Zucchini

Modeled after the traditional cheese- stuffed, deep- fried green chiles that I adore so much at Mexican restaurants, this lighter, healthier version is almost as much fun to eat. I like to use a mixture of mozzarella and Spanish Manchego cheeses, but you should use what you like. Often, I’ll use soy cheese substitutes instead of real cheeses to make this a nondairy dinner that’s lower in saturated fats and easier to digest.

My cousin Julie learned this recipe when her sister, Abi, worked in Thailand. Julie throws in whatever vegetables she happens to have on hand, and the results are always outstanding. Instead of tofu, try substituting raw, peeled shrimp or scallops, chicken breasts, or fish fillets. Notice that this recipe does not call for water to hydrate the rice. The coconut milk provides enough liquid to cook the rice and make a wonderful curry sauce. It doesn’t seem to make any difference whether you use regular coconut milk or “lite.” Thai curry paste comes in yellow, red, and green—each works beautifully in this dish. Try the Mae Ploy brand found at Asian markets. Use more or less to taste; the amount here gives mild to medium heat.

Believe it or not, eggplants have genders. Look for male eggplants, which have a shallow scar at their base, rather than female eggplants, which have a deeper indentation like a belly button. Male eggplants have fewer seeds and supposedly taste less bitter.

Primavera means “spring” in Italian. Pasta Primavera is a wonderfully colorful, light, and healthy meal filled with springtime vegetables. Almost any vegetable will go well in this dish. Consider adding English peas, sugar snap peas, spinach, asparagus, or other seasonal vegetables. Any type of squash or bell pepper is tasty as well. It doesn’t matter whether your artichoke hearts are frozen or packed in water or oil, but remember that the oil from marinated artichokes will add a powerful punch. If you like heat, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes can give this dish more of a kick. If there is still liquid in the bottom when the pot comes out of the oven, let it sit with the lid off for a few minutes, which will release some steam and allow the absorption of more of the liquid. Spoon any remaining liquid over each serving as a sauce.

You can control the amount of heat in this meal with the types and amounts of chile peppers. I like the spectrum of flavors that results from mixing roasted with fresh chiles. To roast a chile pepper, you can treat it as you would a marshmallow when camping, using tongs or a long fork to rotate it over a low flame on a gas burner. However, a safer chile-roasting method is to place the chile on a baking sheet and slide it under the broiler for just a few minutes. When charred on all sides, place the chile in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. The steaming will loosen the skin, making it easy to remove. Peel, stem, and seed roasted peppers before using. See page 168 for a discussion on preparing tofu.

A vegetarian dish brimming with Indian flavors, this recipe reminds me of a meal I ate in a London restaurant after enjoying a rip-roaring rock musical in Soho. I hope you have as much fun eating this one as I did that night! For an even healthier meal, use parboiled and precooked brown rice (labeled “instant”) with the same amount of liquid.

Inspired by the classic tune, all this dish is missing is the rosemary; it’s too strong a flavor for this meal. Keeping the sprigs of herbs intact streamlines the preparation. The flavors mingle and infuse the food even though the leaves are still on the stems. Be sure to remove the thyme sprigs before serving; the stems are too woody to eat.

This meal sings with the Mediterranean flavors of garlic and olives. Substitute 4 ounces of ripe pitted California olives for the kalamatas, a 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes for fresh tomatoes, and 1 1/2 cups of frozen broccoli florets for the zucchini to change this meal from a taste of summer to an easy midwinter solution without losing the essence of the dish.

The Marsala and fennel seeds give this recipe the familiar flavor of the classic dish, while the red pepper flakes add a bit of a kick. If you are a fennel fan, double the amount given here. You can grind fennel seeds in a mortar or purchase the spice already ground. Feel free to use any type of fresh or dried mushrooms. Cut dried mushrooms into thin pieces to be certain they will hydrate enough. To presoften particularly thick dried mushrooms, soak them in boiling water for 15 minutes before draining, chopping, and adding to the pot.

This is an easy dish, perfect both for chilly nights and for when you have an abundance of vegetables. Cacciatore means “hunter” in Italian. This is the dish hunters would make from whatever was available after a day of hunting and foraging. Use any vegetables you wish—try cubed eggplant, sliced carrots, green beans, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower florets. Orzo is rice-shaped pasta, but bow ties (farfalle) also work well in this meal. For a heartier flavor, substitute dry white wine for the water plus part of the tomato liquid, and use chicken on the bone. If using fresh herbs instead of dried, use one tablespoon of each.

I always keep jars of organic marinara sauce in my pantry for convenient Glorious One-Pot Meal options, including this easy version of pasta with meatballs. Use whatever type of ground meat you prefer: beef, pork, turkey, chicken, or even soy or other meat substitutes. Make a quantity of meatballs in advance and freeze them individually on cookie sheets. Then drop the frozen balls into a plastic storage container and keep in the freezer for spur-of-the-moment Glorious One-Pot Meals.

Sausage and beans make a hearty winter meal If you don’t have fresh tomatoes on hand, use a drained 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes instead. If you don’t have flageolets, other beans to try include Great Northern and cannellini beans. To make this a lower-fat dinner, use turkey or chicken sausage instead of pork. Health food stores typically have many types of sausages available at the meat counter. Experiment with flavors such as applewood-smoked sausage, habañero chile, or spicy Italian.

The Aztecs worshipped the life-sustaining properties of amaranth in pre-Columbian times. Sadly, it all but disappeared after the arrival of the conquistadors. A grain (like wheat), amaranth is high in protein, fiber, and amino acids. In this recipe you’ll notice the silky beads add yet another exciting texture to this one-pot meal. I find amaranth in the bulk bins at the health food store. My food processor has a shredding disk, which works well for zucchini; however, sometimes I simply use my grating tower to get the same effect. The shredded zucchini gives this Glorious One-Pot Meal a thick, stewlike consistency that seems especially hearty. Feel free to swap the amaranth for the same amount of rice (the amount of liquid won’t change).

The flavors here remind me of Jamaica, luring me in with the sweet citrus and then kicking it up with the chile peppers.

In this recipe I deviate from the usual formula where the spinach would be the last ingredient added. I do this because sometimes spinach that touches the lid becomes browned, and although this doesn’t bother me, some may find it unappetizing. This method leaves the spinach greener. I get the best results when using frozen raw shrimp, though thawed raw shrimp will work well, too.

Almost all of the ingredients in this dish are native to North America, including the chili powder, making it a truly American dish with a hint of the Southwest. The amount of chili powder used is only enough to give the fish a little bite of heat. Add more or less according to your preference. Or use fresh, diced chiles instead. Try this recipe with salmon, halibut, or other kinds of fish. Or substitute chicken breasts, turkey, or pork tenderloin for the fish.

Vary this meal and go Italian instead with sun-dried tomato and garlic in olive oil instead of the peanut oil mixture. Or use any other type of flavored oil in this recipe.

This is a great light summer meal! Adding a thin coating of olive oil on top of the fish will result in a less-dense fillet. For an even richer flavor, place several pats of butter on the fish.

If you’ve already got the grill going, this is a surefire way to get great veggies fast. They get deliciously smoky-sweet, and all you need is a handy grill basket to keep the small pieces from falling into the fire (or you can use a sheet of aluminum foil). A colorful assortment of veggies makes this especially fun. You can serve it with any of the grilling recipes in the chapter, but it’s especially great with Grilled Tilapia Po’boys with Homemade Tartar Sauce (page 95) and Easy After-Work BBQ Chicken (page 91).

Baking chicken on top of zucchini is a great way to get your green vegetables in. The zucchini absorbs all the chicken and herb flavors in the pan and winds up tasting a whole lot better than any vegetable really should. We love to bake chicken pieces with a slice of lemon on top because the lemon browns right along with the chicken skin and adds a nice zesty flavor.

Here’s a simple Japanese way with cooked rice that Hiroko Shimbo showed me when I asked her one day what she would do with leftover rice. It’s called sushi salad because it’s made with sushi rice. As Hiroko points out so persuasively in her book The Sushi Experience, it’s the rice that makes it sushi, not all the various garnishes or tasty bits that are wrapped—or, in this case, tossed—in the seasoned rice. This is one of those dishes that are subject to variations depending on the season, but it’s hard to improve on the following intoxicatingly delicious summer version.