Earlier this week we talked with Torie Borrelli Hall, the San Diego nutritionist behind the new cookbook Eating for Life, about the liver that goes into every pound of ground beef at her house, the egg yolk she whisks into her coffee, and the ice cream she swore she’d never use as a bribe. You can learn more about Torie, her journey towards being a functional nutritionist, her family, and her new cookbook Eating for Life, at this link.
Today we’re getting practical. Torie’s picks lean hard on tiny fish: sardines in the pantry, and fish sauce and Worcestershire for flavor. She also shares the organ blend she stirs into every pot of sauce, the frozen shortcut that upgrades hamburger night, and the soup she makes when someone in the house is sick.
Three fridge staples and three pantry staples you always have?
Fridge: raw milk, cottage cheese, and something fermented.
Pantry: sardines and anchovies. People think they’re the same thing, but they’re totally different. Sardines are easier to eat. Anchovies are the secret ingredient to umami. Every time someone says, “You make the best salad dressing,” they’re eating anchovies. It will change your life.
Your number one way to sneak nutrition into food without the kids noticing?
Buy an organ blend. I like the blends more than just a liver capsule, the ones that have kidney, heart, and liver. You can open up the capsule, or buy one that comes in a bag. Every time you cook ground meat or make a sauce, it goes in.
The realistic weeknight dinner on repeat right now?
Bolognese, with liver. Who doesn’t love bolognese? You can freeze it and take it out. It’s an easy one. It’s also my go-to for new moms. I bring them a big thing of liver bolognese, a hunk of raw Parmesan, and pasta, and drop it off at their house.
A store-bought shortcut you swear by?
Frozen tallow French fries. They make hamburger night that much better.
The kitchen tool you turn to all the time?
The Instant Pot. I was anti-Instant Pot. Now I’ve got a brand texting me before a photo shoot, “Don’t forget the Instant Pot.”
The snack in your car or bag that keeps the hangry spiral away?
A favorite sauce, seasoning, or marinade?
It’s a tie between fish sauce and Worcestershire, which also has anchovies. Both are little secret ingredients, for nutrients and for flavor.
A food or product you recommend to every mom, any trimester?
Can it be a supplement? Phospholipid choline, or PC, by BodyBio. It’s sitting right next to me. It’s the only supplement I recommend across the board, to every human alive: babies, moms, nursing, postpartum.
It’s made of choline, which we talked about with egg yolks and liver, and it’s what every cell membrane is made of. It also helps get toxins out of the body. It’s brain food. It takes your brain fog away. I do so much personalized nutrition that there’s not a lot I recommend to everybody. But this is the one. I like BodyBio specifically because of the way it’s extracted.
One affordable, nutrient-dense ingredient every family should be using more of?
Eggs. I was going to say raw dairy, but it’s not easy to get everywhere. Where we live, even the regular market has raw milk. It’s crazy.
Your comfort meal when someone’s sick or had a hard day?
Albóndigas. It’s a Mexican soup with bone broth, and the meatballs have rice in them. Sometimes I’ll throw some veggies in there.
A cookbook or recipe creator you turn to for fresh inspiration?
I was just on Kelly LeVeque’s podcast: Be Well. She always has good stuff.
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