If ever there was a man born and breed to be spa chef, it has to be Chad Luethje. Raised by a vegetarian-Hatha-Yoga-instructor-massage-therapist mother, Luethje learned early to prefer and appreciate a healthy lifestyle. As a child, he dined on tofu and nori, and recalls he was sometimes embarrassed by the healthy school lunches his mom packed.

His worst childhood food memory is of seeing what looked like a cheesecake, only to discover it was tofu on a graham cracker pie.

Flash forward thirty years and Luethje is making delicious cheesecakes, chocolate risotto, and hearty sauces at Red Mountain Adventure Spa. All low-fat and low-calorie. All delicious—trust me, I spent almost a week tasting them and enjoying every bite on a recent visit to Red Mountain Adventure Spa.

He was a wise, but unlikely choice for this position. He had worked in top kitchens throughout the West and Southwest including Teton Mountain Lodge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Cedar breaks Lodge in Brian Head, Utah, Enchantment Resort in Sedona, and Loew’s Ventana Canyon Resort and Westin La Paloma in Tucson and had cooked at the famed James Beard House twice. But he had never even worked in a spa.

Clearly he took to the job like a duck to water (or perhaps a coyote to the dessert based on the spa’s location in the mountains of Utah). Within three weeks of starting, Red Mountain Adventure Spa’s intensive Adventures in Cooking School was featured in the lead article of the New York Times Travel section.

Every day, he does a cooking demonstration at lunch time. Guests sign up for the spots and get to learn his techniques and dine on what he has prepared.

What most of the lucky guests don’t know is that they have a failing biology grade to thank for their delicious experience.  As a teenager, Chad was much more interested in girls than studying.  When he needed another lab credit, he signed up for cooking which was taught by a chef who also taught English. The chef placed his students with his chef friends, so Luethje was able to learn the business from the bottom up. His first paying job in the kitchen was as a dishwasher at Po Folks.

When he finished high school, Luethje realized he was doing what he really wanted to be doing. So he cold called the chef of the Westin La Paloma from a pay phone in the lobby and started there. The rest is history.

His Secret Ingredients

Living in a slightly remote place could make getting ingredients a challenge. But Chef Chad is a cyber chef, sourcing and ordering from sources he finds on the internet.

Luethje believes that the key to success in the kitchen is to surround yourself with good, talented people and then getting input from everyone.

For inspiration he reads vegetarian cookbooks, Cooking Light, and Spa Magazine. When I interviewed him, Luethje had only been on the job a few months and was clearly delighted with the challenge of low-fat, low-calorie cooking.

His favorite kitchen utensil is a cleaver. He uses it first for a knife, then turns it sideways to be a spatula.

You Won't Be Hungry at Red Mountain Adventure Spa

Squeezing in more flavor while cutting calories is Luethje’s goal. And he does that in very creative ways.

The salad dressings are made from a thickened vegetable stock that replaces 90% of the fat.

He sears food at high heats to seal in flavor, only misting the pan with a spritz of oil. And he deglazes the pan with flavorful liquids like fruit juice.

Meals are plentiful with bountiful buffets at breakfast and lunch.

Some Easy Healthy Cooking Tips

Luethje fills small salt shakers with large grain Kosher salt. So you have a slightly controlled portion even when you shake vigorously. Plus kosher salt adds more flavor.

He always tries to balance flavors—sweet with salty, to give the palate more pleasure.

What Chef Chad Likes to Eat

He mostly eats the healthy food at the spa. But he did confess to having a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese at home.

He likes cuisines that have “heat” like Asian and Mexican, because he enjoys the slow burn or beads of sweat that reflect the full flavor.

What Chef Chad Likes Best About Red Mountain

Luethje is an avid outdoor sportsman, taking off to the red rock mountains to surround to property every opportunity he gets. “I enjoy mountain biking, hiking and skiing, and Red Mountain is a great place to get all three. And I always make a healthy snack to take with me,” he confides.

He thrives on the guest interaction through the demos, cooking school and private consultations at Red Mountain. “It is very satisfying to help our guests make significant changes in their lives around food, or just to become more comfortable in the kitchen,” said  Luethje.

Living Happily Ever After

Chef Chad’s goal is to retire to Mexico in a coastal town like Puerto Penasco (also called Rocky Point) where he likes to vacation. Maybe he will open a restaurant there. As soon as I hear that he has, I will plan a trip just to eat another one of his delicious meals.

Chocolate Risotto Recipe

Bet you thought I was kidding about the chocolate risotto. Luethje is happy to share and teach his recipe for designer risotto as he did in the cooking class I attended. He calls it a designer risotto because it is a canvas for endless flavorful variations. Once the technique is mastered, the manipulation of ingredient variables can orchestrate amazing flavors and textures.

Here are some recent Red Mountain cooking demo designer risottos:

Saffron, caper, garlic, white wine and tomato

Green onion, olive, cape and Feta

Mango, coconut and Thai Shrimp

Grilled pear, walnut and blue cheese

Wild strawberry with Mascarpone (Dessert Risotto)

Asparagus and a whisper of lemon

Curried Scallops with dried fruits, scallions, mangos and mint

He demonstrated the technique with:

Sautee medium: Usually olive oil, but other flavored oils such as sesame, walnut, truffle, and herbal oils have their place.

Aromatics: Members of the onion family, celery and carrots give depth of flavor.

Type of Rice: True risottos are made from Arborio rice, which when properly made, makes its own sauce. If other rices are used, additional sauces must be added.

Liquid: Typically a stock, richly flavored with herbs such as saffron, basil or cinnamon.

Additions: Vegetables, meats, seafood, fruits.

Moisteners for Mouth Feel: traditionally Parmesan cheese and or cream, but low-fat cheeses, vegetable and fruit purees can also do the duty.

Extractors: Just before serving, maximize and amplify flavors with fresh herbs, citrus, heat from peppers and sparing use of oil.

What To Do Between Meals

There are morning trail walks, aerobic classes, health and nutrition classes, spirit walks and water aerobics, hot tubs, bikes plus more to do all day when you are not eating. If the food weren’t so good, you would almost forget about eating.

For More Information About Red Mountain Adventure Spa

www.redmountainspa.com
1275 East Red Mountain Circle
Ivins, Utah 84738
1-800-407-3002

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