Red leaf, apple, and gorgonzola salad
1/3 C chopped pecans, toasted
1 head red leaf lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
1/2 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced
3 oz crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
Toss ingredients with dressing (see below)

Dressing
3 T olive oil
1 T fresh lemon juice
Pinch salt and pepper
Shake together in a small jar.

You can serve this over rice to soak up the broth, or just eat it with a spoon.

1 T olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 orange or yellow bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes (not drained)
1 14-oz can of garbanzo beans (drained)
Juice of 2 limes
1 C large black olives, halved
1/2 C pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced
1 C TVP, toasted in a dry skillet until golden brown
2-3 C water

In a Dutch oven, saute the onions and peppers until soft. Add the garlic and stir for a few seconds, then add the tomatoes and beans and a couple of cups of water. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the lime juice, olives, and TVP. This is when you might want to adjust the water and add more for soup or less for stew. Simmer until the TVP is cooked and serve.

Optional: Garnish with grated co-jack cheese and cilantro.

1/2 C butter or shortening
1 C sugar
1-1/2 C applesauce
2-3/4 C flour
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 C raisins
1/2 C nuts (optional)
Powdered sugar

Cream butter or shortening together with sugar. Add applesauce. Sift 2-1/2 C of flour with soda and salt and stir into the batter. Toss raisins and nuts with remaining flour and add last. Mix well.

Pour into greased and floured 8×8 inch pan and bake at 325 F for 50 minutes. Cool on rack. Dust with powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Make several cuts on each side of the chicken pieces. Place in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, whisk together the spices, lemon juice, lemon rind, and olive oil. Toss this mixture with the chicken.

Place chicken pieces in a baking dish in a single layer. Dot with small pieces of butter. Bake for 30 minutes, basting occasionally, then turn on the broiler. Finish by broiling the chicken about 5 inches from the heat until it turns golden. Serve over brown rice.

Preheat oven to 375. Spread the sauce in the bottom of a 9-inch square baking dish. Arrange the mushrooms, gill side up, on top. Put 1 oz of goat cheese on each mushroom and sprinkle with the pine nuts.

Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly. Top with the basil.

Place the salmon in an ovenproof baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until it’s opaque.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, cook the vinegar over medium-high heat until it is reduced to 1/3 C, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the oil and lemon juice. Drizzle over the salmon.

Combine porcini mushrooms with water in a large bowl and set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add portobello mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until they start to brown. Drain the porcini mushrooms, dice them, and add them to the skillet. Cook for a minute.

Add the garlic, 2 T of scallions, broth, barley, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer, covered, for 12 minutes. Almost all of the liquid should be absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in the Romano.

Just before serving, garnish with the remaining scallions and the Parmesan.

4 servings, 389 calories

There’s no flour at all — good for people with wheat allergies. That doesn’t make them healthy. They’re loaded with sugar, you know.

Here’s the original recipe, from the radio: Greg Atkinson’s Basler Brunsli cookies

Following is my version:

1-1/2 cups almonds, whole or sliced, but not blanched
1-1/2 cups white sugar
6 oz chocolate chips
1-1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves, ground
2 large egg whites
1 t vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 300 and line a baking sheet or two with a Silpat mat. You can also use parchment paper, but then reduce the baking time by a couple of minutes.

In a food processor, combine almonds and sugar. Pulse until the almonds are roughly ground, then turn it on and grind until the almonds are fine (about 30 seconds).

Add the chocolate chips and spices. Pulse to grind the chocolate until it looks finely chopped and is dry and crumbly. Don’t overprocess it or you’ll get chocolate goo.

Add egg whites and vanilla and pulse until it becomes a stiff dough.

Spread some powdered sugar on a flat surface and roll the cookies out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into diamonds or use a small cookie cutter. This doesn’t mind being handled, so re-roll scraps at will.

Bake for about 15-16 minutes. They should be firm on the outside and still moist inside. If you overbake them, they’ll become rocks. If you underbake them, the insides will separate from the outsides. You may have to make them several times to get them right…and eat the rejects, right?

1/2 C slice onion
1/2 C diced green pepper
3 T butter
1 C slivered, cooked ham
1 ripe tomato peeled and diced, or 1 can diced Italian or fire-roasted tomatoes, drained (don’t use plain canned tomatoes)
8 eggs
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
2 T butter

Saute onion and pepper in 3 T butter until soft. Remove from pan. Saute ham in remaining fat until nicely browned. Combine with onion, pepper, and tomato and keep warm.

Beat eggs, salt, and pepper. Melt 2 T butter in 10-inch skillet. Pour in eggs, spread and stir with flat of fork until eggs begin to set. Spread warm ham mixture over soft top layer of eggs and cook 1 minute longer.

Cut in wedges to serve. Serves 4 to 6.

3/4 C dried black beans, soaked overnight
3/4 C dried Great Northern beans, soaked overnight
2 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 poblano chile, seeded and chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 t thyme
8 C broth or bouillon
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
1 t sage
Roasted Pepper Cream
Cilantro, flat leaf parsley, or chopped green onions, for garnish

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Saute onion, poblano, and celery until soft. Add the garlic and thyme and transfer half of the veggies to a second pressure cooker.

To the first pot, add 4 C broth, the drained black beans, chili powder, and cumin. Bring up to pressure and cook for 6 minutes, then turn off the stove and let the pressure come down naturally for about 20 minutes. Without a pressure cooker, you can simmer these for an hour and a half.

To the second pot, add 4 C broth, the drained Great Northern beans, and the sage. Bring up to pressure and cook for 8 minutes, then turn off the stove and let the pressure come down naturally for about 20 minutes. Without a pressure cooker, you can simmer these for an hour.

To serve, ladle a cup of black bean soup into a bowl. Tilt the bowl and ladle a cup of white bean soup on the other side. Top with the bright red Roasted Pepper Cream and garnish with bits of green cilantro, parsley, or onion.

Stir together the yogurt, curry powder, cardamom, paprika, and cilantro. Place the chicken in a rectangular baking dish. Cover with the yogurt mixture and marinate in the refrigerator for a 2-4 hours, turning at least 3 times.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

I’m not a big fan of buns anyway (except on really, really cute guys).

Do not double these recipes unless you have two skillets to cook them in.

Variation I – with mushrooms

1 lb beef
1/2 C bread crumbs
1/4 C milk
1 t onion powder
1 t seasoned salt

Mix above ingredients and make 4 patties.

In large skillet, begin sauteeing the four burgers in oil. Add 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, covered. When the juices begin to rise, turn the burgers over. Cook another 4-7 minutes. Remove burgers to a plate.

For the gravy, shake 2 t flour with 1-1/2 C milk. Pour into skillet and cook until thick. Season with salt and pepper and serve over the burgers.

Variation II – Italian

Make the burgers, substituting a teaspoon of Italian seasoning and a teaspoon of garlic salt for the onion powder and seasoned salt. Put them in the pan and cook for 5 minutes on one side and 4-7 on the other. When you remove them to a plate, pour a can of diced Italian tomatoes into the skillet. Bring it to a boil and simmer until reduced. Serve over the burgers and top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Variation III – Mexican

Make the burgers, substituting a teaspoon of chili powder, a half teaspoon of cumin, and a teaspoon of garlic salt for the seasoned salt. Put them in the pan and cook as above. Remove to a plate and stir about 12 oz of salsa into the drippings. Heat it gently, spoon it over the burgers, and top with grated cheddar or jack cheese.

Variation IV – Middle Eastern

Make a half recipe of the Kufta bi Taheena (you can use a whole egg) and form the meat into four burgers. Cook as above and remove to a plate. Make a half recipe of the sauce, adding about 1/4 C of water to get a thinner consistency. Pour this into the skillet with the drippings and heat it gently. Serve over the burgers.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 350 F. Cut the eggplant in half and bake it on the cookie sheet until it becomes limp and wrinkly, about a half hour. Remove the eggplant and let it cool. Then peel it and chop it into small pieces.

While the eggplant is baking, saute the onion in the olive oil. Sprinkle it with a bit of salt. When it’s almost done, toss in the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.

Combine the sauted onion and garlic with the eggplant and the remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for an hour to blend the flavors. Then serve it as an appetizer with crackers, crudites, crusty bread, or pita bread. Or serve it as a topping for omelettes, pasta, or rice.

In a food processor, chop the cilantro or parsley (use both stems and leaves) with the garlic, cumin, and pepper. Turn on the motor, and while it’s running, slowly pour in oil and lemon juice.

This is excellent with fish. Spread some on the bottom of a baking dish, put fish on top, and spread some more on the fish. Bake until fish is cooked through.

I suspect it would also be great with chicken.

Preheat oven to 300 F and prepare a parchment-lined baking sheet. Combine sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. Add egg whites, stirring them in gradually to form a dough-like batter. Mix in the nuts.

The original recipe said the mixture should be thick enough to form balls; if not, add more powdered sugar and cocoa. But you can also just scoop sticky spoonfuls of the mixture onto your cookie sheet. Bake for 16 to 19 minutes. This makes about 15 cookies.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine the brown rice syrup, peanut butter, oil, and butter. Stir in the oat bran and then the remaining ingredients.

Grease a 9×12 baking dish and press the mixture into it. Bake for 20 minutes or until it browns slightly around the edges. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars.

In a blender or food processor, blend ricotta with oregano, salt, and pepper.

Rub chicken with garlic powder. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add chicken and cook for 12 minutes per side. Place the chicken breasts in a single layer in a large baking dish and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spoon 1/4 C of cheese mixture and 1/4 C tomatoes on each chicken breast. Top with slice of mozzarella and bake for 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Serves 4, 340 calories per serving

2-1/2 lbs chicken breast tenders
Salt and pepper
1 T oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T chili powder
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
14-oz can diced tomatoes
2 T unsweetened peanut butter
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
2 scallions, chopped

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the chicken for 4 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate.

To the skillet, add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 3 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic, chili powder, cinnamon, and cloves, and cook for a minute. Then return the chicken to the skillet. Add the tomatoes (do not drain), peanut butter, and cocoa and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring once in a while and turning the chicken once, until the chicken is cooked through. Garnish with chopped scallion.

Serves 4, 431 calories each