San Diegan’s journey through illness sparks ‘In Good Health’ cookbook – San Diego Union-Tribune

For The Union-Tribune

For some people, cooking is the ultimate act of self-care. Rachel Riggs is one of them. As someone who is immunocompromised, she has spent years identifying foods that her body tolerates, and with that under control, began developing recipes that could give her the same joy and sensory experience that led her to opening a cheese shop in Bellingham, Wash., back in 2006 that she called Quel Fromage Artisan Cheese & Accoutrements.

Those recipes have come together in her delightful first cookbook, “In Good Health” (Figure 1 Publishing, $34.95).

I wrote about Riggs in a story for the Food section in June 2021 after coming across her Substack newsletter. She became very ill and housebound more than a dozen years ago with what was finally diagnosed as a condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), which includes having a compromised immune system and extreme fatigue.

She and her husband, Joe Vidal, a biotech scientist, returned to San Diego where she was raised, and she began experimenting with an elimination diet that led to her recipe development project.

“At the core, my passion is nutrient-dense cooking — food that fuels long-term health without sacrificing flavor,” she said. “It’s about wellness over weight and creating meals that truly nourish.”

Lest you assume that a cookbook written by a person with a limited diet is only geared to others with health issues, this is not. In fact, the recipes in “In Good Health” are perfect for people who want to cook and are craving meals that are made with limited but fresh whole ingredients, using recipes that aren’t fussy, and can be made in a reasonable amount of time. Seems like that would include most people.

But for those who do have issues with inflammation or allergies — like those with ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, long COVID and chronic fatigue syndrome — Riggs believes the recipes she’s developed for the book would work well.

“They skip inflammatory ingredients like gluten, dairy and refined sugar,” she explained. “Basically, I was just trying to feed myself and I couldn’t find a book that spoke to me. I need diversity in my diet, but when you omit a lot of ingredients, diversity goes with it. So I had to be really intentional.”

Riggs’ pantry is filled with products like almond butter and almond flour; coconut aminos, coconut cream, coconut oil and coconut milk; Himalayan pink salt, maple syrup and flax seeds. But there are also a whole lot of more familiar foods — extra-virgin olive oil, black pepper, baking chocolate, cocoa powder, nuts, mayonnaise, sherry vinegar, tahini, toasted sesame oil, organic produce and pasture-raised eggs, and Red Boat fish sauce.

I found the dishes Riggs made me from her cookbook to be absolutely delicious. She certainly has a sweet tooth. She created a chocolate cake you could eat every single day. Back in 2021, she made one for me but wouldn’t share the recipe. But, folks, she’s included three versions of the cake in “In Good Health”: The Everyday Chocolate Cake, a single layer cake dripping with chocolate ganache; The Signature Chocolate Cake + Sweet Raspberry Filling that she made for me; and her Dark Chocolate + Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake. I wasn’t able to include any of those recipes here, so you’ll need to have the cookbook to make them.

Riggs’ cookbook takes you through the day, starting with an initial chapter of breakfast ideas, from smoothies to an egg-white omelet with wild blueberry compote to muffins. Riggs loves a great snack, sweet or savory. She includes intriguing recipes, from granitas, blackout cookies and muffins to chicken liver mousse with apple and thyme, creamy carrot tahini, and herbed tahini. Need an afternoon pickup this fall? Try her Fresh Figs in Dark Chocolate.

I’m eager to dive into salads that include greens with heightened flavors like chicory and radicchio. I want her Brussels sprouts with toasted walnut and anchovy vinaigrette. When cool weather comes, I want her cream of porcini mushroom soup made with coconut milk or her creamy coconut carrot soup.

Vegetables get star treatment. Think garlic mashed cauliflower or roasted Brussels sprouts with blood oranges and sweet white balsamic. But so do main courses. Riggs loves salmon and does it justice with a blackberry gastrique and thyme. My favorite fish, black cod, is included with a recipe that has it marinated in ginger and served with roasted baby bok choy. She offers her versions of roast chicken and grilled flank steak, along with bison meatloaf. But also check out her lettuce-wrapped lamb burgers that she pairs with lemon aioli.

There’s so much more. What we have here are three great examples of delicious clean eating recipes Riggs, whom you can find on Instagram at @the.rachel.riggs, has created that are in “In Good Health”: Summer Kale + Strawberry Salad, Everything Seasoning Encrusted Halibut + Horseradish Aioli and dreamy Dark Chocolate Tahini Truffles.

The salad is totally craveable. It’s also easy to make and if strawberries are out of season, try pears, blood oranges or other ripe fruit. The dressing is bright with lemon zest and juice, sweetened with maple syrup and savory with olive oil, pink salt and black pepper.

“It was important that the dressing was sweet like lemonade,” Riggs said when I was over for lunch. “But the pepper kind of plays with the strawberries.”

What makes the salad special to me are the double-roasted almonds and finely shredded coconut.

“I like nuts to be roasted within an inch of their lives,” Riggs joked. “And the coconut doesn’t draw a ton of attention to itself; it’s like it’s infused in the salad.”

I always associated halibut with fish sticks from my elementary school cafeteria, but Riggs has got me intrigued with her simple Everything Seasoning Encrusted Halibut + Horseradish Aioli. The aioli is just mayo mixed with prepared horseradish, lime zest and juice and salt. Make more and spread it on a turkey sandwich if gluten isn’t a problem or roasted turkey if it is — or roasted salmon, for that matter. For the halibut, you’ll dredge the fillets in the seasoning, then pan fry in olive oil. Garnish with chopped chives and serve with the aioli.