LISA LILLIEN was on the treadmill watching a "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" when inspiration struck. A featured dish on the show was a sauerkraut-stuffed pierogi. To the health conscious, the pierogi is an assault on perfectly planned eating habits.
To Lillien, it's a challenge. On the Internet, Lillien is better known as Hungry Girl, the personality behind the cartoon icon who tells long-suffering dieters how to eat healthily while still eating well. "Hungry Girl" comes to TV at 4 p.m. Saturday, as Lillien debuts her new show on the Cooking Channel.
What Lillien does on her show, she does in real life. She sees things like, say, a sauerkraut-stuffed pierogi, and her mind immediately turns to how she can swap out ingredients to make it healthier. She then takes it to her test kitchen and tries it until - and this may come as a shock to some dieters - she thinks it tastes good.
At the beginning of each episode, Lillien performs. The pilot, called "You Wanna Pizza Me?," opens with two lawyers. One argues that pizza can never be healthy; the other disagrees. Lillien, in full judge regalia, is too busy eating the evidence - pizza - to render a verdict. (Source: The Cooking Channel)