
"It's really fun," she said. "For me, it's been a respite. It's a place that I can go and just be a normal person."
In Washington, she now shops for food a couple of times a week and is sometimes in the kitchen late at night or early in the morning. "I was up until 2:30 in the morning in D.C. the other night, believe it or not, making shrimp fried rice for the next day," she said.
In the Washington house she shares with two other congresswomen – Carolyn Maloney of New York, the owner, and Terri Sewell of Alabama – little cooking went on until Wasserman Schultz started this year. "Microwave popcorn has always been the house favorite," Maloney said in an email.
"Coming home late to find Debbie in the kitchen has been a newfound source of fun and health in our home, and I'm happy to be her taste tester from time to time," she added.
Maloney said there's now always a late-night snack available and raved about Wasserman Schultz's peanut butter, banana and date wraps for breakfast. But she draws the line at some of her housemate's creations. "Most of it looks delicious. Except for maybe the homemade beef jerky. We're just going to have to take her word for it – that it tastes better than it looks."
At 5 foot 2 and 126 pounds, Wasserman Schultz, 47, said she gained weight in the aftermath of her treatment for breast cancer in 2007 and 2008, which included a double mastectomy, breast reconstruction and removal of her ovaries.
"The two years after I had breast cancer I gained about 23 pounds. And I was size 2 my whole adult life and never really had to worry about what I ate. The confluence of turning 40 and getting breast cancer and being on medication, that really causes weight gain."
She dieted for the first time in her life and lost what she'd gained over about seven months. Over the next 18 months, she gained back about 10 pounds. Since starting the clean cooking in February, she's lost about six pounds.
"What I learned — I had never been on a diet in my life — if you diet or if you eat in a way that is not something that you can sustain for your life, then it won't be permanent," she said. "I'm not obsessive about the pounds … I'm happy and comfortable with my size now. Really I'm just focused on making sure I can eat healthy and set an example for my kids. Now my kids are eating healthy because I'm cooking."
She said a key is finding ingredients that make kitchen creations healthier, which means chocolate chip cookies — made with agave nectar and coconut flakes — are still possible. "It makes it so that you don't have to deprive yourself of the things you really like," Wasserman Schultz said.
Away from D.C. or South Florida, meal planning often means Internet search for places that have good salads — and sometimes an indulgence or two.
"Sometimes, I just say 'what the heck.' We're in Memphis and I'm eating barbecue. When I'm in New York, I have a hot dog and a pretzel and pizza — and bagels," she said. "If you totally deprive yourself and you don't ever allow yourself an indulgence, then that's an impossible way to live."