Hot Pineapple

You can hack up a fresh pineapple for this recipe, or use pre-packaged fresh pineapple spears from the supermarket produce section, but canned pineapple works just fine and it's a lot easier. You can omit the chili garlic sauce if serving kids or adults who don't enjoy spicy food.

1 20-oz can pineapple slices in juice
2 tablespoon pineapple juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)
1 tablespoon Splenda brown sugar blend
1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (or to taste)
1 tablespoon canola oil

Preheat your oven's broiler. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Drain the pineapple slices, reserving 2 tablespoons of the juice. Lay the slices in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.

Combine the pineapple juice, lime juice & zest, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, Splenda, chili garlic sauce, and canola oil in a small bowl. Brush the pineapple slices with some of the juice mixture, turn them over and brush the other side.

Broil the pineapple about 6" from the broiler heating element for2- 3 minutes or until the surface of the pineapple is lightly browned and shiny. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. Flip the pineapple slices over and pour the remaining juice mixture over them, brushing to spread it evenly. Broil the pineapple for another 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned and shiny. Remove from the oven.

Serve hot with pork, chicken, fish, seafood or tofu.

4 servings

Kitty's Cauliflower Fried "Rice"

1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 head cauliflower, grated (by hand on or in a food processor)
1/2 c. corn (Kitty uses the baby corn cobs, chopped, but I use frozen corn kernels, thawed & drained)
1/2 c. petite green peas (frozen, thawed & drained)
1/2 c. shredded carrots (pre-shredded is fine)
1/2 c. broccoli florets
4 scallions, chopped
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 large eggs, beaten, or 1/2 c. Egg Beaters
1/2 lb chicken or shrimp, cooked and cut in bite-size pieces (salad shrimp works well and doesn't have to be cut up; you can also use firm tofucubes or cooked, shelled edamame)

Heat the sesame oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onion, stir 1 minute, then add the cauliflower, corn, pease, carrots and broccoli. Stir fry the mixture for 3-4 minutes or until the broccoli is tender but still bright green. Add the chicken, shrimp, tofu or edamame, scallions, and soy sauce, and stir to combine all ingredients. Move the mixture to one side of the skillet. Add the eggs to the open side of the skillet. Cook and stir the eggs until just set, then mix them in with the rest of the ingredients. Serve hot.

3-4 servings

Mediterranean Bulgur & Veggy Salad

Bulgur wheat can usually be found near rice in the supermarket. It's quick and easy to cook and for me, it doesn't have the sticky texture that tends to get stuck in my stoma.

1/2 cup uncooked bulgur wheat
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon minced garlic

salt & black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon dried

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons minced red onion
3 scallions, chopped

In a small saucepan, bring the bulgur and chicken broth to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for one hour or until all the liquid is absorbed. While the bulgur is standing, prepare the veggies.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, garlic, salt & pepper, and basil until emulsified (well combined and slightly thickened). Add the bulgur and veggies to the bowl and toss to coat the ingredients with dressing.

Serve at room temperature, or refrigerate until 15 minutes before serving time. Remove from refrigerator and let stand 15 minutes. Stir before serving.

4 servings

Baked Fish with Olives

I love olives despite the sodium content. They're packed with healthy monounsatured fats, vitamin E, and flavor. If you prefer not to eat the olive coating, scrape it off after the fish is baked, but leave it on during baking so that the flavor can soak into the fish.

1 lb. fillets of firm, white fish (I use catfish)
1/4 c. white wine (or substitute vegetable broth)
1/2 c. roughly chopped olives (try a mix of black and green, but plain old pimento-stuffed green olives work fine)
1/4 c. minced red bell pepper
3 scallions, chopped
zest and juice of 1 fresh lemon
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano ( or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400F. Spray a 13x9" baking pan with cooking spray. Place the fish fillets in the pan in a single layer.

Combine the wine, olives, bell pepper, scallions, lemon zest & juice, oregano, olive oil, and salt & pepper in a small bowl. Cover the fish fillets with this mixture.

Put the baking pan in the oven and bake 20-25 minutes or until the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.

4 servings

La Famille Aubergine

The last three eggplants from this summer's garden cuddle up on our kitchen counter.
I think this photo would make a good Christmas card: Joyeux Noel!

Barley & Veggy Soup

1 cup chopped onion
3 stalks celery, choppped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 cup uncooked barley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (I used sage), or 2 teaspoons dried (sage, thyme, marjoram)
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cans vegetable broth (or chicken or beef broth)
1/2 c. white wine (I use cooking wine - no temptation to drink it - but it's high sodium)

Put all the ingredients in your crock pot, stir, and set the crock pot on low for 8 hours. Or, put all the ingredients in a stock pot and cook on the stove on low heat for 2 hours.

Serves: many!

SOUP - Pros and Cons

I have bad-mouthed soup so many times because liquids like soup generally provide little or no satiety for a bandster, but I'm eating (without chewing) my words now. After a year of experimentation, I finally concluded that I just cannot eat solid food when I'm at work. Usually I have a 15 minute break, but even when I work a longer shift and get a longer break, I'm just too distracted, pressured, anxious or whatever to eat solid or even soft food. I get stuck or PB and have to stop eating even though my tummy is still grumbling and/or I haven't had enough fuel to power me through the rest of my work day. So this past week, I tried several instant soups (you just open them and microwave them) with Unjury chicken soup protein powder mixed into them. The tomato soup was fine, but I was starving hungry an hour later. Creamy chicken soup and Italian wedding soup worked very well. So I decided it's worthwhile to make my own soup (thereby reducing the sodium content) to take to work for lunch. My first project was a barley and veggy soup. Barley is a whole grain that's soft but chewy when cooked, and goodness knows I need all the veggies I can get. We had this soup for supper tonight and it was great!