Feeling meatless?

“Experts” say you should be; eating vegetarian meals a couple times a week is good for the diet and the pocketbook.

Think beyond spaghetti with a no-meat marinara and try this tofu dish. I’m sure the name throws you. Curry. Coconut. Tofu. Scary. I know.

But let me tell you a little about tofu. It takes the flavor of whatever you’re seasoning it with, which is where the curry and coconut milk come in. Think spicy, yet richly soothing. Plus the cilantro makes the overall flavor very fresh tasting. I charged mine up a little with extra curry powder. Just adjust to taste and you’ll have a nice dinner and an easy transition to tofu.

Curry coconut tofu
Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 (12 ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained and cubed
1 tablespoon seasoned salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10-ounce) can coconut milk
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu cubes, season with seasoned salt and fry until golden on all sides, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Remove to paper towels, and set aside. Melt butter or margarine in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir until tender. Stir in coconut milk, curry powder, salt, pepper and cilantro. Return the tofu to the skillet. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over rice, or rice noodles.

Posted by · November 21, 2006 3:22 AM · Comments (0)

Forget pumpkin pie.

This cream-cheese filled pumpkin roll will take the cake at any Thanksgiving dinner.

This dessert isn’t difficult, but does require some time. It is well worth your efforts. Another bonus, it can be made in advance and frozen. Just be sure to transfer it to the refrigerator 24 to 48 hours before serving.

A few tips:
▪You’ll be rolling the cake in a towel, which will create a nice cavern for the cream cheese filling. Make sure the towel is clean and of non-fuzzy material.

▪Don’t use reduced-fat or fat-free cream cheese. First of all, it’s Thanksgiving. Don’t bother trying to cut calories. Second, the consistency and taste of your filling will be all wrong. Trust me, I learned from my flawed logic on these.

▪The end of your log may look a little mangled, or the filling may not be evenly spread to the ends. Simply slice off (and eat) before presenting.

▪Serve with a dollop of whip cream and a little cinnamon sprinkled on top.

Pumpkin Roll recipe
Cake
Mix:
3 eggs
1 C. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 C. canned pumpkin
3/4 C. flour
Step 1: Pour into greased and waxed papered cookie sheet. Sprinkle 1/2 C. chopped nuts on batter. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
Step 2: Sprinkle 1/2 C. sugar and 1/2 C. chopped nuts over a clean kitchen towel. Immediately turn baked cake on towel. Remove waxed paper and roll up cake in the towel. Let cool completely.
Filling
Mix:
2 Tbsp. butter
3/4 tsp. vanilla
8 ounces cream cheese
1 C. powered sugar
Step 3: Unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly on cake, and re-roll (without the towel). Wrap in saran and then foil. Refrigerate overnight before slicing and serving.

Posted by · November 21, 2006 3:13 AM · Comments (0)

It’s apples vs. grapes. And, as far as chicken salad is concerned, apples prevail.

Here’s a recipe for chicken salad on pitas (which beat out regular ol’ slices of bread any day, obviously). The almonds are delicious in lieu of the standard cashews, but the tangy green apples in place of grapes make this recipe worth trying.

The chicken salad can easily be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator. For an even quicker meal, use canned chicken chunks. Also, toasting the pitas is a nice touch before loading them up with chicken salad and lettuce. Definitely a winner.

Chicken salad pitas
Ingredients:
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. garlic salt
fresh cilantro
6 Tbsp. nonfat, plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. mayo
2 tsp. curry powder
almond slivers
2 chicken breasts, grilled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 Granny Smith apple, cut into bite-sized pieces
Directions:
Stir all ingredients and add to chicken chunks and apple slices. Serve in whole-wheat pitas on a bed of lettuce.

Posted by · November 14, 2006 2:14 AM · Comments (0)

This pizza, not unlike most pizzas out there, is extreme.

It tastes sooo good, but is sooo not good for you. Plus some. On both ends.

Although it’s no exception to the pizza dichotomy, give it a try. The taste is all in the sauce, which is a creamy, rich Alfredo-pesto based bit of wonderful.

You’ll be able to throw this together in about 20 minutes, but if you want to move the goodness along even faster: cook the chicken and assemble the sauce the night before, and buy a pre-baked crust. Just be sure to adjust your oven time.

White Chicken Pizza
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. pesto
2 Tbsp. sun dried tomatoes (packed in oil)
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 C. Alfredo sauce
2 C. chopped chicken breasts, cooked
2 tubes ready-made pizza dough or 1 pre-cooked crust
1 tomato, diced
feta cheese
Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mix butter, olive oil, garlic, pesto, sun dried tomatoes, basil, oregano and Alfredo sauce. Press dough into pizza pan and sprinkle with chicken. Pour sauce mixture evenly on top. Sprinkle tomato and feta on top. Bake 15-20 minutes (less if crust is pre-baked), or until toppings are toasted. Serves four.

Posted by · November 8, 2006 2:33 AM · Comments (0)

This pizza, not unlike most pizzas out there, is extreme.

It tastes sooo good, but is sooo not good for you. Plus some. On both ends.

Although it’s no exception to the pizza dichotomy, give it a try. The taste is all in the sauce, which is a creamy, rich Alfredo-pesto based bit of wonderful.

You’ll be able to throw this together in about 20 minutes, but if you want to move the goodness along even faster: cook the chicken and assemble the sauce the night before, and buy a pre-baked crust. Just be sure to adjust your oven time.

White Chicken Pizza
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. pesto
2 Tbsp. sun dried tomatoes (packed in oil)
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 C. Alfredo sauce
2 C. chopped chicken breasts, cooked
2 tubes ready-made pizza dough or 1 pre-cooked crust
1 tomato, diced
feta cheese
Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mix butter, olive oil, garlic, pesto, sun dried tomatoes, basil, oregano and Alfredo sauce. Press dough into pizza pan and sprinkle with chicken. Pour sauce mixture evenly on top. Sprinkle tomato and feta on top. Bake 15-20 minutes (less if crust is pre-baked), or until toppings are toasted. Serves four.

Posted by · November 8, 2006 2:33 AM · Comments (0)