Cheese

The dillweed provides a pleasant aroma, the red pepper flakes give a bit of a kick, and the feta cheese adds tanginess to this attractive green bean and tomato pairing.

This exciting, inviting fruit salad is especially delicious served with grilled pork or chicken.

Crunchy pecans and a mildly tart dressing enhance juicy, sweet pears topped with tangy goat cheese.

These delicious, good-for-you breakfast sandwiches are reminiscent of traditional Danish pastries straight from the bakery.

Turn a serving of your favorite fruit into a delectable dessert with an extra-easy sauce reminiscent of cheesecake.

Use leftover turkey from the holidays for this festive soup, or for a grilled turkey version, use leftover turkey from the Grilled Turkey Cutlets with Pineapple—without the pineapple (page 162).

These nachos use mushrooms instead of high-fat fried chips as their base. Plan on having plenty around—they disappear quickly!

When the colorful allure of the many bell pepper varieties draws you in at the supermarket’s produce section, try this recipe for an unusual vegetable tray. The cream cheese mixture is also wonderful on celery, on cucumber rounds, or in hollowed-out cherry tomato halves.

Don’t let the small size of these cheese balls fool you. They’re loaded with flavor and crunch!

When using fresh herbs, be sure to dry them thoroughly after washing them so they are fluffy, not dense, when chopped. You not only get a more precise measurement, but they’ll also distribute more evenly in your dishes.

I love using goat cheese in my healthy cooking. Although it has 6 grams of fat per ounce, I find I don’t need to use nearly as much as I do of other cheeses since it has such a great strong punch of flavor. I’ve served this asparagus side at many a dinner party, and guests have always raved.

The key to good mac and cheese is gooey cheese and the perfect creamy sauce. Here, I’ve simplified things to create this twist on a classic. Instead of thickening cream or milk, I grabbed a natural cheese sauce, then simply added a Mexican cheese blend to give it that must-have gooeyness.

Most mashed potatoes are full of butter, cream, and other added fats. But this dish pairs wing sauce with blue cheese, packing tons of flavor and thus eliminating the need for added fats or butter.

It’s best to buy goat cheese that is precrumbled. This will save you time and make it easier to spread the cheese across the entire pizza, requiring less to get some in every bite. If you do buy it in a tube (it may make sense if it’s significantly less expensive that way), freeze it slightly before attempting to crumble it. It will crumble much easier.

You can buy pregrilled chicken in grocery stores these days for convenience, or you can make it yourself in bulk a couple of days a week (see Basic Grilled Chicken, page 219). If you make it yourself, you’re apt to save a lot of sodium—and likely a lot of money too. I love adding chicken to pizza. The addition of plenty of lean protein can transform pizza into a very well-balanced meal. Because chicken is so low in fat, it’s best to put it under the cheese (instead of on top, like you traditionally would with meat toppings) when making pizza—you’ll keep the chicken from drying out.

I love olives. If they had no calories, I would eat them by the bucket. Again, though, they are another ingredient that when eaten in moderation provides good fats our bodies do need. Here, I’ve used them to make pizza, another of my favorite foods. This throw-together meal will take significantly less time than waiting for takeout. And it’s especially great because you can stock the ingredients in your kitchen for that night when you just don’t have time to cook.

This dish is insanely great for potlucks. Instead of other lasagnes that you can slave over for hours, you can now spend just 10 minutes throwing this together. And the best news is that it can be assembled up to 1 day in advance. After preparing it, simply cover it with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator (be sure to remove the plastic wrap before baking!) so it can be baked just before serving. Make sure you find a brand of ravioli with as little fat as possible. Some are laden with tons of fat and calories, yet they don’t taste any better than those that are lower in fat and calories. Rosetto also makes a whole-wheat ravioli that’s delicious and just as low in fat and calories but packs 6 grams of fiber per serving (I buy it at Whole Foods). Though the bag is slightly smaller (22 ounces instead of 25), so you’ll need a bag plus a few more ravioli to make the recipe as written, it’s worth buying.

If you prefer, you can always substitute a brown rice, whole-wheat, or whole-grain pasta for the fiber-enriched variety. I get a lot of letters and e-mails from home cooks around the country saying they are able to make my recipes for the whole family even though their spouses and children won’t generally eat healthy food, because my recipes actually taste fattening. To keep with that tradition, I opt for the fiber-enriched pasta since it adds needed fiber to our diets while still tasting more like traditional pasta.

I love pesto, but unfortunately, it’s typically made with a shocking amount of oil and is thus very fattening. Luckily, I’ve discovered other ways to enjoy the flavor of pesto without the fat and calories. Using herbs from a tube or frozen herbs works really well on this chicken to give it that classic pesto flavor without the fat . . . and without a lot of work. Please note that if you buy frozen herbs, you should measure them out yourself before using them in recipes. I’ve found that a 1-teaspoon block of herbs is rarely an actual teaspoon.

I always try to buy jarred cranberry sauce, as it generally lasts longer than canned and tends to contain more natural ingredients. If you can’t find jarred, it’s okay to buy canned because it freezes well. Simply use what you need and then portion out the rest to save in small resealable freezer bags for future use. You can save even more time on this recipe by buying precooked turkey breast strips, though you should be careful they haven’t been cooked in too much fat or have too much added sodium. If you can’t find raw turkey breast strips, ask your butcher to cut a turkey breast or turkey cutlet for you. He or she is likely to do it at no extra charge.