peas at a party

Passover begins today at sundown.  Haroset (also charoset or charoses) is the one symbolic food from the ritual Passover plate that usually becomes part of the meal.  It is a reminder of the mortar used to make bricks when the Jews were slaves in Egypt.  At one time it was ground to more resemble the mortar.

Today there are hundreds of recipes for haroset with the common ingredients being apples, nuts, cinnamon, and very sweet wine.  This recipe uses juice concentrate and a touch of brandy flavoring in place of the wine, but would work well with wine, sherry, or brandy.  You can add any other fruits, such as mango, that appeal to you.  It’s delicious.  Hard to stop at one serving.

Haroset

Serves 4; about 15 minutes hands on time; ready in 15 minutes

• 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled & chopped
• 1 lemon, zest & 1 Tbsp juice
• 1 (11 oz) can Mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 small banana, chopped
• 2 Tbsp coconut
• ¼ cup golden raisins
• ¼ cup pecans, toasted, coarsely chopped
• 1 Tbsp honey
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate
• ⅛ tsp brandy flavoring (extract)

Toss the lemon zest & juice with the apple.  Add oranges and next 5 ingredients.  In a small bowl, combine honey and remaining ingredients.  Pour over the fruits.  Mix well.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Per serving:  approximately 175 calories; 6.0 g. fat; 32.4 g. carbs; 3.3 g. fiber; 1.9 g. protein

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There are moments that just cry out for comfort in a pan.  (Such as when there are contractors in your kitchen?)  For those times, this is a house favorite.  By squeezing out a lot of the traditional fat in this dish, it is almost an Anytime Food.

This lighter cousin to lasagna and sister to Baked Ziti weighs in at 34.6 grams of protein and a moderate 32% of calories from fat.  An added bonus is that you can prep ahead and cook when it’s almost time for dinner.  Serve with a spinach salad or steamed broccoli.

Baked Penne

Serves 8; about 20 minutes hands on; ready in 50 minutes

• 8-9 oz penne rigate or ziti pasta
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 cup chopped onion (a small-medium onion)
• 1.0 lb lean ground beef, 5% fat
• .5 lb sweet Italian turkey sausage, such as Jenni-O
• 1 (24-28 oz) jar tomato-basil pasta sauce, such as Classico
• 12 oz low-fat ricotta
• ¼ cup low-fat (2%) sour cream
• ¼ cup fat-free egg substitute, such as Egg Beaters
• ¼ cup + ¼ cup finely grated Parmesan
• 1¼ cups finely grated, part skim mozzarella

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente, about 11-12 minutes.  Drain.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375°.  Spray a 13×9” baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.  Set aside.  Spray a large skillet with olive oil cooking spray.  Add the olive oil and heat to medium.  Add the garlic and onion; saute until onion starts to soften, about 2-3 minutes.  Add the beef and sausage.  Saute until cooked through.  Stir in the pasta sauce and simmer, covered, for 10-12 minutes.

While the sauce simmers, mix together the ricotta, sour cream, egg substitute, and ¼ cup Parmesan.

Stir the drained pasta into the meat sauce.  Spoon half the mixture into the prepared baking dish.  Top with half the ricotta mixture, spreading it into an even layer.  Sprinkle with ½ cup of the mozzarella.  Layer the remaining meat-and-pasta mixture and top with the remaining ricotta mixture.  Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella then the remaining ¼ cup Parmesan.  Bake for 35 minutes until bubbly and the top just begins to brown.

Per serving, approximately 437 calories; 15.8 g. fat; 37.7 g. carbs; 2.9 g. fiber; 806 mg sodium; 34.6 g. protein

Option:  Kick up the veggies by adding one cup of finely chopped zucchini to the garlic and onion mix.

Tip:  Resist the urge to add salt to the dish or the pasta water.  The jarred sauce, beef, and cheeses add plenty of sodium.

Trivia and myth busting:  Did you know that unless you add enough salt to a pot of water to turn it into the Dead Sea or unless your pot is the size of your house that the difference in boiling times between salted and unsalted water is less than a second?

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Of course it is.  April 3 is always National Chocolate Mousse Day.  Why you ask?  I haven’t the slightest idea.  Maybe the best answer is “Why not?”

Here’s a quick, 10-minute mousse to add to your celebrations on this great day.  It won’t leave you with images of the Left Bank or memories of that wonderful dinner in Paris.  Not even the one in Paris, Texas.  But it’s a delicious, guilt-free treat for a busy weeknight or a summer cookout.

Mousse-in-a-Minute

Makes 8 (1/2 cup) servings; 5 minutes hands on; ready in 10 minutes

• 3 cups skim milk
• 1 (1 oz) box fat-free, sugar-free, instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 (1 oz) box fat-free, sugar-free, instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 cup fat-free whipped topping, such as Cool Whip Free
• Optional, additional whipped topping and cocoa for garnish

Whisk together all ingredients except whipped topping.  Continue to whisk for about 2 minutes.  Fold in the whipped topping.  Refrigerate about 5 minutes before serving.  Garnish with a dollop of whipped topping and a tiny finger-dusting of cocoa.

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Here’s Week 8 . . . think lifestyles of the rich and famous . . . that is if you count Mom, which of course I do!

• Seared Ahi Tuna with Sesame Crust served on a bed of Ginger Mushrooms & Baby Bok Choy with a side of Wasabi Mashed Potatoes is adapted from a menu shared by Chef Josh Thomsen of the Boa Steakhouse in Santa Monica on a Today Show series on “stolen” recipes.  According to Thomsen, when you cook this at home, the cost is about $5.89 per serving.  At the hip, trendy restaurant, it’s $33.00.  Per.  Serving.  Indulge at home and file this one away for when you want to treat your friends.  We substituted the sesame crust for the soy finishing sauce to reduce the sodium and add the healthy seeds.
• Two Food Network recipes, Peppered Pork and Peas & Prosciutto take center stage.  The Poppy Seed Dressing is a taste ringer for Helen Corbitt’s original and famous recipe.  Corbitt was known to have a sharp tongue for folks who “improved” on her recipes.  But since in the later years of her career, she developed spa recipes for the Neiman-Marcus Greenhouse Spa, perhaps she wouldn’t be too upset at the comparison.  If you don’t know about this fascinating and groundbreaking chef, you can read about her here.
• I have had an on-going quest for a better turkey burger.  And one made with breast meat only—no cheating with the mixed turkey meat that has as much fat as lean beef.  I had all but given up when I found a recipe that encouraged me.  So the quest continued until we found this recipe.  Kickin’ Turkey Burgers with Coleslaw are terrific pan-grilled, but when it’s time to fire up the outdoor grill in your part of the world, try these over an open flame, too.  And if burgers made with turkey and topped with coleslaw isn’t enough of a surprise, add a little more with Sweet Potato Chips.  From the comments we received about this recipe, I can safely say that they were a favorite with Fizzy Meals subscribers.
• A few years ago, a daily recipe exchange that I participate in was having a conversation about “goulash.”  Not real goulash as in Hungarian, cook all day, and don’t forget the paprika, but the mac and beef and tomato skillet supper of my childhood.  One reader remembered such a dish that her mother made and asked if anyone recognized it and knew of a recipe.  This brought a flood of responses all fondly recalling a similar dish with variations on bake or no bake, macaroni or broken spaghetti, stewed tomatoes or diced tomatoes or tomato soup.  Mom’s version was bake, broken spaghetti, and diced tomatoes.  Her recipe was even printed in our local paper since she added a fancy ingredient:  green pepper (which I meticulously picked out).  And as far as I can remember, goulash was always served with saltine crackers since the phrase “a good French bread” was not in the small town lexicon of the 1950’s.  You couldn’t pick up a fancy bread at the supermarket—there was no supermarket.  Here’s to remembering simple family dinners and Remembering Goulash.

I’d love to hear how the recipes and menus work for you.

Move that bus!  Move that bus!  Move.  That.  Bus!

We’re back!  And these improved digs should look both new and familiar.  The same posts, links, menus, categories, but here’s the quick tour.

First, you’ll notice the Print This Recipe link at the bottom of posts which contain recipes; and we’ll use it occasionally for other posts, such as menu descriptions.  Try the link at the bottom of this post to see what a printed version will look like.

Second, we’ve made it easier to subscribe.  If you’re an old hand at this, use the RSS icon on the right side of the navigation bar at the top.  It will work as it generally does in blog land.  If this blog stuff is still a little strange for you or if you would like to get an email alert when there is a new post, click on Subscribe in the top navigation bar to see both options.

You probably noticed that you were re-directed from the old blog address.  The re-direct will be there for a bit, but you’ll want to update your bookmarks, so you have the new one for this website.  Likewise, if you are currently using a blog reader.

As for photographs?  Just wait!  As soon as I figure out how to crop, we’ll be in business.  Right now the pics are showing up lifesize.  Heh.

We’ve been playing with this for a few days, and all seems to be in working order.  If you run into any problems, just let us know in the comments to this post.  Or you can email at

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It’s always great to hear from you.

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