NEWSTalking Triscuits, Food Splurging, and Dinner Parties With Celebrity Chef Rocco DiSpirito
April 4 2013, Published 8:24 a.m. ET
Getting to eat tasty snacks is always a good reason to get a little giddy. And if there's a taste-testing in the middle of Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, you can bet your boots that I'll be standing in line and waiting patiently to judge the treat.
So a pop-up taste-testing of a celebrity chef's recipe in my favorite city in the whole entire world is technically my ultimate dream come true. I definitely pinched myself, but it was crystal clear, 100 percent true.
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The pop-up tent was a little event that celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito hosted in order to present his delicious and healthy Triscuit recipes. So If bright lights, photo ops, and Broadway shows weren't enough to draw crowds into Time Square, imagine what a little appearance from this intensely personable food guru and free eats would do!
Much to my delight, I got a chance to chat with the Now Eat This! author, and he filled me in on his Triscuit kick and more!
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OK! Magazine: What's your favorite Triscuit recipe?
Rocco DiSpirito: They are all delicious and crispy, but I am partial to the Brown Rice Triscuit Sea Salt & Black Pepper Super Nacho Melt because it incorporates so many of my favorite ingredients like lean turkey, red beans, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, spices like cumin and still comes in at 110 cals per portion. I am working with Triscuit because whenever an established food brand continues to make change for good I’d like to help get the word out.
OK!: When is it OK to splurge on comfort Italian food that may not be good for you? Do you ever splurge?
RD: There are many occasions to splurge! If you are living a healthy lifestyle every day, it is okay to splurge from time to time. I love pizza and burgers, fired chicken, desserts, and all the candy in the alphabet. In fact, a burger craving hit me the other night at 1 am which brought me to Corner Bistro—my favorite. Keep it healthy most of the time and the splurges won't cause guilt.
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OK!: If you could pick five people, dead or alive, to bring to a dinner party, who would they be?
RD: My grandmother who passed away over 20 years ago and never got to see me as a professional chef, the recently resigned pope to find out what really happened, and I think maybe Frank Sinatra and some of his ex-wives to see what would happen.
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OK!: Do you test out celebrity cookbooks?
RD: I collect cookbooks so I own hundreds of them and have actually read a few—I haven’t had the chance to test many of them though.
OK!: Are you on any food kicks right now?
RD: Clearly, I’m on a Brown Rice Triscuit kick! It’s cholesterol free, wholesome, and has a ton of fiber coming from whole grain—almost 21 grams actually which is almost half of your daily whole grain requirement! I also love cupcakes. I am working on healthy chocolate cupcakes right now that I can't stop eating.
Here's the good news, foodies! Rocco is working on a new diet book that will come out in January 2014 and will be called The Pound A Day Diet. It will feature five meals a day that can be made with only five ingredients.
Are you ready to put on your chef's hat? Will you try the Triscuit recipes? Tweet @OKMagazine and leave a comment below.
