Katie Lee has spent over a decade working in the food industry. A culinary personality, she’s the co-host of Food Network’s The Kitchen, a best-selling author (her latest book is Endless Summer Cookbook) and she has served as a food and lifestyle contributor for The Early Show. We caught up with the comfort food aficionado to ask her our 21 quickfire questions.
- My guilty food pleasure is… french fries with a ton of ketchup.
- A key to starting my day on a positive note is… waking up at least an hour before I have to be anywhere so that I can enjoy a cup of coffee and watch the news.
- When it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, I… practice balance. I love to indulge in all my favorite foods and I have a job that includes a lot of eating. I balance it out with exercise. I work out six days a week at Tracy Anderson’s gym in my neighborhood and I do her online streaming when I’m traveling. If I know I’m having a splurge meal for dinner, I’ll eat a lighter lunch.
- The cities with the best food include… New York, Paris, Mexico City, Florence.
- My most treasured piece of clothing is… I know this sounds crazy, but I love my sweatpants more than anything. I would wear sweatpants everywhere if it was socially acceptable!
- The best gift I ever received was… my dog Fionula.
- When I’m looking to get inspired, I… look at pictures of food on Instagram. The other day I saw a beautiful picture of hummus…it made me hungry for hummus, so I went to the store to buy ingredients and saw some really nice beets…then I thought what if I roasted beets and pureed them in the hummus? Next thing I knew, I had the coolest looking hot pink hummus in my kitchen.
- When I’m stressed, I… watch television.
- A go-to healthy dish when I’m in a rush is… chicken paillard. It’s quick, easy and always delicious.
- If my days had one extra hour I’d… spend it learning French. I’ve been taking classes for a year and a half and I just need more time!
- My beauty essentials include… Shiseido eye masks, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer sunblock, Make Up For Ever concealer, Armani mascara.
- My favorite healthy snack for traveling is… a package of almonds and fruit.
- If you looked at my desktop you’d see… a stack of unopened mail, a picture of my dog Fionula, a stack of cookbooks and a printout of my schedule.
- My favorite cocktail recipe is… right now, I am loving a Frozen Dark Chocolate Mocha Margarita, which I make with Silk Dark Chocolate + Walnut Nutchello and it tastes so good. I pair it with coffee-flavored tequila. At only 90 calories a serving, it is a smart choice and feels so indulgent.
- The most versatile ingredient is… lemon. Adding acid to just about any recipe, sweet or savory, takes it to the next level.
- The most overrated food item is… anything truffle-flavored.
- The most surprising thing about my job is… the amount of people working behind the scenes to make our show happen. We have an amazing crew of over 70 people working on The Kitchen.
- One thing I do badly that I wish I did well is… gardening. I can’t get anything to grow. All of my plants die.
- My favorite quote is… “Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet,” Bob Marley.
- One thing I’d never eat is… any kind of organ meat grosses me out.
- On a typical Saturday, I… cook a big meal and have friends over for dinner.
