MALIBU WAY OF LIFE

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The skinny on “Super Size Me”

By Jody Stump

Have you seen “Super Size Me?” It’s that low-budget docu-blockbuster that flipped McDonald’s like a burger. It’s so sizzling, it raked in $8 million its first month, higher than the all-time documentary champ, “Bowling for Columbine,” and created a buzz heard around office coolers, playgrounds and halls of government. The “Super Size” premise?

McDonald’s is making us fat! To prove it, an extremely healthy, indie filmmaker named Morgan Spurlock dined exclusively at McDonald’s for 30 days and filmed his experience. It’s a hate-yourself-for-laughing-out-loud, tongue-in-cheek tour of fast food interspersed with harrowing physical check-ups and films of children at play.

Did you know our youngest kids see 10,000 commercials a year, most of them for food? And, McDonald’s distributes more toys than Toys R Us? In shocking film clips, first-graders were asked to identify well-known people in a series of photos. Adorable six-year olds pondered awhile, then mistook George Washington and Jesus Christ for George W. Bush.

Yet every child recognized Ronald McDonald in an instant and chortled with delight, telling stories of wonder about their favorite friendly clown.

So, is it any wonder to learn that French fries are the most consumed vegetable in America? Or, that McDonald’s serves more happy meals everyday, 46 million, than the entire population of Spain? Should you be inclined to eat just one super-sized Happy Meal, you’d have to walk all day long to walk it off-walk fast.

In his month fasting on McDonald’s, Spurlock managed to consume a mounded tabletop’s worth of sugar-27 pounds in all, in addition to 12 pounds of artery-clogging lard. Spurlock’s cholesterol doubled. On Day 22, when his liver function sputtered and blood pressure soared, his doctors begged him to quit. Spurlock stuck it out and, on day 30, he quit. He was 25 pounds heavier on a 175-pound frame-eight months later he had lost the weight he gained in one.

Last week in Australia, McDonald’s vowed to fight back, saying it was “stupid” and “irresponsible” to eat that much of their food. That was its response to the lawsuits brought against them by obese young Americans-“everyone knows it is unhealthy to eat (our food).” Yet Americans eat two out of three meals outside the home-the same ratio of our country-folk who are overweight or obese. Fast food is a $110 billion industry and McDonald’s has 43 percent of it. That’s a lot of burgers and fries-but we really can eat our guilty pleasures and keep our health too. Try these at home.

A Healthier Burger and Fries

This recipe came from an old flea market “Bon Appetit” scrounged by my neighbor, Carol Shuwerk, who has made the magazine her talisman. We dined for a month from a single issue and loved every meal. Tasty as a Big Mac and twice as nutritious.

1/2 lb. tuna steaks, ahi or yellowtail

2 scallions, finely chopped

1 minced jalapeno pepper

Aioli:

1 Tbs. fresh ginger, minced

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

4 Tbs. mayonnaise

2 fresh, whole-wheat buns

Baby arugula leaves

Beefsteak tomato, sliced

1. Mix together the aioli.

2. Chop tuna into pebble-size chunks. Toss with 2 Tbs. of aioli and salt and pepper. Shape into patties. Let rest while the grill heats.

3. Sear about 4 minutes on the first side, two on the second.

4. Meanwhile, butter the buns and toast under a broiler, split side up.

5. Assemble using leftover aioli as “secret sauce,” arugula for iceberg and bursting-withflavor beefsteaks instead of “ketchup.”

Fries

Serves 4

Sometimes there is nothing like a fry. Good fries are steamy hot and crunchy when you bite into them and melt on your tongue into a soul-satisfying earthy mush. This alchemy is achieved by cooking fresh, not-too-young russets twice in deep, hot oil-cooling between stages. Yukon Golds, reds and young russets are too moist.

A healthier alternative is air frying, a delicious trick that uses very little oil.

3 sweet potatoes or 2 russets, peeled and sliced in thick juliennes

Extra-virgin olive oil or canola oil

2 tsp. kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 425-degrees.

2. Toss potatoes in oil and salt. Arrange in a single layer on a half-sheet pan. Bake 20 minutes and flip. Bake 10 minutes more until golden.