Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

For me, there is no greater healthy pleasure than rice. It can be done so many ways (granted, not all of them are as healthful as others), but a creamy risotto, a fluffy pilaf, a sticky sushis rice, all make my mouth water, without clogging my arteries or packing in the calories.

The most important thing--always--is the company I keep, even if it's just myself. Sharing a little paper sack full of hot salty fries at a fast food joint in the Tenderloin with my best friend who is in serious need of some girl talk is way more wholesome than any multi-grain, fat-free, non-whatever eaten in distress. That being said, a ripe red tomato, just picked and still warm from the garden, sprinkled with a little salt and eaten like an apple over the sink is heaven on earth. Oh, and it doesn't hurt to have a little Devendra Banhart on the stereo and my honey walking through the front door. Yum.

A big bowl of steamed green beans. Or raw sugar snap peas. I can never buy enough!

My morning smoothie/shake, soy milk and any and all fruits I want. I can change it any time I want, and make it fancy or simple. AAAnd there's no guilt, ever!!

My favorite healthy and pleasurable dish would be tomatoes from my parent's garden sliced thick and topped with chopped flat-leaf parsley and basil and thin slivers of red onions. Dress with a vinagrette of champagne vinegar, dijon mustard, a touch of extra virgin olive oil, crushed garlic, salt and lots of fresh ground black pepper and garnish with some toasted pinenuts for good measure. It has all the great textures - the juiciness of the sweet tomatos, the crisp heat of the onions and the crunch of the pinenuts.

Brown rice is hands down one of the healthiest things there is to eat. Topped with a mixture of powdered toasted sesame seed and sea salt, some shredded carrot and cucumber and a little rice wine vinegar, it is divine. It's also a staple of the Zen macrobiotic diet.