Scaling down your dinnertime
Chef shows seniors how to create smaller, more healthful meals

By Antonio Young
ayoung@daily-journal.com
815-937-3385

For years, chef Tom Torres has stressed the importance of healthful eating among the elderly.

No stranger to the kitchen, the Bolingbrook cook started his career 37 years ago by whipping up delicious dishes in hotel restaurants.

Torres now serves nearly 300 seniors daily at the Wheaton-based Wyndemere Senior Living Campus. The aging population particularly needs good nutrition and a "well-balanced diet," he said.

Tom Torres of Bolingbrook said seniors especially require proper nutrition to maintain health.

"Their aging processes cause some deterioration, so their medications sometimes alter their tastes," said Torres, who's cooked at the independent living center for three years. "They seem to lose their appetites, and don't eat like they should," he said.

For many seniors, family members were once their "focal point" for meal preparation. After children leave the nest, the empty-nesters may experience a decline in their good health because they eat

less often or they neglect their dietary guidelines.

Cooking for large crowds, "gave them satisfaction," said Torres, who believes meals for most seniors should be low in calories and carbohydrates.

The chef and his staff vary the menu by including international foods, too.

"(The food) is very good," Harry Clamore, 87, who enjoys Torres' liver, mashed potatoes and vegetables.

Fun, fast, fit meals

After seniors get an "idea of what is safe for them to eat," Tom Torres, chef at Wyndemere Senior Living Campus in Wheaton, said residents utilize his recipes to cook meals in their personal kitchens. Here are a few examples of Torres' "innovative, simple and nutritious" meals:

Pasta with Shrimp
8 ounces shrimp, fresh or frozen, raw, peeled
8 to 12 thin stalks of asparagus
4 1/2 oz angel hair pasta, refrigerated
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or 1 1/2 teaspoon pur-
chased
3 medium plum tomatoes, seeded and
chopped
2 tablespoons white wine, dry
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons basil, fresh, finely shredded

Thaw the shrimp, if frozen. Rinse shrimp, pat dry with paper towel. Set aside. Trim woody ends off of asparagus. Bias-cut the remaining stalks into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces. Set aside. Cook pasta according to package directions then drain. Return pasta to pan, cover and keep warm.

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic; cook and stir for 15 seconds. Add tomatoes; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add the asparagus, wine, salt and black pepper. Cook uncovered for 3 minutes. Stir in shrimp. Cook uncovered for 2 to 3 minutes or until shrimp are opaque. Stir in butter until melted. To serve, add the shrimp mixture and basil to pasta. Toss gently to coat.

Chicken Marsala
2-4 5 oz chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless
1 tablespoon flour, all purpose
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup carrot, cut into thin bite size strips
1/2 cup red or yellow sweet pepper, cut into
strips
2 cloves garlic, minced or 1 1/2 teaspoon pur-
chased
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup Marsala wine, dry
1 tablespoon thyme, fresh snipped or 1/2 tea-
spoon dried, crushed

Place each chicken breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Starting in the center, lightly pound with the flat side of a meat mallet to 1/2 inch thickness. Remove from plastic and lightly coat with flour, shaking off excess. Set aside.

In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add carrot strips then cook for 3 minutes. Add sweet pepper, garlic, salt and black pepper. Cook and stir about 5 minutes until the vegetables are crisp-tender.

Divide vegetables between two dinner plates and keep warm.

In the same skillet heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the chicken. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the chicken is tender and no longer pink, turning once. Place the chicken on top of the cooked vegetables. Keep warm.

Add Marsala and thyme to the skillet. Cook and stir for 1 minute, scraping up any crusty browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Pour the Marsala mixture over the chicken, and serve.