The term itself may be controversial, but "cougars" -- women who like to go out with much younger men -- are now getting tips on what to cook and eat to attract the guys.
They're getting that advice from the Cougar Chef.
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"Young men don't know how to cook, and they love it if we cook for them," said Melinda Curtis.
Curtis calls herself the Cougar Chef. She has made it her mission to help women of a certain age hook up with men of a younger age. The first step she says, is cooking healthy.
"If you eat this food, the recipe is on my website, you'll stay thin, you'll look great. You'll glow. It has lots of vitamins, everything you need to feel good and to attract that hot, younger man," Curtis said.
And Curtis knows what she's talking about.
"I'm 53 years old. Do you think I look 53? No. (How old is your boyfriend?) My boyfriend's 29," Curtis explained.
The Cougar Chef teaches other women how to cook those healthy dishes during parties.
"I'm the Cougar Chef and I'm going to be demonstrating radicchio chicken," Curtis said.
Cougar cooking isn't time consuming or complicated. Just mix sliced, roasted chicken, chopped vegetables, and a soy sauce-based marinade. Spoon it on radicchio leaves. The Cougar Chef also recommends developing a sassy, youthful attitude. Where did she learn all this?
"I'm the Cougar Chef's Mom. I'm 81, and in my day we didn't have Cougars, but we still had younger boyfriends. Mine's ten years younger than I am," said Helen Curtis, Melinda's mom.
The Cougar Chef and her mom agree, if you're a single woman and you want to cast the net wider and younger, you've got to use the right bait. The Cougar Chef says following her advice won't guarantee you a younger boyfriend, but it can't hurt. She says she also wants to help young women learn to cook and eat healthy now so they can be cougars in training. (Cougar Cooking on Facebook)
Green Goddess Salad Dressing and Salad Recipe!
A new version of an old classic from the 1923 Grand Palace Hotel in
San Francisco; lower in calories, and simply delicious!
Salad Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup, sliced pickled radishes
• 4-5 sliced in half, fresh cherry tomatoes sliced (Melinda uses heirloom cherry tomatoes including tear drop tomatoes, for their diversity of color and shape)
• Cooked shrimp, deveined, shell removed and with the tail on
Green Goddess Salad Dressing Ingredients:
In a food processor place the following ingredients:
1. 5 oz. container of plain Greek yogurt
2. 1/4 mayonnaise
3. 2-3, cups cleaned fresh spinach leaves
4. 1/2 cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley packed into measuring cup
5. 1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves
6. Juice of one lemon
7. 1 shallot, cut up into quarters
8. 2 garlic cloves chopped
9. 3 anchovy fillets
10. 1/2 teaspoon honey
11. 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
(Turn on processor or blender for until completely emulsified smooth and green in color, about 1 and 1/2 minutes. Place in container and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. Lasts for 1 week in refrigerator)
For plating:
On a chilled salad plate place the 1/4 wedge of iceberg lettuce on one corner and group the tomatoes on another corner and the radish salad on another corner. In the fourth position place three precooked shrimp on top each other in a decorative manor. Dabble the Green Goddess dressing on the shrimp, Iceberg lettuce and a couple of drops on the tomatoes.