Vegetarian Chili

Sauté:

1.5 c sliced carrots,
1.5 c sliced onions,
1.5 c sliced celery,
1.5 c or less of green pepper strips

Then add 1 15 oz can stewed tomatoes,
1 15 oz can tomato sauce,
1 c tomato juice,
the juice of 1 lemon,
2 15 oz cans of kidney beans including liquid,
1 drained 15 oz can of garbanzos,
2 large garlic cloves minced,
2 tbs chili powder,
1 tsp sugar,
1.5 tbs dried basil,
1/2 tsp hot sauce,
1 tsp salt,
1 tsp pepper.

Simmer everything 20-30 minutes.

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds of mixed fish, with some relatively firm. Cut into really big pieces (to make it easy to remove them from the soup)
1 pound of big fat scallops
4-5 medium tomatoes, peeled and quartered
2-3 leeks (white parts sliced thin; keep the green parts to cook in wine & broth as a veggie dish)
2-3 medium onions: diced
2-3 carrots: sliced thin
3 hefty cloves of garlic, minced
2 medium potatoes, cut into chunky bite size pieces
 

1. sauté in a little olive oil the leeks, onions, garlic and carrots.

2. when cooked but not really browned, add potatoes, tomatoes, fish (but not the scallops) and enough boiling water to just cover.

3. bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. remove the fish and reserve.

5. simmer for 15 minutes or so.

6. add the scallops and simmer for another 15-20 minutes or so.

7. cut the fish into bite size pieces and put back into soup.

8. simmer until the added fish is hot.

Leeks cooked in Red Wine

Ingredients:

Leeks -- as many as can fit in a large frying pan
Red wine -- 2-3 cups
nonstick spray or olive oil to coat bottom of the pan (optional)
chicken broth (nonfat) or bullion (optional)
large, heavy frying pan

1. Cut off about 1/4 inch or so of the hard, white end of the leeks and discard.

2. Cut the leeks lengthwise and wash thoroughly, being sure to get all of the dirt out of the inner leaves.

3. Heat a large, heavy skillet until very hot. Add a little olive oil or nonstick spray if you want.

(Note: you can add more olive oil if you want the leeks to get somewhat browner, but it is not really necessary).

4. When the pan is very hot, add the leeks, cut size down. If the leeks are too long to fit in the frying pan, cut off part of the green end of the leeks and add to the pan.

5. Cook without any liquid until the leeks begin to brown a little. If you added olive oil in step 4, you can cook a bit longer.

6. Pour in a little of the wine, not enough to cover the leeks. The wine should sizzle and froth since the pan is quite hot.

With a spatula, loosen the leeks from the bottom of the pan and scrape up any stuck-on bits. Let the red wine go under the leeks.

7. Once the wine has nearly boiled off, add enough additional red wine to provide sufficient liquid for cooking the leeks --

about half of what would be needed to actually cover the leeks. Return to a boil, then turn the heat down to a moderate simmer and cover.

You can add chicken broth (fat free) or bullion if you want to augment the liquid.

8. Check the leeks periodically and scrape them off the bottom of the pan. They should stick a little.

When fully cooked, the white part of the leeks will be will be fairly tender.

9. When the leeks are nearly done, turn the temperature up to high and boil off the remaining liquid. The red wine will form a gummy residue.

You can add some more wine if needed at this point. Be sure to use a spatula to scrape the leeks off the bottom of the pan as the wine boils so that they do not stick.

10. The dish can be served hot or cold. Balsamic vinegar can be added to the cold disk.

Ingredients:

16 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-2" lengths. If they are fat carrots, cut in half lengthways
16 small white boiling onions, peeled
1 pound of mushrooms: quartered if big; halved if medium; whole if small
2 hefty cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
2 cups of red wine
2 small bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon each of ground savory and thyme
2 tablespoons of minced parsley
1/4 teaspoon pepper
salt to taste
olive oil sufficient to sauté the veggies (use as little as possible)

1. sauté onions and carrots over medium flame. Brown very lightly
2. add garlic.
3. Stir in flour and then gradually stir in wine.
4. When wine is well blended, add bay leaf, savory, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper.
5. add mushrooms.
6. Add a little more wine if there does not seem to be enough liquid.
7. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, adding wine if needed. At the end there should be only a little liquid left.

Serve with boiled new potatoes with parsley

Ingredients

Red and yellow bell peppers, cut in half
sweet little cherry tomatoes (red & yellow if possible)
garlic, thinly sliced
anchovies, rinsed to get rid of excess oil
capers
thyme
salt & pepper
balsamic vinegar

1. preheat oven at 425 degrees F
2. spray baking pan with olive oil mist and place peppers cut side up in the pan
3. place two large anchovies crossing each other in an X in each pepper
4. fill the peppers with as many cherry tomatoes as they will hold
5. intersperse 6-8 capers among the tomatoes in each pepper
6. sprinkle a little dried thyme (or minced thyme leaves) on the peppers
7. add alt and pepper to taste
8. cook in preheated oven for 35 minutes
9. Let cool somewhat (room temperature is OK) and then dribble a little good balsamic vinegar on the copked peppers

Ingredients:

8 Bartlett pears
24 tablespoons of sugar
1 bottle of red wine

1. Peel the pears carefully, conserving the body and form of the fruits.

2. Pour red wine in a pot. Place the peeled pears in the pot. Spread two tablespoons of sugar over each pear. Reserve the rest.

3. Simmer the pears at a low boil for about 1 hour, stirring  the pears occasionally in order to ensure that they are wholly covered

by the wine. Fifteen minutes before they are done spread the remaining sugar over each pear.

4. Chill the pears at least four hours.  Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipping cream.

For people unconcerned about lowfat, serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. For others, serve with nonfat cool whip or rediwhip.

Ingredients

An assortment of root vegetables: Beets, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, leeks, onions, red onions, fennel.

(you can also add: cauliflower, red pepper (in strips), and asparagus)

The ratio doesn't matter, but I find that the best combination includes lots of onions/red onions. Also: Don't skimp on the beets.

They had lots of beautiful color, and because they have lots of sugar in them, add sweetness to the entire dish.

1. peel the vegetables and cut into medium sized chunks
2. Coat very lightly in olive oil (misting with olive oil works well).
3. Season lightly with salt and pepper and, if you like, with a little fresh rosemary.
4. place in a roasting pan that has been misted (or very lightly coated) with olive oil.
5. cook at about 450 degrees F
6. Every 15 minutes or so check the veggies and with a spatula loosen them from the pan and turn over if they begin to stick
7. Roast for somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour and a quarter until the vegetables are soft.
8. In the last ten minutes before the vegetables are done, turn the temperature up to 425 degrees to caramelize the sugars

It is nice to cook up a HUGE quantity if this dish and then use the leftovers. The roasted chunks of vegetables can be thinly sliced and

added to a green salad, reheated in the microwave or oven, or just eaten cold on their own. As a cold dish the presence of lots of onions is especially tasty.

Ingredients

     Equal quantities by weight of large sea scallops and green grapes (roughly 1/2 lb per person)
     white wine

1. Wash the scallops and then dry with paper towels.

2. cut all of the grapes in half.

3. In a large skillet heat enough olive oil to sauté the scallops (you will not need much oil for this). It is good to use a quite large

pan since the scallops give off quite a lot of water and if they are squished in the pan they will not sauté as nicely.

4. When the oil is very hot, add the scallops, turning them over after a couple of minutes.

They should not cook all the way through, but should get a little brown on the outside. Salt and pepper lightly.

5. After about 5 minutes add white wine sufficient to have perhaps 1/4 inch in the bottom of the pan.

The heat should be turned to high so that the wine froths and bubbles vigorously.

6. Add the grapes. Stir everything together.

7. After another 4-5 minutes or so, remove the scallops.

8. cook the grapes and white over high heat to reduce the liquid.

9. When the liquid is thick enough to be sauce-like, return the scallops to the pan to reheat.

10. Serve over jasmine rice.

Cover the bottom of a baking dish with a packet of dried French Onion soup (Knorr makes good variety).

There should be enough to cover the dish completely. Cover the onions with pieces of skinned chicken.

Pour one large can of peaches (halves) in light syrup over the chicken. This should be enough to have some peaches on each piece of chicken. 

Cook in a low-moderate oven – 3-4 on the French 10 point scale – for an hour and a half. The onions burn easily, which is why the slow oven is needed.

Check the dish while cooking to be sure there is enough liquid -- if the syrup has caramelized too much, add a little water.

Turn the chicken after 45 minutes or so.
 

Erik's Fish with capers, olives & tomatoes

Fish: some nice white fish, like orange roughy, cod. Tilapia works OK.

ingredients:
    capers (1 little jar of small capers for two pounds of fish)
    olives (green with pimentos, sliced)
    fresh tomatoes, blanched & skinned, and quartered (but you can use canned if needed) -- 

             4-6 medium tomatoes for a pound of fish
    onions – 2 onions, chopped
    garlic -- a large clove per pound of fish, minced (more if you like a more garlicky taste)

    quantities: experiment as you wish – don’t be stingy on the capers.

preparation:

1. sauté the onions & garlic until wilted in olive oil
2. add tomatoes and capers and olives
3. cook tomatoes at a moderate heat until they are mushy
4. in a separate pan, sauté the fish in olive oil with fairly high heat (a few minutes)
5. turn down heat, add the tomato mixture, cook briefly and serve

alternative step 4:  raise the temperature of the sauce until bubbling and poach the fish, covered

Belgian Endive & grapefruit salad

1. Peel red ruby grapefruit and de-vein (i.e. remove all of the connecting tissue and break up into little bits)
2. take separated leaves of Belgian endive and sprinkle grapefruit liberally over leaves
3. strawberry vinaigrette: balsamic vinegar (use expensive brands!), olive oil and then add fresh strawberries and blend in a blender 

Natahsa Roemer's Variation on (TNYTCB)* Gazpacho

The Soup: 

1 large clove garlic

1 medium onion, sliced  (use a sweet variety)

1 cucumber, sliced

3 large tomatoes

1 red pepper ( a sweet Italian red pepper is best, but the usual bell will do)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne or chili powder

1/4 cup white or red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

3/4 cup tomato juice

The Garnish:

1 cup bread cubes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 cucumber diced

1 red pepper, chopped

1. Purée the first five ingredients in a blender with a little of the olive oil.  Then add the salt, cayenne, vinegar, remaining olive oil,

and tomato juice and chill (allow at least six hours).

2. For the garnish, brown the bread cubes in the oil with garlic.  Add the croutons and a sprinkle of cucumber and red pepper just before serving.

NOTE: The better the ingredients, the better the soup.  I make gazpacho when I can get flavorful tomatoes at a farmers market and I use a good quality olive oil.

*The New York Times Cook Book

Norma Sober's Roasted Pineapple

1 pineapple, cored and quartered lengthwise
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon + 1/8 tsp. cloves OR 1/4 tsp. garam masala. You can fool around with spices to taste.
Optional: 1 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put pineapple in shallow baking dish.

Combine all ingredients and brush onto pineapple. Turn and baste every 20 minutes. Roast for a total of 1 hr. 15 minutes.

Can be made a few hours ahead and reheated at 375 for 10 minutes. Or serve at room temperature.

Cut into smaller pieces, depending on how you are going to use it. Especially nice as an accompaniment to mango sorbet.

Elliott Sober's Philosophical Gumbo

For 6 people.

1 pound of crawfish tails, 3/4 pounds shrimp, 3/4 pounds of fish (eg mahi-mahi) cut into bite size pieces.
3 celery stalks, 1 big green pepper, 1 big onion, all minced = Cajun trinity.
1 tbsp dried oregano, 1 tablsp file', 3 bay leaves, black pepper.
2 sausages, minced.
8-9 cups fish stock (I use Penzeys' concentrate)
2 tbsp flour, 1/4 cup veg oil.
1/3 lb okra, cut into 1/3 inch slices.
2 cups raw rice, cooked up separately.

make roux: heat the oil over medium heat. then whisk in flour and keep whisking as
it turns to the color peanut butter, or maybe a little darker (darker gives more nutty flavor, but
lighter provides a bit more thickening power). do not burn (= roux is black). when right coloration is reached,
add in minced sausages, minced Cajun trinity, and oregano, pepper, and bay leaves. stir around to coat. then add stock. stir,
let cook, simmering for about 20 minutes.

you can stop here and refrigerate the soup base, or proceed:

with soup base at a simmer, add the okra and the fish and seafood. stir. let cook
about 5 minutes, until everything is cooked through. then add file' and stir.

serve by putting some rice in each soup plate, then ladling gumbo on the side. pass hot sauce.

Apricot & Currant Chicken

(Modified From the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook)

Ingredients:

Roughly 4-5 pounds of chicken. (I use skinless breasts and thighs on the bone. The bone prevents the chicken from drying out.)

Salt & pepper to taste

1 teaspoon ground ginger (or a little more if needed – you want to sprinkle this over all the pieces)

1.5 cups bitter orange marmalade (if you can’t find bitter marmalade, sweet marmalade is OK, but it does make the dish sweeter overall)

1/3 cup apple juice

1/3 cup orange juice

8 ounces of dried apricots

8 ounces of dried currants (not raisins!)

¼ cup dark brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375E F

2. Place chicken in a shallow roasting pan and sprinkle with salt & pepper and then the ginger.

Spread the marmalade over the chicken and pour the apple and orange juices into the pan. Bake 20 minutes.

3. Remove from the oven and add the apricots and currants to the pan (sprinkled over the chicken), mixing the fruit evenly.

Sprinkle the fruit with the brown sugar and return to oven. Bake, basting the chicken every 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown, around 40-45 minutes.

4. Remove chicken, apricots and currants to a warmed serving platter. Pour some of the pan juices over the top and pour the remaining juices into a sauceboat.

Serve this with brown rice.

 Serves 6-8

Marcia's Minestrone Soup

Ingredients (approximate: vary as needed)

olive oil to sauté the onions

2 medium onions

3 medium carrots, pared and coarsely chopped

1 large potato, pared and cut into 3/4 inch pieces

3 stalks of celery. coarsely chopped

1/4 pound green beans trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

2 medium zucchini or yellow squash, trim and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 pound cabbage coarsely shredded

1 medium garlic clove minced

3 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 1/1 cups water

1 can (28 oz) Italian plum tomatoes

1/2 t salt

1/2 dried basil

1/4 t pepper

1 bay leaf

1 can (16 oz) cannelinni beans, rinsed and drained

Heat oil and sauté the onions over medium heat until soft and golden but not brown (6-8 minutes). Stir in carrots and potato; sauté 5 minutes.  Stir in celery and green beans and sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in zucchini/squash and sauté 3 minutes. Stir in cabbage and garlic and cook 1 minute.

Add broth, water and liquid from tomatoes to pan. Chop tomatoes coarsely and add to pan. Stir in salt, basil, pepper and bay leaf. Heat to boiling; reduce to Simmer covered stirring occasionally 1 1/2 hours.

    Add drained/rinsed cannelini beans to soup. Cook uncovered over medium-low heat stirring occasionally until soup is thick, 30-40 minutes longer. Remove bay leaf.

Bea Kahn’s Mediterranean salmon

¼  teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1.5 lb skinless salmon fillet

cooking spray

2 cups cheery tomatoes, halved

½ cup finely chopped zucchini

2 tablespoons capers, undrained

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 (2 ¼ ounce) can of sliced rip black olives, drained

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2. Sprinkle salt and pepper over both sides of fish. Place fish in a single layer in an 11 x 7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine tomatoes and remaining ingredients in a bowl; spoon mixture over fish. Bake at 425 for 22 minutes. Yield: 4 servings.

Note: it is good to increase the vegetable mixture; you can’t have too many veggies in this dish.

Karen Prager's Brazilian Black Bean Stew

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbsp and 1 tsp olive oil
5 0z smoked turkey kielbasa, cut into small pieces
1 pound boneless chicken, cut into small pieces
1-1/3 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 red bell peppers diced
2 3/4 cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 1/3 small hot green chili pepper, diced
2 cups water w/chicken bouillion
3 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 mango-peeled, seeded and diced
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tbsp cumin


1)  Heat oil in pan and cook meat.  Place onion in pot, and cook until tender.  Stir in garlic, and cook until tender, mix in sweet potatoes, bell pepper, tomatoes with juice, chili pepper, and water.  Bring to a  boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, until sweet potatoes are tender.

2)  Stir the beans into the pot, and cook uncovered until heated through. Mix in the mango and cilantro, and season with salt.

Marcia's Chicken Tagine with dates & honey

8 lean chicken thigh fillets (2 pounds) OR equivalent chicken breasts (breast are lower fat than thighs)

cooking oil spray

2 medium onions (~2/3 lb)

4 cloves garlic crushed

1 tsp cumin seeds

1.5 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1.5 cups chicken stock

1 cup water

1/2 cup seedless dates, halved

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup (40g) blanched almonds, toasted

1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander leaves (OK to omit)

1.  Cut chicken into strips, roughly 2x4 inches (size doesn't matter that much)

2. Coat 10-cup flameproof casserole dish with cooking oil spray.

3. Cook chicken in batches until browned all over.

4. cook onion, garlic and spice in the same dish, stirring until onion is soft.

5. return chicken to dish with stock and water. Bring to boil

6. Bake covered in moderate oven 1 hour.

7. Uncover and bake 45 minutes or until chicken is very tender and mixture has thickened slightly.

8. stir in dates, honey and nuts.

9. sprinkle with fresh coriander

Roasted Beets, Walnuts & nonfat Feta salad

1/2 cup walnut halves
6 medium beets, trimmed and washed
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onions

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
fresh ground black pepper

1/2 lb fresh spinach leaves, de-stemmed and washed
3 ounces crumbled non-fat Feta cheese

Directions:

1. Roast the walnuts @ 350 degrees until golden brown (watch them to avoid burning)
2. Set aside to cool.
3. Wrap the beets individually in foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
4. Bake at 350 degrees until tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
5. Let cool for 20 minutes, then peel the beets by holding them under cold running water and rubbing off the skins.
6. Cut into 1/2-inch wedges, and place in a large mixing bowl with the walnuts and onion.
7. Combine all the dressing ingredients, taste and adjust the seasonings.
8. Pour over the beets and toss well.
9. Let sit at room temperature at least 1 hour.
10. Just before serving, arrange the spinach leaves in individual bowls or on a large platter.
11. Arrange the beets on top and crumble the feta over.

Erik's Carrot Top Soup

3 cups of carrot tops, chopped into small piece

3 cups shredded carrots

1.5 cut chopped onions or leeks

1 large garlic clove minced

6 cups vegetable stock or bullion (use more or less liquid if you want this to be more like a soup or stew)

salt and pepper to taste

1. Sauté  the garlic in a little olive oil for one minute then add the onions and cook until wilted

2. Add the carrots and sauté until slightly browned

3. add the chopped carrot tops and stock

4. cook 20 minutes until everything is tender

5. add salt and pepper  to taste

6. If you want a thicker soup, puree 1/3 of the soup and then return it to the pot.

Erik's Grilled Tuna with Applesauce & Caramelized Onions

(mimicking a dish in a restaurant in Bilbao, Spain)

2-3 large onions (you cannot have too many onions!), cut in half and then slices fairly thin

sugar (unspecified quantity....)

1 pound of tuna steaks

Good quality apple sauce (chunky is best)

Balsamic vinegar glaze*

1. Heat just enough olive oil to just coat the bottom of a large frying pan on a very low flame.

2. Add the onions and sprinkle with some sugar. Add more sugar later to taste if needed.

3. Cook the onions on a very low flame -- cook slowly for a long time -- until the sugars have caramelized.

    Add additional olive oil if needed.

4. Heat up the apple sauce. Have enough to make a nice bed of apple sauce on each plate.

5. Put a little olive oil on the tuna steaks. Lightly salt the steaks and then grill them on a very hot grill until they are

    seared on each side but still pink in the center. DO NOT OVERCOOK.

6. Cut up the tuna into small chunks.

7. Spread a generous amount of apple sauce on each plate and arrange pieces of tuna on the bed of applesauce.

8. Dribble balsamic glaze over the tuna and applesauce.

9. Smother with caramelized onions.

*Balsamic glaze:

1. Combine 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 1.5 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and 4 teaspoons of brown sugar in a small sauce pan

2. Bring to a boil and reduce until it is a syrup. (If you overcook this and when it cools it is too thick, add a little boiling water)

Matt Calvert's Hazelnut Risotto Rice Pudding

(modified from New Basics Cookbook)

½ C dried currants

½ C Frangelico liqueur (I used Grand Marnier)

4 C 1% or nonfat milk

5 Tablespoons sugar

½ t. vanilla extract

¼ C Arborio rice

1/3 C hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

1. Combine currants and liqueur and soak for 8 hours

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

3. pour in milk. Add the sugar, vanilla, and rice, and mix thoroughly.

4. Bake, uncovered, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, until the rice is cooked and almost all the liquid has been absorbed, about 2 hours.

5. Drain the currants and stir them into the pudding with the hazelnuts. Serve hot or chilled,

Chuck Kalish's slightly-less minimalist bouillabaisse*

1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 medium onion, roughly chopped 

1 bulb fennel  roughly chopped

a few cloves of garlic
Zest of 2 navel or other oranges 
2 teaspoons fennel seeds (or 2 star anises instead)
Big pinch saffron (necessary!)
1 dried chili, or cayenne to taste 
1 28-ounce can of tomatoes, including juice 

(2 cups fish stock)
1 to 1 1/2 pounds monkfish, catfish, or blackfish, cut into 1-inch cubes (you can use tuna if you can't find monkfish)
3 pounds hard-shell (littleneck) clams, cockles or mussels, well washed (only 20 clams)
2 lbs scallops (can use shrimp or a mixture of shrimp and scallops)
1 to 1 1/2 pounds cod or other delicate white-fleshed fish, cut into 6 large chunks (I use cod)
1 tablespoon minced garlic 
1 cup roughly chopped parsley. 

salt & pepper to round out the flavors

1. Put olive oil in a casserole or large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add zest, fennel, saffron and chili, and cook for about a minute. Add tomatoes, and turn heat to medium-high. When mixture boils, reduce heat to medium, and cook 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it becomes sauce-like.

2. Add monkfish and raise heat to medium-high. When mixture boils, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the monkfish begins to lose its rubbery quality, 10 minutes or so.

3. Add clams, raise heat to high, and stir; when mixture boils, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until clams begin to open, 5 to 10 minutes. Add scallops and white fish, stir, and cover. Cook, stirring gently once or twice, until white fish is just about done (a thin-bladed knife will pierce it with little resistance), about 5 minutes. (If mixture is very thick, add a cup or so of hot water.) Stir in garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Stir in parsley and serve, with crusty bread.

The Rouille (which violates the low fat criterion, alas).  

1 egg yolk

2 cloves garlic

hot peppers (I used 1 tsp sri-racha sauce 'cause it's what I had)

1 roasted red pepper.

--Blend in a food processor then slowly drip in olive oil while machine is running until emulsified (maybe 1/2 cup). Should look like mayonnaise. 

*modified from Mark Bittman, The Minimalist

Erik's Pasta with Chard, Grapes & Almonds

ingredients:

1 onion coarsely diced

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

green grapes, cut lengthwise in half: a couple of handfuls

white wine -- half a cup or so

Swish chard or Rainbow chard: six or seven large leaves, chopped (cut off the very ends, but dice the stalks)

a handfull of roasted almonds, coarsely chopped (use more if you like!)

Spaghetti or other pasta

optional: nonfat feta or parmesan

1. Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft.

2. Add the grapes and saute for a couple of minutes then turn the heat to high an add the wine.

3. Cook for a minute or so, then turn the heat down to medium and cover. Cook until grapes have softened.

4. Add the chard and cook until leaves are wilted and diced pieces of stalk are soft.

5. remove from heat and add the almonds.

6. Toss with hot pasta.. Optional: sprinkle with feta or parmesan

Erik's Nearly Nonfat Mac & Cheese

 Ingredients:

•  ½ pound raw penne pasta, cooked & drained

• 1 large egg

• 1 cup skim milk

• 1 small clove garlic

• 1 medium onion lightly sautéed

• 1 generous cup shredded nonfat cheddar cheese (Kraft)

•  5 ounces of nonfat cream cheese

•  2/3 cup of shredded nonfat mozzarella

•  ½ cup mixture of nonfat feta cheese and non or lowfat parmesan

•  Generous 1/8 teaspoon each of hot red pepper flakes, salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Generous ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika

• 12 Lowfat crackers coarsely crumbled and tossed lightly with police oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Rub olive oil in a shallow 1½  quart baking dish and add cooked penne.

2. In a blender or food possessor combine egg, milk, and garlic and process for 3 seconds. Add all other ingredients except crackers and blend for 10 seconds. Turn into dish, folding into pasta.

3. Sprinkle crackers over casserole (add more crackers if needed to cover). Bake 20-25 minutes. Don’t over-cook – it should be as little moist. If top is not golden, slip under broiler for a minute.

Erik's Unstuffed stuffed cabbage

Ingredients:

•  One cabbage coarsely chopped, leaves separated

•  Two 15 oz cans of tomatoes or diced tomatoes, liquid drained and kept

• 1 pound extra lean  ground turkey

• Cooked white rice, roughly same volume as the ground turkey

• One onion finely chopped

• One egg beaten (or egg beater equivalent)

• Juice from 3 large lemons

• Brown sugar to taste

1. Put about half of the cabbage in the bottom of a large stew pot

2. combine the ground turkey, rice, and egg, and mix until evenly mixed together

3. make into small balls 1½ inches or so in diameter

4. place the turkey balls in a layer over the cabbage

5. combine the juice from the tomatoes and lemon juice

6. add brown sugar to desired sweetness. This should be fairly sweet, but not really sugary.

7. coarsely chop the tomatoes if whole tomatoes have been used.

8. pour half of the chopped tomatoes over the turkey balls, then add as much of the rest of the cabbage as will comfortably fit in the pot.

9. add the tomato juice-lemon-sugar liquid.

10. Bake until the cabbage is soft at 350 F for 1-1 ½ hour. It is better to cook longer than not long enough. If while cooking more liquid is needed, add some more tomato juice with brown sugar.

Jeannette Golden's Chicken Chili

6 T. olive oil                 

2 large onions, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 28 oz cans diced tomatoes

2 28 oz cans tomatillos, drained

1 32 oz can chicken broth

2 jalapenos seeded and minced

2 tsp. celery seed, crushed

2 tsp. cumin seed, crushed

2 tsp. dried basil

1 large bay leaf

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast (or meat from 1 deli roasted chicken)

1 C. chopped cilantro

1 lb. bag frozen corn

juice of 3 limes

2 or 3 14 oz cans assorted beans (pinto, black, kidney, etc): add more if you want the chili to be beanier

In a large stock pot sauté onions and garlic in olive oil over low heat till tender, not brown.  Coarsely chop the tomatillos.  Add tomatoes and tomatillos, broth, jalapenos and dried spices to the onions.  Simmer about 1 hour.

Shred chicken into bite size pieces; add the chicken, corn, cilantro and beans to the stockpot.  Simmer 10 minutes more till heated through.

NOTES:  Adjust the chili to desired consistency be adding more chicken broth, or chopped tomatoes in juice.  To make it thicker, cook the tomato/onion mixture longer before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Erik's Turkey Stroganoff

Ingredients:

• 1 pound extra-lean ground turkey

• Diced mushrooms & sliced mushrooms: there is no set quantity of either of these. I like to make this with lots of mushrooms, probably 1.5 pounds of mushrooms for a pound of turkey, and two large onions.

• non-fat sour cream: no set quantity -- add to desired consistency

• yellow mustard: no set quantity -- add to desired mustardiness, but at least 2-3 tablespoons is what I use.

• salt & pepper to taste

• egg noodles

Sauté the onions in a little olive oil until wilted and a little browned.

Add the mushroom and sauté until the mushrooms are soft.

Remove the mushrooms & onions and sauté the ground turkey until slightly browned. You may need to add more olive oil to avoid sticking.

Return onions and mushroom to pan and add mustard. Cook until well blended.

Add sour cream and simmer until flavors have penetrated the stew. Add salt and pepper to taste. You may want to adjust the mustard as well.

serve over egg noodles.

Matt Kearney's Avocado Salad

Ingredients:
2 1/2 avocados
2 tomatoes, preferably beefsteak
1/2 cup olives, preferably nicoise but any black olives will do
1 cup canned chickpeas
4 tablespoons parsley leaves, preferably fresh but dried will do
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil, preferably extra virgin
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Dashes of salt and ground pepper
A handful of tortilla chips

Directions:
1. Remove skin and pits from avocados, then dice them.
2. Dice tomatoes
3. Pit olives, if not already pitted
4. Drain and rinse can of chickpeas twice
5. Stir avocados, tomatoes, olives, chickpeas, parsley, vinegar, and olive oil in large bowl. Be gentle, do not mush, although ripe avocados will naturally mush a little.
6. Stir in cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper.
7. Holding tortilla chips in your hand, clench hand a little to break them into small pieces (not dust), then sprinkle on top.

Can be eaten straight with a spoon or as a dip with tortilla chips.

No-knead Bread

(from NYT, November 2006: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour (variation: 2 cups white and 1 cup whole wheat)
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

Roasted Squash Soup

Ingredients

• Squash - 3-4 pounds, whatever varieties are available, halved and seeded

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon minced ginger root

• 1 teaspoon curry powder

• 2 tart green apples -- peeled, cored, and chopped

• 2/3 cup sherry

• 4-5 cups vegetable broth (unseasoned if possible; homemade is best)

• salt & pepper to taste

1. Put squash cut side down on baking sheet and roast 45 minutes @ 400 degrees F, or until soft. Scoop into large bowl.

2. Saute the onion in a little olive oil, five minutes until tender. Stir in garlic, ginger and curry powder and cook 1 minute. Add apples and sherry and summer for 10 minutes, or until apples soften.

3. Puree the squash and broth in a food processor or processing wand. Add broth to produce the desired consistency of the soup. Puree the apple and onion mixture and stir into the soup.

4. Heat over medium heat and season with salt, pepper, cayenne to taste,

Mark Decker's Wonderful Cauliflower Mash   

Break one large cauliflower into pieces and steam until soft.

Puree with a processing wand or in a food processor, adding a little olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Ellen Zucker’s Pumpkin Chiffon  Pie

 Ingredients:

•         ¾ cup brown sugar

•         1 envelope unflavored gelatin

•         ½ tsp salt

•         1 tsp cinnamon

•         ½ tsp nutmeg

•         ¼ tsp ground ginger

•         3 slightly beaten egg yolks

•         ¾ cup milk (use skim for low fat version)

•         1¼ cup canned pumpkin or mashed cooked fresh pumpkin

•         3 egg whites

•         1/3 cup granulated sugar

•         1 9-inch graham cracker crust or other pie crust

1.         In sauce pan combine brown sugar, gelatin, salt & spices

2.         Combine egg yolks & milk, and stir into brown sugar mixture

3.         Cook and stir until the mixture boils, then remove from heat and stir in pumpkin

4.         Chill until mixture mounds slightly when spooned, Test now and again – don’t let this get too stiff.

5.         Beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Then add granulated sugar slowly and beat until there are stiff peaks.

6.         Fold pumpkin into the whites. Do not mix in a way that makes this a homogeneous blend – just fold the mixture over so that it has as streaked or marbled look.

7.         Turn into crust

8.         Chill until firm

9.         Garnish with whipped cream (or non-fat Cool Whip if you want a low fat version)

Ingredients

• Watermelon, chunked
• Arugula
• walnuts
• very thinly sliced red onions, (marinated in lemon juice if the onions are too sharp)

Citrus dressing:
1/4 c. orange juice
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. light olive oil
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste

Becky Wright's Sherry Savoy Cabbage

Ingredients

• Olive oil

• 1 chopped onion

• walnuts – 1-2 handfuls

• 1 small savoy cabbage, roughly chopped

• frozen peas – 1-2 handfuls

•  veggie bullion: ½ cube

• Sherry – lots – have a bottle around to pour from

1. put olive oil and walnuts in pan at medium heat

2. when they start to cook add onions

3. when walnuts start to toast, add cabbage and a little water and half bullion cube

4. pour in lots of sherry

5. add peas and salt to taste

6. cover, stir, add more sherry if necessary

7. done when cabbage is soft and peas are cooked.

Elena Papmichael’s Cypriot Giant Bean Stew/Soup (via Becky Wright)

Ingredients:

• 2 grated ripe tomatoes (put tomatoes in the fridge - -they are easier to grate when cold)

• 1 can dice tomatoes in juice (15 oz can)

• celery & carrots sliced, 2-2 each, large

• 1 sliced onion sauted in olive oil

• 2 Bay leaves

• 1 veggie bullion cube

• cinnamon (quite a lot) & pepper

• 1 cup dried butter beans or large lima beans

1. soak beans in lots of cold water overnight/8 hours

2. drain off some of the water and boil the beans until almost cooked.

3. drain off more water until there is just enough to cover the beans

4. add celery, carrots, bay leaves, cooked onion, bullion cube, cinnamon (a lot), pepper, tomatoes, and bring to a boil

5. lower heat and let cook slowly until sauce thickens.

Rifka Goldstein's (Marcia's Grandmother) Baked Fish on Potatoes, Tomatoes and Onions

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• 6 medium potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slives
• 6-8 medium ripe tomaoes
• 3 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 9 unpeeled garlic cloves
• about four pounds of fish filets (sea bass, white fish, lake trout, etc.)

1. Heat over to 350^o F. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Spread the potatos in the pan, followed by the tomatoes and then the onions. (The NY version of the recipe calls for two layers of the three ingredients). Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Scatter the garlic. Drizzle with a little more olive oil (optional). Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

2. Rinse fish with cold water. Sprinkle both sides with salt and  pepper. Sprinkle with paprika.  Uncover the roasting pan and lay the fish on top of the layered vegetables. Raise temperature to 375^o F. Cover with the foil. Bake until the fish is opaque. This takes 12-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.

3. Optional: the NYT version of the disk adds 6 thyme sprigs and 6 rosemary sprigs to the vegetables. 

Zucchini Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 lbs zucchini cut into 1/4 inch pieces (about 5 cups)
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth or bullion
• 1 16 oz can cannellini beans rinsed and drained
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• Garnishes: thinly sliced radishes, crumbled non-fat feta

1. Saute chopped celery and onion in hot olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until tender.

2. Add zucchiniand next 4 ingredients. Bring to a boilover medium heat; reduce heat to low and summer 10 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Remove from heat, and let stand 20 minutes.

3. Process soup in blender or food processpr or using hand held immersion blender in the soup until smooth. Return to Dutch overn and cook over medium heat for five minutes until thorough heated.

4. serve hot or chilled. Garnish if desired.

No-bake lowfat cheery cheesecake  (modified from Eating Well Magazine)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups halve pitted sour or sweet cherries, fresh or frosen (thawed & drained) OR frozen mixed-berries (thawed and drained)
• 13/4 cup grnulated sugar divided
• 1/4 cup + 4 teaspoons water, divided
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Half a 14-ounce box graham crackers, preferably whole-wheat
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup canola oil (you can use less than this -- the crust will then just be less held together)
• 2 8-ounce packages of nonfat cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups nonfat plan or vanilla Greek yogurt (Greek yogurt is thicker than standard yogurt)
• 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. combine cherries/berries, 1/2 c surgar and 1/4 cup water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Combine cornstarch with 4b teaspoons water, then stir into the cherry/berry mixture; return to a boil. Reduce the hear to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid thickens and looks syrupy, about 1 minute. Remove from heat

2. Process graham crackers in a food processor until finely ground. Add walnuts and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Drizzle with oil and stir to combine. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking disk.

3. Beat creamcheese, yogurt, confectioners' sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixter until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary. Spread over crust. Spoon the cheery mixture over the top. Cover and refrigerate until cold, about three hours.

4. serve hot or chilled. Garnish if desired.

Erik’s Balsamic Dijon mushrooms & Farrow

 Ingredients

• olive oil to sauté mushrooms

• 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar & 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, mixed thoroughly

• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or more!)

• 8 cups sliced mushrooms – preferably small portabella mushrooms

• 1 cup white wine

• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crumbled

• optional: chicken breats cut into thin strips

1.      In a nonstick skillet, heat enough oil to sauté the mushrooms

2.      Sauté the garlic and mushrooms a few minutes

3.      add the wine, thyme and vinegar-mustard and cook stirring until the mushrooms are deep brown and the liquid is reduced

4.      serve over farrow or brown rice

5.      optional: coat the chicken in a balsamic vinegar-mustard mix at the same ratio as fot the mushrooms and sauté, then add to the mushrooms before serving.

Cathy Loeb's Fantastic Low Fat Door County Cherry Crisp

Note from Cathy: You can make this with any fruit you like, but you’ll need to adjust the amount of sugar and tapioca to match the relative sweetness and juiciness of the particular fruit. The crisp I made for our dinner together used 2¼ pounds of cherries and 3½ tsp. of ground tapioca, which was too much. Next time, I’d try 2½ tablespoon tapioca/2¼ pounds of cherries. For 2 pounds, I think 2 tablespoons tapioca would probably be about right. The topping is taken from an Epicurious recipe. I doubled that recipe here, and I think it was a bit much, so you could try half or three-quarters of the quantities below. The approach to the fruit is from a sour cherry pie recipe by NYT food writer Melissa Clark.

Fruit

• 1 C sugar

• 2–3 Tb instant tapioca ground in a coffee grinder

• ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

• 2 lbs. sour cherries (about 6 C)

• 1 Tb. kirsch or brandy

Topping

• 1 C quick-cooking oats

• 1 C (packed) golden brown sugar

• 6 Tb. all-purpose flour

• ¼ C vegetable oil (Canola is best)

• 4 Tb. sliced almonds

Instructions

1. If using frozen cherries, you’ll probably want to drain excess juice.

2. Mix the sugar, ground tapioca, and cinnamon and stir into cherries.

3. Add kirsch or brandy and put in an oven-proof serving dish.

4. Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of cherries.

5. Bake in 350° oven for 45–60 minutes, until juice is well thickened and clear.

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