Red Pepper Gazpacho

1 med. onion, chopped

1 - 2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper, or one jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 tsp olive oil

2 red bell peppers, roasted & peeled

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups veggie broth

1/4 cup dry white wine

Saute onion, garlic and crushed red pepper (or jalapeno) in oil until onion is very soft.  While they are cooking, roast the bell peppers in the toaster oven by slicing in 1/2, removing tops and seeds, and broiling until skin is very black and blistered.  Using a tongs, place the peppers in a paper bag and let sit for about 5 minutes to loosen skin.  When cool enough to handle, remove skins and chop peppers.  Put onion mix and peppers in to the blender and process until smooth - the smoother the better.  Add a little broth to aid the pureeing, but not too much or you will overflow the blender!

Pour into a saucepan, add the broth, tomato paste, and wine and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook 15 minutes.  Add plenty of salt and just a little fresh black pepper.  Serve hot or chilled with a dollop of sour cream.

Semi-Asian Chicken & Veggies

Sesame oil gives this dish a subtly Asian flavor which is enhanced by the use of celery. If you are assiduous about draining the oil from the sauteed items, this can be a delicious, low-fat meal. Flavoring the rice with chicken stock and hot sauce makes it a bit more interesting.

4 chicken tenderloins, cut into bite size pieces
1.5 cups broccoli florets
1 red bell pepper
1 cup baby carrots
3 ribs celery
1 cup white rice
1 cup water
1 cup low sodium chicken stock
4 tbsp veggie oil
4 tbsp sesame oil
hot sauce to taste
salt & pepper

Start the rice first, since it takes the longest to cook. In your saucepan, add the rice to one cup each of water and chicken stock. Add a dash of hot sauce, and some salt and pepper. Cook according to package directions.

In a small saute pan, pour 2 tbsp each veggie and sesame oil, and a dash or two hot sauce. Saute chicken until cooked. There will be a LOT of extra oil in the pan, so you need to seriously drain the chicken. I used a colander to let the grease drip out, and then transferred the chicken to paper towels to get excess oil off.

At the same time as the chicken in cooking, wash and chop all veggies into bite size pieces. In a saute pan, pour 2 tbps each veggie and sesame oil. When hot but not smoking, add vegetables. Cook about 5 minutes, until tender-crisp. Drain on paper towels.

When oil has been drained/patted off, toss chicken with the vegetables and serve with the rice. Be sure to have the hot sauce and salt and pepper on the side.

Easy Ratatouille

This dish is so simple to make and requires so few ingredients that it hardly bears the need to write the recipe down. However, there are a couple of reasons why it's helpful to have a guide, and the main one is that cooking eggplant can be a pain in the ass unless you do it right. I suggest par-baking to eliminate cooking time and also to cut down on the grease. Also, traditional recipes call for green bell pepper, but I think that this has too sharp a flavor, and prefer to use red, orange or yellow pepper for a bit more sweetness.

2 small to medium eggplants
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1/2 to a whole red bell pepper
1 shallot, minced
2 - 3 cloves garlic, pushed thru press
1 medium zucchini
14 oz. (1/2 large can) crushed tomato
olive oil
pinch of rosemary
large handful of fresh basil, shredded


Preheat oven to 375. Slice the eggplant into thin disks. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil, and arrange in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake on middle rack about 20-25 minutes, turning once midway through, until disks are tender and the oil has been absorbed.

While eggplant is baking, slice zucchini into thin coins, then quarter. Dice bell pepper, and halve the grape tomatoes. Mince the shallot and open canned tomato.

In a large, deep saute pan, saute shallot and garlic in about 1 tbsp olive oil until shallot is soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Add another tbsp olive oil, then the zucchini, bell pepper and tomatoes. Cook about 4 minutes, stirring frequently. By now the eggplant should be done, so take it out of the oven, let cool a couple of minutes, and then cut up the disks into at least quarters, to make smallish, bite-size pieces.

Add eggplant to mixture and saute for about 2 minutes, then add the crushed tomatoes and rosemary. Stir frequently while cooking another 10 minutes. (This is the time to open the wine and pour the first glasses. I recommend a pinot noir, or even a muscly rose, if it's summertime.)

One minute before serving, stir in the shredded basil. You might want to reserve a tiny bit to throw on top when you plate the meal.

I like to serve this with mashed potatoes and roasted fennel. You can use the same cookie sheet for the fennel as you used for the eggplant, and use a little spray oil to keep it from burning. Roast about 15 minutes, and sprinkle a large spoonful over the mashed potatoes, but not on the ratatouille. The fennel and potato work beautifully together, especially if you mash the potatoes with heavy cream and a respectable amount of butter!