Miss Menagerie

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Resist some temptation, but not butter

Winter has given up this year, and things are looking up. The sun is coming out (and staying out!) lately, everyone is cheerier, and the rhubarb and asparagus is leaping off the shelves and into my basket.

The past two springs, given a bundle of asparagus, I’ve rarely passed up an opportunity to make this pasta with lemon and goat cheese. A few weeks ago, I was doing my usual Sunday afternoon recipe browsing/menu planning, and this recipe from Cooks Illustrated bewitched me. The bewitching paid off--I made this on a Tuesday, and then made a double batch three days later.

Two little touches elevated this dish from “Oh cool, stir-fry.” to “What magic did you do to this?!” First, I toasted the rice. In butter. Secondly, I employed extreme self-control by refusing to stir the asparagus as often as I wanted to stir it. I had to relax, put the spoon down, and let the pan work its magic--namely, blistering the daylights out of those vegetables. This dish taught me to resist the temptation to stir, but to not leave out the butter.

Stir-Fried Asparagus with Toasted Brown Rice

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated | Serves 4

Rice

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup brown rice, rinsed a few times and drained

2 cups water

pinch of salt

Sauce

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoons packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried ground ginger

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Stir-Fry

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut on the bias into 2-inch lengths

4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced thin

2 scallions, green parts only, sliced thinly on the bias

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

To get started on the rice: In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the rice and toast, stirring frequently, until the grains begin to turn translucent around the edges--about five minutes. Add the water and salt, increase the heat to medium high, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer, cover the pot, and let the rice cook for 30 minutes while you prep the vegetables and make the sauce. Turn off the heat after those 30 minutes and let the rice steam in the pot until you’re ready to serve. Don’t peek under that lid until you’re ready! Really. When it’s eating time, just fluff it with a fork and admire its fluffy deliciousness.

To make the sauce: Combine the water, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, ginger, and sesame oil in bowl. (Bonus points if the bowl has a spout!)

When the rice has finished cooking and is steaming off the heat, cook the vegetables: Heat vegetable oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until smoking. Add asparagus and mushrooms and cook, stirring so very little, until the asparagus is spotty brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sauce mixture and cook, stirring once or twice, until the pan is almost dry and the asparagus is crisp-tender, about 1 or 2 minutes.

Fluff the rice and dish it into bowls, and then dish the stir-fry. Sprinkle with scallions and sesame seeds, and dig in!

Friday, February 1, 2013

A Small Batch of Naughty

Since we've moved to Seattle, I've taken up a tiny bit of snowshoeing. I found a pair of snowshoes in the clearance bin of a Tennessee TJ Maxx, so I flew across the country with them wedged in my suitcase.

I'm not a natural athlete, and I only love hiking when the elevation gain starts to reward me with a view, but something about snowshoeing syncs with me. It's slow and quiet progress that's a great workout too.

My newfound love with this might have something to do with the guilt-free refuel that follows. After a few hours of clomping through the snow, I'll do serious work on a basket of chips and salsa. No burrito is safe around me!

Some days, though, only chocolate will do. Even if I haven't burned 800 calories, and even if I already had a muffin for breakfast, I need chocolate. I need chewy intense chocolate, studded with peanut butter chips, and--because when it comes to cookies, I usually can't leave well enough alone--dusted with sea salt. Made with Greek yogurt (added protein!), a judicious amount of butter, and cocoa (a great way to get intense chocolate flavor without all the fat of chocolate), these cookies are a great way to get my fix without overdoing the naughty stuff. This recipe makes a small batch, too, so I can't go TOO crazy before there are no cookies left.

In addition to hitting all the right craving spots, these are dangerously easy to whip up. There's no creaming the butter and sugar! Don't drag out the 20-pound stand mixer! Just melt some butter, add sugars, sift in the cocoa (or not, if you don't mind some cocoa lumps), and then add the flour with leavening ingredients.

Add some yogurt--I used my favorite, the Greek Gods honey flavor--then stir in the peanut butter chips. Bonus: The dough doesn't contain any egg, so it's safe to eat raw! You will be shocked at how easy and amazing these cookies are, just like this outlet is.

Of course, these cookies work just fine without the peanut butter chips, or with chocolate chips instead. I bet if you brought a double batch of these to a Superbowl party, you'd be the coolest kid there. Just remember to leave a few stashed at home for a chocolate emergency, especially if you live with Alex Smith.

Cocoa Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips

Adapted from Cooking Light | 2 dozen cookies

1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons (71 g) butter

7 tablespoons (52 g) unsweetened cocoa powder

2/3 cup (150 g) granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed (67 g) brown sugar

1/3 cup honey or vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

sea salt, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (Alternatively, coat the sheet with cooking spray.) Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Melt the butter in the microwave in a large glass bowl. Stir in both sugars, and sift in the cocoa powder. The mixture will resemble coarse sand...very delicious coarse sand.

Add the yogurt, stirring well to combine. Add the flour mixture, stirring until just combined--don't overstir--and then stir in the peanut butter chips. Scoop out the dough by tablespoons and roll between your palms to form balls. (If the dough doesn't stick together, chill the bowl of dough in the fridge for a little while.) Place the balls two inches apart on the sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. (I find that just shaking a salt grinder above each cookie works really well. I'm partial to Trader Joe's pink Himalayan salt.)

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Redeeming Best Intentions

If you're anything like me, you sometimes buy green vegetables with virtuous plans in mind. Salads, sauteed greens, stir-frys--we'll make them all! But sometimes, I forget about that bunch of chard or bag of kale. The road to sad, limp produce is paved with good intentions.

I get suckered into those family-sized packs of greens because of their relative value over the more reasonable smaller packs, and then I panic when I realize that they don't cook themselves. Last week, I threw in a couple of handfuls of spinach with some frozen peas and butter, tossed it all together with pasta, olive oil, and Parmesan. It was fast, easy, and delicious...but I forgot about the other pound of spinach still in the crisper until days later. What's the best way to use a big bunch of spinach? In addition to the strata, this slow-cooker lasagna is one of my favorites.

Besides a giant bowl of spinach, you'll need mushrooms, pesto, tomato sauce, no-boil lasagna noodles (truly a miracle of modern technology), and three kinds of cheese. (Mom, avert your eyes!) With about half an hour of prep time, three bowls, and five hours of patience, you'll dig into a cheesy, saucy bowl of noodles and all those greens that you'd promised a good time to a few days ago. Bonus: This lasagna isn't horribly bad for you! It's actually pretty virtuous itself.

Slow-Cooker Spinach, Pesto, & Mushroom Lasagna

Adapted from Cooking Light | Serves 8

4 cups baby spinach (or adult spinach, roughly chopped)

1 tablespoon water

2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms

1/2 cup pesto

3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

15 ounces reduced-fat ricotta cheese

1 large egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese, divided (1/4 cup for mixture, 1/2 cup for topping)

25 ounces of tomato-basil sauce

8 ounces of plain tomato sauce (or just extra tomato-basil sauce if you have a giant jar)

1 (8-ounce) package no-boil lasagna noodles (12 noodles)

Put the spinach in large glass bowl with 1 tablespoon of water. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave for 90 seconds. Carefully remove the plastic and let the spinach cool before you drain it and squeeze it dry. Combine the spinach, mushrooms, and pesto in that same bowl; set aside. Combine mozzarella, ricotta, and beaten egg in a separate bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan, and set aside. Combine the jarred sauce with the plain tomato sauce in another bowl.

Can you tell I love jadeite?

Coat the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Spread about a cup of pasta sauce mixture in the bottom of the crock. Arrange 3 noodles over the pasta sauce mixture (you may have to break them up some to fit); top with 1 cup cheese (one-third of what’s in the bowl) mixture and 1 cup (half of what’s in the bowl) spinach mixture.

Don't worry about messy noodles. It'll cook just fine like this.

Repeat the layers, ending with spinach mixture. Arrange 3 noodles over spinach mixture; top with remaining 1 cup cheese mixture and 1 cup of the sauce. Place the remaining 3 noodles over sauce; spread sauce mixture over noodles. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan.

I know that's a lot of layers to keep straight, so I made a cross-section list of what you should have:

[Top of lasagna]

1/2 cup Parmesan

sauce

noodles

sauce

cheese

noodles

spinach/mushroom/pesto

cheese

noodles

sauce

spinach/mushroom/pesto

cheese

noodles

sauce

cooking spray

[Bottom of lasagna]

Cover with lid; cook on low 5 hours or until done.

You'll notice I don't have any pictures of the final product. We ate it all before I remembered. It's not a pretty dish, so don't expect to wow dinner guests with its presentation, but it's a solid weekend dish you can put together and forget about. You'll have a delicious dinner when you're watching football later. I hear there's a big game coming up. Come back here soon, and I'll have an easy cookie recipe that's perfect for some sibling rivalry.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Sunshine Off a Log

It's a new year! It's mid-January! Have you already fallen off your resolutions wagon? Well, you're in good company. Do you know someone who's still on the wagon and making you look bad? Well, grab a jelly roll pan, because this is the perfect transition to the slippery slope where we're all on even ground, indulging in some salty, gooey, chocolate treats. Life is better with a little decadence, isn't it?

This stuff is addictive. "Oh-just-one-more-piece" addictive. It's like lickin' sunshine off a log--I never fill up, no matter how much I eat. I usually stand over a batch, eating the edges I've trimmed off, insisting that "It looks prettier this way." Of course it really does, but the preview the edges give are more thrilling than the aesthetics of a plate of candy pieces.

It's dangerously easy to make. See that flaky crust on the bottom?

SALTINE CRACKERS, my friends. (You don't have to tell anyone that though. You should let it slip only if people think you're too highfalutin with your homemade.) That caramel in the middle is just butter, brown sugar, and the miracle of sweetened condensed milk. Melt some chocolate chips on top, and then toss on some chopped nuts.

Happy 2013! May your year be as blissful as tasting the decadent edges.

Salty Toffee
Adapted from Holiday Baking
2.5 sticks of unsalted butter (1.75 cups)
35 saltine crackers (almost a sleeve)
1 cup (230 grams) dark brown sugar
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
12 ounces (about 2 cups) bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup hazelnuts, chopped (cashews, peanuts, and probably almonds, pecans, and walnuts are all lovely too)

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a 10 by 15 jelly roll pan with parchment paper so that the paper hangs over the pan a bit. Put half a stick of butter in the pan and place the pan in the oven to melt the butter while the oven is heating up. When it's melted, take the pan out of the oven and smear the butter around to grease the parchment paper. Arrange the crackers on the pan on top of the melted butter--it doesn't have to be perfect.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the remaining two sticks of butter with the brown sugar, stirring very frequently. Have your sweetened condensed milk and a whisk nearby. (Open the can and have a small spatula handy too.)

Bring the mixture to a boil, and boil for about two minutes--the mixture needs to become a thick syrup. 248 degrees is perfect.

Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the milk, mixing until the caramel is completely blended. Pour the caramel evenly over the crackers. Well, you don't have to use ALL of it. It turns out that this caramel is good on cake, ice cream, cookies, spoons...so I usually save about half a cup to stash in the fridge for a sugar emergency.

Bake for 5-8 minutes, until the caramel is bubbly all over.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the caramel, and let it sit for five minutes to allow the chocolate to melt.

After the chips are mostly melted, spread the chocolate with a spatula to cover the caramel.

Sprinkle the nuts evenly over the chocolate. I usually use a metal measuring cup to gently press the nuts into the chocolate so that they set up more sturdily.

Put the entire pan into the freezer for at least 30 minutes. The waiting is difficult, but worth it. After half an hour, remove the pan from the freezer and lift the toffee out of the pan using the parchment paper. Place the toffee on a cutting board and use a large knife to cut into pieces. The larger the pieces, the less debris (nut pieces, cracker crumbs, and chocolate shavings) you'll have--but this debris is very tasty on ice cream, so consider that when cutting. Store in an airtight container in the fridge, with wax paper between the layers.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Make-Ahead Christmas Morning Breakfast

It's the season for layering. You've already heard me rave about boots and tights, but I haven't even started telling you about layering striped sweaters and down vests, burning multiple scented candles, or repeatedly stacking cheese, spinach, and bread on top of each other, then soaking it all with an egg custard.

Here's why you should make this delightful dish: Beyond being delicious--whether you go whole hog with the full amount of cheese, or dial down the indulgence--this baby makes the morning easier. What's the catch? It just takes a little work the night before, when I'm more awake and it's safer to use knives anyway. If you've visited us in Seattle, chances are good that I served you this. The night before, I spend half an hour in the kitchen, sauteeing onions and spinach, grating cheese, and cutting bread, and the next morning I pop this in the oven while the house wakes up. You come to the kitchen for coffee and laugh at my unnatural leopard pajama pants, but you back off when you catch the smell wafting from the oven, and because my mom gave me those pants.

Besides this strata being filling enough to fuel your most ambitious houseguest for a day of sightseeing, it just as easily fuels a lazy holiday morning--I'm envisioning lounging in an explosion of wrapping paper while Karen Carpenter sings the Christmas Waltz while we wait for breakfast to cool slightly.

It starts just by layering sauteed spinach and onions with bread and cheese.

This part is a lot of fun: Mix up a custard with eggs, milk, and a little mustard. Pour it over the strata, soaking each chunky bread cube.

Wrap your beautiful strata up in a Saran Wrap blanket, tell it goodnight, and tuck it in...(in the fridge).

One note about the size of this recipe: It's HUGE. I usually make only half the recipe (using five eggs) unless we have a house full of hungry people.

Spinach and Cheese Strata
Adapted from Gourmet | Serves 6 to 8

10 ounces spinach, roughly chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt (this will be halved and added in two separate steps)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (likewise)
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
8 cups cubed French or Italian bread in 1-inch cubes (1/2 lb), preferably a day old, or dried in the oven
6 ounces coarsely grated Gruyère (2 cups) or Fontina
2 ounces finely grated parmesan (1 cup)
2 3/4 cups milk
9 large eggs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

In a large, heavy skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and all of the nutmeg and continue cooking for one minute. Stir in spinach and cook until thoroughly wilted. (You may have to gradually add the spinach as what's in the pan cooks down to fit it all in.) Remove from the heat and set aside.

Spread one third of the bread cubes in a well-buttered 3-quart ceramic or glass baking dish. Top the bread with one-third of spinach mixture, and one-third of each cheese. Repeat layering twice with remaining bread, spinach and cheese. (You don't have to be very neat with the layering. It won't be evenly spread, but the laws of randomness benefit you here: Just sprinkle the ingredients about and every bite should get a proportionate amount of each of the ingredients.)

Whisk the eggs, milk, mustard, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper together in a large bowl (one that has a spout is especially handy here) and pour evenly over the strata. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down gently, and chill strata for at least 8 hours or up to a day.

After chilling, let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes or so while the oven preheats to 350°F. Bake the strata, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, 45 to 55 minutes. If you have an instant-read thermometer (shout-out to my Thermapen!), make sure the inside of the strata is 160°F. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Sit back in your leopard pants and get ready for the rest of your day.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Fall in Love...with a cake!

It’s that glorious time of year again! The flannel sheets are on, the moccasin slippers are out, the teakettle is on heavy rotation, and squashes are all over our house.

As the temperature drops, our kitchen heats up. I’ve slowcooked chickpeas, roasted butternut squash, baked sweet potatoes, pureed potato soup, baked a beet tart with from-scratch pâte brisée, and—finally!—it was time for a cake. I’ve been dancing around Seattle for a couple of weeks, drunk with love for leaves on wet pavement, boots with tights, and a fresh coat of snow on the Cascades. I wanted the cake to fit right in with my giddy autumnal lovefest.

This is our zoo!

Oh look, Lee laughs at hippos!

Lovely houseguests Justin and Amanda gave me a great book that is right up my alley: All Cakes Considered—a cake cookbook from NPR producer Melissa Gray. I happen to think her writing style is similar to mine, which is to say I think she is hilarious. I spent the better part of my Saturday caffeine buzz reading this book—and I really do mean reading it. She includes anecdotes of cake history, personal family stories, and insight into familiar NPR personalities’ preferences for cake. (Michele Norris won’t eat coconut but loves the bittersweet chocolate frosted layer cake. Steve Inskeep loves butterscotch!) When I saw the list of ingredients for a fresh apple cake, I knew this cake would fit right in among the pomegranates and sugar pie pumpkins in the kitchen.

The fresh apple cake reminds me of my favorite chilly-weather dessert—the oatmeal cake. They both have a substantial dose of cinnamon, and—my favorite component—a buttermilk glaze barely boiled on the stovetop and then poured over the still-hot cake. This cake is heartier than the oatmeal cake, thanks to all-purpose flour, coconut, and pecans. Now, I know a few of you just made your dubious face and said, “SARA? COCONUT? That Seattle weather must be cultivating moss in her brain. She doesn’t eat coconut!” and you’re right. I don’t eat coconut…usually. It is, in fact, on a very short list of Foods I Do Not Eat documented on our kitchen chalkboard. But I put on my big girl pants, and I threw the shredded coconut in the food processor and until it was in teeny tiny pieces, and then I threw in the pecans and ground it all a little more. Now, I know those same people are saying, “PECANS! Sara only eats pure, unadulterated cake! There is no room for nuts in her cake!” and you’re right. I don’t eat nuts in cake…usually. But what can I say? Things change, people mature, amazing cakes come along and knock your boots (and tights) right off.

Fresh Apple Cake with Buttermilk Glaze
Adapted from All Cakes Considered, from a Paula Deen recipe

Cake:

Butter, for greasing pan, or cooking spray with flour

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1/4 cup orange juice

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups peeled and finely chopped apples (I used Fuji and was really happy with them)

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup pecans

Sauce:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease two 9 x 2 round pans. Do not use a Bundt pan! Yes, they are beautiful, but you want this cake to be flat to soak up the glaze.

If you’re scared of coconuts and pecans in your cake like I used to be, process the coconut in a food processor until finely chopped. Add pecans, and process until well chopped, depending on your taste.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, use a fork to whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Add the eggs, oil, orange juice, and vanilla extract all together! Starting your mixer on low (That’s important. Ask my cake-batter shirt.), mix well, gradually increasing the speed to medium. Turn off the mixer. Fold apples, coconut, and pecans into batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.

Shortly before the cake is done, begin melting the butter in a saucepan. As soon as the cake is done, gently poke a lot of slits through the cake with a serrated knife. (Gently! This is not the time to get out your aggression, or you will tear your beautiful cake apart into an ugly, sad mess.) By this time, your butter should be melted, so stir in the sugar, buttermilk, and baking soda. Bring it all to a rolling boil, stirring constantly, and boil for 1 minute. Pour the sauce over the hot cake in the pan. Let the stand 1 hour, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Then cuddle up in your fluffiest socks, light your favorite candle, and eat this cake and fall in love with fall a little more.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Confessions of a Flexitarian

I live with a vegetarian, and these days I do most of the cooking. It's not that he can't cook--he's a very accomplished retired bread baker--it's just I'm a little better at it right now. He mows the lawn, makes the coffee, opens the tough jars, and carries the laundry downstairs, and I prepare the meals.

I'm not a vegetarian by trade, though, and it was a bit of an adjustment at first planning nutritious and tasty meals without relying a nice filet mignon or some grilled salmon once in awhile, but we've made out pretty well all in all. We get a lot of questions when people find out that we're a mixed-diet household. Here are some of the most popular ones:

So do you guys eat fish? Or cheese?

I buy LOTS of cheese. One of us eats way more than the other. (I'm not telling who, but I'll say this--apparently beards need cheddar for follicle health.)

That's $1800 worth of parmesan

I eat all the fish. Josh doesn't eat anything with a face, or a central nervous system, or a respectable CD collection. No pigs, no chickens, no fish, no mussels, no hipsters riding fixies, but there will be cheese. Thank heavens, because if he were vegan (no meat, no dairy, no honey!) he'd be on his own. For dinner at least.

Do you guys eat a lot of tofu or meat substitutes?

No, we hardly eat any. Honestly, it's a lot of work to manipulate tofu into something enjoyable. Marinating, dredging, frying…who am I--Paula "May-oh-nay-uzh" Dean? We'll occasionally use seitan, a wheat protein, in tacos or chili, if we're feeling a little short on protein intake. Its texture is similar to thin steak strips, like in beef fajitas.

Sometimes you just need a little snack o' butter

Are you getting enough protein?

I may or may not be training for an all-women arm-wrestling competition at our corner bar. Either way, yes, if we're diligent about eating healthily, we get plenty of protein--Greek yogurt, dairy, beans, legumes, whole grains are all great sources of protein. Of course, sometimes I go out for a burger.

Nomming on some Kopp's near Milwaukee

Does Josh get upset if you eat meat?

He cries sometimes. Just kidding. He's the least militant vegetarian I've ever known. In fact, he cooks almost all the meat I eat. I don't love preparing or cooking meat, so he's sweet about doing it for me. It's a weird inversion: I (the omnivore) cook all the vegetarian dishes, and he (the vegetarian) cooks all the meat. If we go out to eat, I often order seafood, but I often choose a meatless meal too. I don't want to make him weep in public.

He made me this shrimp scampi!

Do you miss eating meat?

This way of eating suits me fine. It's usually cheaper to go without meat, and I believe we're pretty well nourished. Plus, it leaves more room for cake.

What's the hardest part about being a flexitarian, which is what all the cool kids are calling it nowadays?

The most challenging thing about not relying on meat to plan your meals around is the creativity and attention to balance that it forces--things that are good to do no matter what your diet. Maybe you'd like to try it out for a week? Whatever your motivation--to save money, to eat more vegetables, or just to try some new recipes--I've listed a week's worth of recipes and food ideas so you can give it a whirl. I tried to balance macronutrients within the same day, so you shouldn't be too full one day and starving the next.

This is a very, very ambitious meal plan for us. We don't cook every day. We eat leftovers a lot, and sometimes we eat popcorn and gelato for dinner. (What, you don't?) I'm just assuming everyone is more motivated and disciplined that I am, so cook your heart out with this plan! (Or stretch it out to two weeks, supplementing with cereal for dinner and whatever suits your fancy. We're adults. We're allowed.)

Speaking of ambitious, this meal plan (assuming one serving of each recipe) is very low-calorie (I shot for 1200 calories per day), low-sodium (get away, heart disease!), and high-fiber (a happy colon is a happy camper). I've linked the recipes to my analysis database at Calorie Count. I take a multi-vitamin too, just to make sure I'm getting 100% of all the recommended amounts of the good stuff. I realize 1200 calories is too few for most of you who are not full-time couch potatoes. This meal plan is just the bare minimum calories--there's room for you to choose larger portions, add some healthy snacks in, or eat some cake.