Nouveau Americana

Lately, I’ve been interested in cooking gourmet versions of dishes regularly eaten in the United States. An emerging trend in American cuisine is health conscious dining. This can be seen everywhere from McDonald’s attempt to introduce more healthy options to top restaurants emphasizing the leanness of their beef or the prevalence of low calorie options. Yet, at the same time, we as Americans tend to cling to comfort food. My solution is to take healthy and gourmet twists on traditional fare, resulting in dishes like cheddar and mango chutney grilled quesadillas and seared but rare tuna burgers with blood orange and balsamic vinegar mayonnaise. To me dishes like these are interesting, familiar enough to be comfortable, healthy and delicious.