CMMC Healthy eating series‏

Lewiston, Maine - "Healthy Eating = Quality of Life" is the topic of a four-part series being presented in July by Central Maine Medical Center’s executive chef Oleg Opalnyk.

These hour-long cooking classes will highlight the basics for making meals that are both tasty and nutritious, focusing on vegetarian fare that is filling and satisfying.

The series will begin with a discussion of how the essentials of good health can be well served by a vegetarian diet.

“High quality ingredients and simple preparation can produce exceptional meals,” Opalnyk says. “And if you want to eat less meat in an effort to make alternative nutritional, environmental, or ethical dietary choices, a vegetarian approach can be very useful.”

“Whatever your reasons for introducing a more vegetarian element to your diet, it's got to taste good,” Opalnyk says. The series of classes will show participants how to turn a meat-filled recipe into a vegetarian delight with simple substitutions -- including tofu, beans, nuts, and grains – that can make “crowd pleasing” vegetarian dishes.

Vegetarian cuisine, he says, can help people reduce their cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure and better manage their weight.

Opalnyk, who recently joined the CMMC Food Service management staff, has introduced a number of well-received changes to the hospital’s menu. His specialties include vegan and vegetarian dishes fused with world cuisine influences.

During his five years as chef at Parkview Adventist Medical Center in Brunswick, Opalnyk managed the hospital’s Lifestyle Choices Program. Clinical testing demonstrated that those who participated in the Lifestyle Program experienced improvements intheir health.

A native of Ukraine, Opalnyk spent his later youth in Moscow. He trained at The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, an affiliate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, also in Chicago. He has worked in Russia, Canada, Mexico, and Belize, but settled in Maine in 2002 as kitchen manager at Freeport’sHaraseeket Inn. Prior to beginning his work in the healthcare setting, he was executive chef at Kristina’s Restaurant and Bakery in Bath and later at Bull Feeney’s in Portland.

The classes will be offered free of charge on July 9, 16, 23 and 30 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Atrium kitchen on the third-floor of the Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute at 60 High Street in Lewiston.

Those interested in attending the classes are urged to register by calling 795-8448 or emailing prevention@cmmc.org