Padma Lakshmi’s Recipe for Happiness

Padma Lakshmi wraps up Season 17 of her hit show Top Chef (Bravo, June 18, 10 p.m. ET; streaming on Hulu + Live TV and fuboTV) and premieres her documentary series Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi (Hulu, June 18), in which she roams the United States to explore diverse cuisines: Iranian, Chinese, Mexican, German, Native American, African American and more. Here she shares her thoughts on the new show, turning 50 on September 1 and how you can eat well at home.

Following Anthony Bourdain

They will compare me with Tony because it’s a travel show with food. Tony was a wonderful man, a friend, but you’re not going to see me swashbuckling all over the world.

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Turning 50

I’m OK with it. I accept my body. As I age I don’t think I should have the same body as I did at 20. It would be weird if I did. Now I love to work out — I box, jump rope, do the speed bag, Pilates, treadmill, elliptical and weights — not only to counterbalance all the eating but because it feels good. My body is much more in shape now as I approach 50 than I was approaching 30.

Don't just sit there — make soup

You can build a soup off of very little. Roast a chicken, save the back of the carcass, and throw whatever doesn't get eaten into a pot with a lot of water and onions and garlic, whatever you have in your crisper, and a couple of seeds and sprigs from your spice drawer — that can be the base of a soup. Use that with whatever you have on hand. Or to fortify butternut squash soup, use two cups of stock and a whole butternut squash and some bread — that's a meal for four if you stretch it.

Keep it simple

I've been doing very easy one-pot dishes. On my Instagram you'll see a couple of easy lentil dishes, and a chicken recipe with onions, a can of chipotles with adobo, oil and chicken. The simplest dishes are the best. We tend to be lavish in everything we add. You don't need all that stuff. Just use a lot of your spice drawer that you usually don't utilize. You can make very inexpensive shakshuka with just eggs, tomatoes and peppers.