How to Win Chopped

Chopped is one of my favourite shows on TV. Not only that, it's one of my favourite games to play with my family.

We gather at my parents' house, everyone bringing 1 secret ingredient (but enough for everyone playing to use). We make sure my mom has stocked her fridge and pantry, then we stuff every basket with a little of what we brought.

On the count of 3 by whoever is judging, everyone uses the next 30 minutes to make one sweet and one salty dish, using the secret ingredients.

The judge decides who wins. So fun!

Being that my sister and I have watched nearly every episode of Chopped on TV, we feel pretty qualified to bring you this list... Here are the top 50 ways to win if you're lucky enough to be on the TV show Chopped:

1. Cook your pasta perfectly. Anything under- or over-cooked will be ripped apart by Scott.
2. Make your dessert sweet. Amanda will make sure you win. However, avoid being cloyingly sweet - it will cause them to use this term, which is annoying.
3. Use only a little truffle oil. You would be the first person to do this properly in history.
4. Get to the microwave first. You know that sweet potato has to soften up - run for it!
5. Use the ice cream maker. I've never seen someone use it and lose.
6. Risotto takes too long to cook.
7. Make something more interesting than a salad with all 4 ingredients.
8. Make something less interesting than anything that involves molecular gastronomy.
9. Put all the ingredients on the plate. Also, everything you made. Remember when buddy went home for forgetting his pickled watermelon rind? Exactly.
10. A little bit spicy is okay. You'll get points with Aaron.
11. Sear the outside of the steak, then leave the inside rare. Anything more or less will send you home.
12. Use salt. There are no brownie points for a low sodium meal.
13. Put salt in your sweet dessert. They go wild for this.
14. Don't defend your dish. There is a 100% failure rate for this type of scrambling.
15. Top it with whipped cream. Why not?
16. Parsley is not a cute garnish.
17. Nor is icing sugar. Geoffrey will kill your soul.
18. Use all the time. Even if your dish is perfect, they'll crucify you. Just look busy.
19. If you get falafel mix, don't make falafels.
20. If you get something crunchy, blend it up and crust your protein in it.
21. Use the "tropical beverage mix" sparingly.
22. Some things can't be eaten raw.
23. Make Alex cry with a moving story. It's not hard to do and it'll get you in with the judges.
24. Scott doesn't like raw onions.
25. Almost no one likes raw bell pepper.
26. Alex loves anything acidic.
27. Don't use salt instead of sugar. (Season 1, Episode 4)
28. Learn how to turn kielbasa into a dessert before you appear on the show, for good measure.
29. If you cut yourself, put on a glove on it and keep going.
30. Don't double dip! But do taste.
31. Cross-contamination has forced people to lose every single time.
32. Do you know how to cook a whole duck? Better learn.
33. Buckwheat pancakes are not a dessert.
34. Do you ever cook with gummy candies? Now you do.
35. "You failed to elevate the ingredients." is what you don't want to hear: Elevate!
36. If you're against school cafeteria cooks, you're gunna win. (No, really, they were horrible.)
37. Take the bones out of the fish, please.
38. Bacon is almost as much of a sure-thing as ice cream is.
39. Portion size is key. People have gone home for "too big for an appetizer". People have gone home for "too small for a main." And people have gone home for "Marc got four pieces of king crab and I only got 2."
40. If there is a weird salty ingredient in the dessert basket (think Vegetable Thins, radishes or beef jerky) just whisk it into some mascarpone.
41. Your cake must be perfect. A poorly done cake can be broken up into a triffle.
42. Your vinegarette better have enough vinegar.
43. Cook in the style of your ethnicity. Or, cook in the style of the Indian judge's ethnicity.
44. Donuts almost never lose. This can be true of most well-done deep fried ingredients.
45. If given a full animal (i.e. a whole chicken) use more than one part.
46. Nothing inedible goes on the plate. There will be complaints.
47. Don't sacrifice presentation. Good knife skills can win you the competition.
48. Being a former convict, gang member or drug addict might win you points.
49. Be safe with your blender. Splashing on a competitor might not lose you the round, but it's freaking annoying.
50. Have a sob story. If you get 2nd place, the winner might donate their money to you.

My Whole Foods Pantry

Healthy eating is worlds easier when you cook at home. These days food that strengthens, heals and nourishes the body is pretty hard to find in fast food restaurants and donut shops.

If you want to increase the number of meals you make at home you'll need a stocked kitchen. Local, humanely-raised meats, fresh fruits and vegetables and free-range eggs are great staples to have. These can be picked up weekly at a farmers' market. But there are a number of things you can store to have on hand whenever you need them:




Oils: olive, grapeseed, coconut
Vinegars: balsamic, red wine, rice, apple cider
Seasonings: Himalayan salt, black peppercorns, fresh and dried herbs, spices, chili flakes, garlic, ginger
Grains: quinoa, millet, whole-wheat couscous, brown rice
Seeds and nuts: sunflower seeds, walnuts, cashews, chia seeds, flax, hemp
Beans and lentils: small bean mix, pinto beans, green lentils, beluga lentils
Sweeteners: raw sugar, agave nectar, honey, maple syrup, molasses, brown sugar
Other: popcorn, baking soda, vanilla extract, spelt flour, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, coconut, dates, prunes, alfalfa seeds for sprouting, cornmeal, carob chips

With these ingredients you can feel confident preparing healthy meals (even without a recipe).

Try it Tuesday: Green Kitchenware

Cooking your own meals at home is eco-friendly in itself but what if you're whipping up batches of millet & mushroom cakes all while releasing toxins into your food? You may not even know you're doing it.

So here are a few easy swaps to make to avoid poisoning your healthy food by using unhealthy kitchenware:


Stove Top Cooking

Trade in your non-stick frying pan, your electric griddle and your casserole dishes for one cast iron skillet. It's an all-in-one kitchen tool that is safe, easy to clean and even makes your food more nutritious. Scientists believe frying in a cast iron skillet will transfer dietary iron to your food - sounds good to us prone to anemia! I've been a die-hard skillet-fan for some time now but the key is to get a nice old one. New skillets have not been seasoned and tend to stick. See if a family member has one that they'll part with, or check the second hand store. If you must buy new, oil the skillet often and bake it for a while with a layer of oil. Never wash with soap, or in the dishwasher. Keep in mind a hardy skillet can wreck the nice finish on those fancy flat top stoves so it would be better suited for the BBQ. 


Storing 
It goes without saying that almost all plastic is a no-no, especially when you plan to reheat certain things in a (*hushed voice*) microwave. So many parents make an effort to pack their kids a healthy lunch for school, and then ruin it with a container that leeches yucky chemicals into the food. For storing food, choose glass. It's also nice and easy to pop into a hot oven for reheating. The glass storage containers I've seen are pretty tough and not prone to shattering easily.



Cutting 
Slicing can cause fragments of your board to chip off and enter the food. Now this is on a microscopic level so it's nothing you'll taste or hurt yourself on, but if you're cutting on plastic it's not the best thing to expose your body too. I love using a wood cutting board. There are, however, two considerations when switching to wood: cleanliness and sustainability. Wood is a bacteria-promoter and needs to be thoroughly washed after every use. Use hot water and soap. Or, for less threatening items like red bell pepper, wipe down with half a lemon. Allow to dry fully. With any wooden item we need to be cognizant of its environmental impact. Choose a product that is certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council.


Wiping 
If you're still using paper towel, it's time to stop! Disposable products like this are unnecessary and brutal for the environment. With each use you transfer a beautiful piece of our forests to garbage in a land fill - not pretty. A simple kitchen cloth can handle any of the messes that paper can, and a dirty cloth will take no space at all in your weekly laundry load (or rinse and dry for simple messes). If you really want to go all the way, purchase a cloth made of organic cotton. Cotton's one of those things that is just nasty when it's not organic.

When you're ready to convert more disposable products to reusable check out my posts on diapers and diva cups.


Lastly, Filtering
The best water system I've seen is the Santevia. The countertop model fits nicely on any flat surface and uses gravity and a layered filtration tube to remove most toxins (not fluoride however), alkalize and mineralize.

The kitchen is a great place to change the world, but you've gotta change your tools before you can do it!