Posts

Sweet 'n' Sour Cabbage ♥ Recipe

Today's vegetable recipe: Cooked cabbage in a sweet and sour sauce with ground caraway. Inexpensive to make and filling. Traditional fare from Eastern Europe. VEGETABLES ARE NOW COOL American readers, check the produce section in your local supermarket -- there will be new labels, 'COOL labels' they're called, where COOL stands for Country of Origin Labeling. The 2002 Farm Bill requires that food retailers (groceries, not restaurants) begin labeling the source of many foods, including produce and many meats, beginning September 30th of this year. So now we'll know -- if we want to -- that October's asparagus comes from somewhere in South America and August's oranges from southern Africa. (More about COOL on BlogHer, September 30: The Day Your Grocery Store Gets Cool .) My own observation is that the stores are labeling vegetables, but in different ways. If a bunch of beets, say, has a twist tie, the label's on the twist, so very hard to get to. If the co

Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Fruit Dip ♥

Hey, fruit people. Here's a great way to up your fruit game, an autumn version of that favorite cream cheese dip, just cream cheese, canned pumpkin, a natural sweetener like maple syrup or honey, plus the all-important pumpkin pie spice. As fruit dips go, this one is unusually healthy thanks to a high proportion of pumpkin:cream cheese and a small measure of sweetener. Real Food, Fast & Casual. Just Ten Minutes & Four Ingredients. Budget Friendly. Little Effort, Big Taste. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Great for Meal Prep. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free.

One-Skillet Cauliflower Casserole with Cheese Sauce ♥ Recipe

How many of our moms used to cook cauliflower and then cover it with a cheese sauce? Now this childhood favorite is adapted for today's real-world busy families: the cauliflower is cooked in milk that thickens into a cheese sauce and is finished with cheesy bread crumbs under the broiler. All in one skillet! It's great comfort food, whether as a side dish or even a satisfying, healthy cauliflower casserole, just add protein. Weeknight Easy, Holiday Special. Budget Friendly. Quick to Make. Low Carb. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegetarian.

Julia Child's Lentil Salad ♥ Recipe

Julia Child's Lentil Salad, soft, meaty lentils in a simple garlicky vinaigrette, served warm, at room temperature or cold. Low carb and high fiber. When my book club and a friend's book club met earlier this week to discuss The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan, the conversation was lively but the food – oh my – the food was fabulous! I'm still prying the recipes from the group but here's the first of what I hope are several great recipes, ones I just know that readers here will find appealing. This is a simple lentil salad that's just perfect for fall, especially since it's laced with autumn-ish herbs, parsley , sage, rosemary and thyme. (So sorry, just imagine, a popular song about herbs!) Lentils are typically just a mess of brown-ness, but this salad lends itself to simple but dramatic garnishing, wedges of perfect hard-boiled eggs and, if you have some, cherry tomato halves. At this week's potluck, the

Homemade Onion Dip Recipe ♥

Today's homemade party dip recipe: Onion dip made from scratch with slow-sautéed onions, sour cream, mayonnaise and flavorings. Is this a Who Knew? recipe, as in, Who knew we could make onion dip from scratch? The Yes, of course! answer is so obvious but never before did it occur to me to make real onion dip. It's the Cool Whip Syndrome, I think. When my mother was teaching Home Economics, she overheard a student report that 'real Cool Whip' -- meaning real whipped cream -- tasted so good. But if Cool Whip is so easy, so convenient, why bother to make real whipped cream? To my taste, this homemade Onion Dip is completely delicious. It's all about the smoky earthy onion flavor, thanks in part to my upping the proportion of onions:binder. I did make a tactical error, however, by sautéeing the onions with a tablespoon of brown sugar, something that works like gangbusters for fajitas but contributed an unnecessary sweetness to the dip. In addition, when it comes to c

Apple Cider Vinaigrette ♥ Recipe

Today's super-easy salad dressing recipe, perfect for fall salads: A no-fat vinaigrette made with no more than apple cider, cider vinegar, agave (or honey) and spiked with cinnamon. Use Apple Cider Vinaigrette on its own or whisk it with a little olive oil for a more traditional oli & vinegar vinaigrette, except apple-y! Fresh & Seasonal, A Fall Classic. Great for Meal Prep. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free.

Balkan Eggplant Casserole ♥ Recipe

Today's vegetable recipe: Thin slices of eggplant in a creamy-cheesy custard. Good hot or at room temperature. Low carb. A few weeks ago, I swore off new cookbooks. 101 Cookbooks ? Ha! That's nothing! With all the will power of a limp noodle, I lasted ... um, well, would you believe, all of two days? Katy, bar the door ! At a cookbook swap, I spent all of four bucks for six cookbooks. Turns out, all are inspiring, good introductions to cuisines and specialty dishes with many recipes for a health-conscious home cook. First up, Jewish Cooking whose author, Marlena Spieler, has written many cookbooks on the same subject. This recipe for eggplant (aubergine, anyone?) casserole caught my attention for two reasons. First, unlike most eggplant recipes, the eggplant actually looks like eggplant not blobs of colorless eggplant flesh. Second, it can be served either hot from the oven or at room temperature, which makes it perfect for potlucks, buffet suppers and big family gatherings.