Grown up Scalloped Potatoes

I was never a scalloped potatoes person growing up. But I am now looking at a cabinet full of potatoes from my CSA and thinking of everything I can do with them. I also have a stock pile of zucchini and summer squash. So I had an experiment last night with leftover ingredients and CSA vegetables.

The result was a very grown-up version of scalloped potatoes. It also seems like a great July 4th side dish.

Scalloped Potatoes

1.5 - 2 lbs potatoes

4 medium zucchini or summer squash

1 bunch green onions or summer onions

coarse salt and pepper

garlic powder

crushed rosemary

1 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream

1/3 cup shredded smoky cheese, such as cheddar or smoked Gouda

1/2 cup panko crumbs

Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Wash and cut potatoes into one inch pieces - about the size for boiling mashed potatoes. Toss potatoes with one tbsp olive oil, coarse salt and pepper and spread into a rimmed baking sheet. Bake potatoes while you prepare vegetables. I love to use butter infused olive oil from Midtown Olive Press in Raleigh, but EVOO is also good.

Wash and cut summer squash into one inch pieces. Also slice onions. I get a lot of spring onions from my CSA, which always come in a combination of white, yellow and red. I like the color combination but any color/flavor is good for this recipe. Heat skillet on medium-high heat and saute onions first. Toss squash with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed rosemary. I have fresh rosemary in the garden, and if you let a stem dry for a day you can use a mortar and pestle to crush. Once pan is hot, add squash. You may need to do this in batches to make sure the squash is evenly spread in the pan.

Sear squash until soft. Check on potatoes - they should be slightly brown and easily pierced with a fork, but not tender. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees. Mix vegetables and potatoes in a large bowl. Add cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, garlic powder and more seasonings. Stir in smoky cheese. Trader Joes has a great shredded bag of smoky cheese including cheddar, Gouda, mozzarella and provolone. Any of these cheeses work but the smoky will being out the best taste in this dish.

Pour cheesy vegetables into a baking pan. Top with panko crumbs and bake for 25 minutes. Turn oven to broil and let top brown slightly, 5 minutes max. This dish is very rich but surprisingly light. It's almost enough for a meal in itself, but I recommend this as a side for your holiday spread or a pot luck.

Reduced Guilt Brownies

I know I should be thinking skinny and bathing suits, but I have had the worst sweet tooth lately. Cooking Light offers some great lite desserts that are some of my favorite desserts of all time.

Recently, there was a contest to see what was the best fat substitute in brownies to reduce the guilt. The three alternatives were: canned pumpkin, apple sauce and refried black beans. And believe it or not the black beans were the winner. This tasteless substitute keeps the richness of the dark chocolate without adding any funky after taste like pumpkin. I replaced half the fat in a regular brownie recipe with refried black beans and added a little flavor.

Reduced Guilt Brownies

1 box dark chocolate brownie mix

2 eggs

1/4 filtered water

1/4 vegetable oil

1/4 refried black beans (unseasoned)

1/3 cup no sugar added preserves, such as cherry or raspberry

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

I have made brownies from scratch and I will be honest, they taste the same as from the box. Luckily you can still doctor up what comes from the box. There are a lot of brownie options out there and a lot of different opinions about what is best. My only suggestion is look at the ingredients. Make sure you can pronounce at least the first three ingredients. Do not look at nutritional information since there are dozens of ways to avoid certain factors being included on that list. Ingredients will be your best indicator of a good box.

Unseasoned refried beans are a pill to find. I have found some at Trader Joes, but if you are one of the poor blokes without a Trader Joes, then you can make your own. It is easier to find unseasoned black beans. Boil the beans in a skillet until soft. Use the back of a spatula to mash the bean. If you want the beans finer, use a chopper or blender. You only need a quarter cup so save the rest for a bean dip or tasty Mexican meal.

I recommend using a hand blender for this dish. It takes seconds to mix all ingredients and fill a 9x9 pan. Bake according to package instructions. These brownies are rich and flaky and fudgy. Even for reduced-fat, you only need one to satisfy a chocolate craving. Enjoy!

Sacred Heart Soup detox

I have tried fasting in the past, but I tend to eat too much coming off a fasting or eat too much in the evening and it doesn't really help the "detox" part of fasting. I heard about this soup from a friend whose family had great success. I am anti-diet fads, but detoxing is a great way to flush out the impurities of eating even the least bit of processed food.

This detox does take away my favorite ingredients and that is cheese, but cheese is an over-processed and fat-heavy reason I need to detox. For the most part, the detox is vegetarian and since I don't eat steak anyway I have adjusted the detox for non-meat eaters.

I have also included ingredients that I like, but you can view the entire list of acceptable ingredients at the website Sacred Heart Soup. After the first day's attempt, I needed to cut back on salt. This soup is surprisingly tasty.

Sacred Heart Soup

2 cans Hunt's roasted tomato soup (no seasoning)

1 can whole cut green beans, reduced sodium or salt-free

3 green onions, sliced

2-3 cups vegetable or beef broth (fat free and/or low sodium)

Nestle chicken noodle soup mix, extra noodles

4 stalks celery, chopped

4 carrot sticks, sliced

3 cups chopped kale or Japanese cabbage

1 tbsp soy sauce

black pepper

2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Spray soup pot with a little PAM. Saute green onions, celery and carrots. Cover with two cups broth. Beef broth offers more flavor to this soup, but I like it with vegetable broth as well. Add soup mix, cover pot and let simmer until vegetables are tender - 10 minutes. Add two cans tomatoes, with juice. Drain and rinse green beans - they tend to be canned with more salt. Add to soup. Add Worcestershire and soy sauce and black pepper and stir. Taste test for saltiness.

Add more broth if needed. Stir in kale or cabbage and parsley. TMI section: if you have never detoxed, it is not a pleasant week. You will detox from every place in your body, including your pores. I don't like cabbage anyway and I fear the consequences of using it in a detox soup. Kale is more nutritious and few side effects. Kale is very cheap and available this time of year.

This will make about six bowls of soup. I eat one for lunch and two at night, which takes out the soup in a day for two people. You can incorporate other foods during the week, but the schedule is strict. I have not been completely on target with the schedule, but this is what I do.

Day One: soup and fruit salad

Fruit Salad: tropical fruits are the mos nutritious and will provide the most beneficial calories

• fresh cut pineapple
• naval oranges
• kiwi
• mango
• strawberries

Day Two: soup and vegetable salad and baked potato

Salad:

• bibb lettuce
• shredded carrot
• sliced cucumber
• sliced radishes
• chopped tomato
• one tsp olive oil and vinegar

Baked potato

• 2 russet potatoes
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp dry ranch
• 1 head broccoli

Microwave potatoes for six minutes to soften. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Mix ranch and yogurt and refrigerate. Meanwhile boil broccoli for 3-5 minutes or until bright green. Once potatoes are cool, cut and remove stuffing. Mix potato with yogurt ranch. I KNOW I am cheating by adding ranch, but I am not adding any cheese and yogurt is high in protein. Use a potato masher to mix. Stir in broccoli. Bake again for 10 minutes.

Day Three: soup and salad

Day Four: soup and bananas (at least three) and skim milk

For some reason I am not good about eating bananas raw. For a "dessert" I will slice two bananas and heat them in a skillet for a few minutes until soft but not gooey. Pour into a bowl and had a pinch of coarse salt. They are goooooood.

Day Five: This is the tough day because you are supposed to eat at least three steaks. I do not like steak. If you don't eat steak, then disregard this addition. If you do eat meat, here is what I suggest: beef tips from a reputable butcher. I don't recommend ground beef unless you ground your own because you don't know is going into it. I buy organic beef from a local farmer. I add the beef tips to my soup recipe on day five as well as an additional can of tomatoes. Double the amount of tomatoes on your salad also.

Eat fruit to fight off dessert cravings. Cherries are also a great way to detox this week.

Day Six: soup, salad and beef

Day Seven: add wild rice to soup mix or add cooked vegetables to brown or wild rice.

I lost four pounds, which isn't bad, even for Biggest Loser standards. It's not a noticeable difference for other people, but it taught me a good lesson - I don't need nearly as much food as I think I do. Other people I know have done this diet with great success. You can lose 10-17 pounds in one week depending on how strict you are to the schedule and how much you have to lose in the first place.

Shop of the perimeter of the grocery store. Travel down the aisles only for canned vegetables, juice and spices. The fewer processed foods you consume, the easier your body can handle them. I gulp down my food and don't pay attention to when I get full. I have since been more conscious of when I am full and stop eating immediately. It is just as wasteful to eat food your body doesn't need than it is to throw out food you don't eat.

Good luck and please post success stories if you have them. You will get tired of the soup by day five but if you can make it to day seven you will feel a great sense of accomplishment.

Warm Pasta Salad with Asparagus

I modified this Cooking Light recipe to include asparagus since it is so accessible this time of year. I also added some more flavor with balsamic vinegar and reduced the amount of oil used for the dressing. I served the dish warm, which was very well received by my guests.

The lemon and fresh thyme dressing give this dish a springy taste that compliments any grilled dish.

Warm Pasta Salad with Asparagus

8 ounces fussili, gemelli or other spiral pasta
3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 minced shallots

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 bunch petite asparagus

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar or vinegarette
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest from one lemon
2 tablespoons Champagne or white wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ounce shaved fresh Parmesan cheese

Boil pasta according to package instructions minus one minute. Saute shallot and crushed garlic in 1 tsp olive oil in a wide sauce pan or deep frying pan. Transfer onions to a small mixing bowl. I do not like to use raw onion or garlic in dressings, but you can omit this part if you want to save time.

Cut asparagus into 2 inch pieces and add to hot pan with one tsp olive oil. Also add balsamic vinegar and cover for a few minutes or until asparagus is tender. Reduce heat to low. Meanwhile, toast pistachios in oven at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until fragrant.

Add lemon zest, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper to onion mix. Whisk in white wine vinegar and three tbsp olive oil. Add cooked pasta to asparagus and stir. Pour dressing over pasta and stir. Serve pasta with pistachios and shaved parm.

Easter Strawberry Shortcake

This is an easy, festive dessert that will compliment your spring-inspired Easter dinner this weekend.

Shortcake comes in a lot of varieties, including the most calorie punch with shortbread. I have also seen a nice variety with biscuits. I find lady fingers to be the most convenient because (1) they are pre-made and (2) the individual size helps keep my serving size in check.

I do void all cream from this recipe, instead choosing to use a reduced-fat cheesecake pudding recipe. You can make the "pie version" which calls for less milk and creates a creamier texture.

Strawberry Shortcake

1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced

1 package lady fingers (12 total)

1 package instant pudding, cheesecake flavor (or white chocolate)

1 3/4 cup low-fat milk (1%)

1-2 tbsp cocoa powder

Make your pudding according to package instructions except substitute 1 3/4 cup milk. Do not use soy milk! The fattier the milk, the creamier the pudding but I find that 1% milk is great. I wouldn't recommend fat free unless you are really trying to cut back on fat.

Spread a generous portion of pudding on each side of the lady finger. Top with 2-3 strawberry slices and "sandwich". Using a sifter, lightly dust cocoa powder on top of strawberries. Garnish with a whole strawberry and serve in threes.

Best enjoyed on the deck while watching the birds and celebrating Easter with family and friends. Have a great holiday!

The Wonderful World of Frittata

Frittata is a wonderful trick for vegetarians looking to increase their protein intake and also a great way to use vegetables fast.

You can literally include anything you want into a frittata. Although typically served for breakfast this go-to dish is an easy mid-week meal and satisfying enough for dinner.

I usually saute most of my vegetables, but that can sometimes strip vegetables of their nutrients and added oil can jack up calorie count. Steaming and boiling are much better alternatives.

Broccoli, Potato, Tomato Frittata

One crown or more broccoli florets

2 medium, ripe tomatoes

4 new or red potatoes

1 tbsp olive oil

6 eggs

1/2 cup low-fat sour cream

1/2 cup gruyere or other white cheese

salt/pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

crushed red pepper

shredded parm (for garnish)

Preheat oven at 350. Set a pot of water to boil. For more flavor add a few tablespoons of vegetable broth. Boil potatoes for 4 minutes. Add broccoli, boil four more minutes. Drain and let cool. Meanwhile chop tomato, discarding seeds and white ribs. Stir in seasonings and oil.

I have found a wonderful little place called Midtown Olive Press in Raleigh. They serve infused vinegars and olive oils and one of my favorite is a butter-infused olive oil. It is still an unsaturated fat but carries a distinctive taste of butter. It is great for any potato recipe and adding flavor. Stir in one tablespoon olive oil but if you can, find an infused flavor that works for you.

Fill the bottom of a greased deep-dish or pie dish with seasoned vegetables.

Beat shredded cheese and sour cream into six eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and stir until covered. Bake 45 minutes or until eggs are set.

Serve with shredded parm, tomato sauce or hot sauce. A frittata will make eight slices. If you want to use more egg, do not use more than eight eggs so you can keep up with your cholesterol count. Do not exceed more than two eggs, or slices, a day.

Manly Vegetable Medley

I am sure there are many men who enjoy hearty, healthy vegetables, but my husband is not one of them. I have a difficult time getting him excited about whole vegetable sides that are better for us than some veggies stirred into rice. So I was excited when I came upon a frozen vegetable side at Trader Joes that seemed "manly": roasted potatoes with green beans. I bought it for a steak he was going to grill.

This got me thinking about other vegetable medleys I can create with preferred vegetables. I was always under the assumption that sauteing vegetables required a lot of oil, but then I learned a new trick: broth. I found that I would add oil when my vegetables were sticking to the pan, but broth offers the same relief without the added calories.

This side is great for fish, vegetarian meats, such as soy nuggets, or any excuse to get your man to eat more whole vegetables.

Vegetable Medley

1 tsp minced garlic

1 minced shallot

1 pint sliced mushrooms

5-6 fingerling potatoes

1 bunch petite asparagus

1/4 broth (chicken or vegetable)

coarse salt and pepper

universal seasoning mix, such as Mrs. Dash

Set a pot of water to boil. Boil potatoes, whole, for 10-15 minutes or until they are easily pierced with a knife. The skins should not be coming off or you have boiled too long. Let potatoes cool.

Saute garlic in a nonstick pan. Add mushrooms and onion and 2 tbs broth. Cut asparagus into 2 inch pieces - be sure none of the asparagus is mushy. Cut far down the stalk until the centers are mostly white. Slice cooled potatoes. Once mushrooms are tender add asparagus and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and seasoning mix. Trader Joes has a grinder with generic seasonings that works great. Stir vegetables until asparagus is bright green, 3-5 minutes. Add more broth if necessary to keep vegetables from sticking. Do not overcook or your vegetables will lose their nutrients. Be sure to taste test - I over-seasoned my first batch.