In the know.

Tyrece Higdon, the Executive Chef at MRC Cornerstone, has a mission when he is cooking his meals. His mission is to feed our residents a healthy, well-balanced meal daily. A “healthy style” of eating is the best way to defend yourself against high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Chef Tyrece believes our bodies are machines, therefore, it is imperative to treat our bodies as such. Having an apple a day may help keep the doctor away but what about those days that we just don’t want an apple? There are cool, easy and fun alternatives to eating healthy that will surprise the most common junk food junkie:

• Open your mind up to trying new things (herbs, spices and oils) and lose the fear of being attacked by healthy food.
• Identify and enhance the vegetables/fruits that one may already like
• Substitute sugar and salt as much as possible with ingredients that can replace both, yet still taste wonderful in your favorite dishes. (Ex. All natural honey instead of sugar, or low sodium soy sauce and citrus juice instead of salt.)

Chef Tyrece believes if you’ll try and enjoy your healthy creations and share with others, you will watch your machine operate smoothly. The following is an easy, healthy recipe from our chef:

TOMATO MOZZARELLA FLATBREAD

Ingredients

• ½ C olive oil
• ½ C balsamic vinegar
• 8 pieces flat bread (Naan bread)
• 1 ½ lb fresh, sliced tomato
• 2 oz fresh basil
• 1 lb sliced 2% mozzarella cheese

Preparation

1. Wash all produce under cool water. Drain well. Puree Olive Oil and vinegar, spread on bread.
2. Layer tomato, basil and cheese.
3. Bake at 350*F until cheese is golden brown