Peach French Toast Bake

FOUND IT: In a July issue of USA Weekend

I'm sorry I didn't share this earlier, as we've made it multiple times during peach season.

Ingredients:

• cooking spray
• About half a loaf of a hearty bread, cut into large cubes
• 4 eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 5 cups sliced peaches
• 2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon (or more)
• 1 1/2 cups light yogurt (plain or vanilla)
• 3/4 cup maple syrup

Coat a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray, then spread the cubes of bread out in the pan. 

Whisk together the eggs, egg whites, milk and vanilla, then pour that mixture over the bread. Scatter the peach slices evenly over the bread and eggs, and sprinkle them with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Bake for 40 minutes at 350, and serve topped with the yogurt and maple syrup.

Layered Pizza Dip

FOUND IT: This recipe was in the Appleton Post Crescent, and is also similar to one my aunt shared with me at one point.

This is a great, flexible party dip - feel free to change the ingredients to include your favorite pizza toppings, make it vegetarian, or whatever works for you.

I also saved some of the leftovers from this and had it on top of a sliced, grilled zucchini the next day.

Ingredients:

• One 8 oz package of light cream cheese, softened.
• 1/2 tbsp (or more to taste) dried oregano
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce (I use one of these pouches, which is about perfect)
• 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 cup pepperoni, diced (I got this from the deli but the slices were too thin and kind of melted away.)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used all mozzarella, but it's flexible)

Spread the softened cream cheese on the bottom of a nine inch pie plate, and sprinkle the oregano over that. Spread the pizza sauce over the cream cheese, then sprinkle the chopped bell pepper and pepperoni over that. Top with the cheese, and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Serve with crackers.

Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches

FOUND IT: In the May 2012 issue of Cooking Light

I usually don't like to make a new recipe for the first time when we have company coming over, but earlier this summer Laura convinced me to try this one and I'm glad I did.

Laura and I have a difference of opinion on one of the methods here, though: I went with more chicken than the recipe called for, which created a dish with a barbecue flavor but relatively limited sauce, then served it with extra BBQ sauce on the side so everyone could determine what level of sauce they wanted individually. If you want a better sauce-to-meat ratio, though, then stick with the proportions below.

You can also, of course, make your own coleslaw. I misunderstood the initial ingredient list, though, and bought some premade from the deli counter. I think that worked fine.

I also used the leftover chicken to make a barbecue chicken pizza the next day, and that may actually have been more popular.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tbsp honey mustard
• 2 tbsp water
• 3/4 tsp chili powder
• 3/4 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• a dash of salt
• 3 cups shredded boneless, skinless rotisserie chicken (a full chicken makes about 4 cups)
• 3 cups premade coleslaw (I cheated here accidentally).
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions
• 6-8 hamburger buns

Combine the ketchup, mustard, water, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, Worcestershire sauce and salt in a saucepan (I used a deep skillet, which I think turned out to be easier). Bring the sauce mixture to a simmer and cook for ten minutes. Combine the sauce and the chicken, stirring to coat.

Place about half a cup of the chicken mixture on a bun, top with the coleslaw and green onions, and serve.

Chicken And Wild Rice Soup

FOUND IT: Nowhere in particular. I followed the instructions on the box of wild rice, but eyeballed the rest.

I tend to eyeball soups, so some of my measurements here are imprecise. I think they're pretty close, though.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked wild rice
• 3 cups water (probably could use chicken stock here)
•  1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Half of a red bell pepper, diced
• 1 or 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
• Four large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
• 3 cups shredded, cooked chicken (for me this was frozen leftovers from two rotisserie chickens)
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp each cayenne pepper, dried thyme, sage and rosemary (I would've used parsley too, but I was out)
• 2 cups skim milk (or whatever milk you have on hand)

Bring the water, salt and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the rice, reduce heat and simmer for 55 minutes.

While the rice is cooking, saute the red ball pepper, zucchini, carrots, celery and onion with the olive oil in a large soup pot. When they're almost translucent, add the garlic. Cook the garlic for a few minutes with the vegetables, then add the chicken, stock, cayenne pepper, thyme, sage and rosemary. Stir to combine, then allow to cook over medium-low heat until the rice is done.

Drain the excess water off the rice after 55 minutes (there will be a fair amount of excess water, don't worry about it), and add the rice to the soup along with the milk. Continue to simmer for about 10 minutes or so, then serve with oyster crackers, a crusty bread and butter.

Chocolate Beet Cake

FOUND IT: My friend Liz was kind enough to share it.

This is the only way I've ever cooked beets. It's certainly not healthy, but having the beets in there probably makes it a little better than a normal chocolate cake.

The frosting was also Liz's suggestion, but the two recipes don't have to be tied together. Frost it with whatever you like, or just serve it warm with ice cream.

Ingredients for cake:

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3-4 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup oil
• 3 cups shredded beets (this was about a bunch and a half of beets for me, peeled and then shredded)

Ingredients for frosting:

•  1 stick of butter
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla 

Grease two nine inch cake pans (I used a 9x13). Combine dry ingredients. Melt the chocolate slowly, either stirring every 30 seconds in the microwave or using a double boiler, then set the chocolate aside to cool.

Once the chocolate has cooled, combine it thoroughly with the eggs and oil. Add half the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, stir, then add half the beets. Repeat this process with the other half of both. Pour the batter into your cake pan (or pans).

Bake at 325 until a fork inserted in the middle comes out clean, around 40-50 minutes.

To make the frosting, melt the butter and stir in the cocoa. Add half the powdered sugar, then half the milk, then repeat with the other halves. Add milk if you'd like the frosting to be smoother. Stir in vanilla, then spread over the cooled cake.

Grapefruit Pound Cake

FOUND IT: My wife tore it out of an issue of Cooking Light.
MODIFIED IT: I accidentally included a couple of extra ounces of cream cheese, but that was it.

I'm frequently skeptical of Cooking Light dessert recipes, since they're often healthier but also not very appealing. They usually look great but you can tell the good stuff is missing. This cake is different from their usual in two ways: First, it's better than you'd expect. Secondly, it's not actually very healthy. 1/16th of this cake is a pretty small serving and still contains almost 300 calories.

With that said, I'll probably make this again because it's good. One regular sized grapefruit is likely more than enough for both the grated rind and juice.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp of salt plus a dash, divided
• 1 2/3 cups sugar (some could probably be replaced with Splenda or another substitute)
• 6 tbsp butter, softened
• 6 ounces cream cheese (I used a full eight ounce package. You only live once.)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 tbsp grated grapefruit rind
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup fresh grapefruit juice
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Combine the flour, baking powder and all but a dash of the salt in a bowl. Cream the butter, sugar and cream cheese with a mixer in a large bowl, then add the eggs, oil, grapefruit rind and vanilla in that order.

Add half the dry ingredients to this mixture carefully, then half the milk. Repeat that process with the other half of both, finishing with the milk. Be careful not to overbeat the batter.

Spoon the batter into a greased 10 inch tube pan and bake at 325 for an hour and ten minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out "with moist crumbs clinging."

Allow the cake to cool for ten minutes in the pan, then tip it over onto a wire rack and allow it to finish cooling there.

To make the glaze, heat the grapefruit juice to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Allow it to cook this way until about a third of the liquid has boiled off, then put it in the fridge to cool. Once it's cooled about 10-15 minutes, stir in the powdered sugar and the dash of salt from earlier. Drizzle this mixture over the cake and serve.

Turnip Poutine

FOUND IT: On Hungry Girl on Cooking Channel

MODIFIED IT: I changed the cheese and gravy, and added some seasoning.

Poutine is a somewhat interesting current food fad. Gravy on french fries is still a little weird to me, but it turned out pretty well here.

Turnips, meanwhile, turned out to be a pretty genius healthy substitution for potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 24 ounces turnips, scrubbed (This was six smallish turnips for me, but 2-3 large ones would be better if available.)
• 12 ounces potatoes (one large baking potato should do it.)
• 1 or 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup fat free condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/8 cup water
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese

Clean the vegetables (no need to peel them) and cut them into french fry spears. Place them in a single layer on a greased baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and thyme, give them a quick stir and bake at 425 for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Once the potatoes and turnips are browned remove them from the oven, stir again and rearrange them in a pile on the cookie sheet. Combine the condensed soup and water and drizzle it over the pile of fries, then sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. Broil this on high until the cheese has melted and browned just slightly.

Pumpkin Pie

FOUND IT: My mother-in-law shared it.

As you probably know, I cook with pumpkin a lot. This has become my standard pie recipe, though...which says a lot, because I've tried a lot of them.

Ingredients

• One pre-made pie crust (I know, I cheat.)
• Two cups pumpkin puree (I use homemade, but I'd assume canned works too)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (original recipe calls for 3/4 cup, and omits the following ingredient)
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 12 oz can evaporated milk

Combine pumpkin, sugar and eggs and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and mix again.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the pie crust and bake ten minutes at 450. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 50 more minutes, or until a knife inserted in the pie comes out clean.

With most of the sugar replaced, this is probably about as close as you'll ever get to a *healthy* pie.

Cherry Pie

FOUND IT: On the Food Network website.

I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time this year, and this is one of the three pies we made. It's received pretty universally positive reviews in the past. We pick a boatload of cherries each year in Door County and freeze them, and this is a great use for them.

One note: The original recipe called for 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar. To me this tastes sweet with half a cup of sugar and half a cup of Splenda. But if you really want more sugar than pie, feel free to add more.

Ingredients:

• Four cups pitted tart cherries, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup sugar (I use half a cup, and half a cup of Splenda)
• 4 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/8 tbsp almond extract
• Enough pie crust for a top and bottom layer (I cheat and buy pre-made)
• 2 tbsp butter

Heat the cherries in a saucepan over medium heat until some of the liquid has evaporated, roughly ten minutes. Mix in the sugar and cornstarch and stir until the mixture begins to thicken (you should notice a change nearly immediately). Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Roll out one layer of the pie crust in a pie plate, then pour the cherry mixture over that. Dot the cherries with the butter (cut into 8-10 small cubes), then cover with the second layer of pie crust. Flute the edges of the crust with a fork, and cut a few slits in the top layer for steam to escape.

Place the pie plate on a cookie sheet, and bake at 375 for 50 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool.

Pesto Gnocchi with Chicken and Roasted Cauliflower

FOUND IT: The original recipe came from a Penzey's catalog. I made it a few times to perfect it and changed the vegetable from potatoes to cauliflower to make it healthier.

I have an Aerogarden in my laundry room, and it's been growing nothing but basil all winter. It needs to be harvested every few weeks, which means I'm making another batch of my spinach basil pesto every few weeks. This might be the best thing I've made with it.

Cauliflower is the best vegetable I've found to use here, but it's certainly not the only option. Almost any roasted vegetable could be substituted or added.

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Garlic powder, to taste
• 1 16 oz package of mini gnocchi (here's the brand I use)
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
• 8 ounces Spinach Basil Pesto, or your favorite pesto sauce.
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, roasted if possible
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Spread the cauliflower in a single layer on a cookie sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper and roast at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring once in the middle.

If you haven't already browned the chicken, now is a good time to do that.

While the cauliflower is roasting, cook the gnocchi according to package instructions (if you're using mini gnocchi, this won't take long). Drain them well, then combine the cauliflower, gnocchi, chicken, pine nuts and parmesan cheese in a large serving dish.

Pizza Quiche

FOUND IT: I more or less invented this, although I used the egg/milk/salt combination and crust baking time from this recipe.

I was eating a quiche on Saturday morning and, though I'm not sure why, I ended up thinking about the possibility of a pizza quiche. My initial experiment was pretty simple, but I think the concept would work with pretty much anything you'd put on a pizza (provided it's chopped small enough and pre-cooked if necessary).

Ingredients:

• 1 premade pie crust
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tbsp pizza seasoning (I use Penzey's)
• Roughly 10 small slices of pepperoni, chopped
• 1/2-3/4 cup pizza sauce (I eyeballed this, so I don't have an exact measurement)
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I mixed Havarti and Mozzarella)

Roll out the pie crust into a pie plate, poke a lot of holes in the bottom with a fork, and bake it at 400 for 10 minutes. Reset the oven to 350 once it's out.

While the crust is baking, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and pizza seasoning. Once the crust is out of the oven sprinkle the pepperoni (or whatever toppings you're using) onto the crust, then pour the egg mixture over that. Your pepperoni or other toppings may float to the top, just do the best you can to keep them spread out.

Bake this at 350 for 25 minutes. At that point, take it out and carefully spoon and spread the pizza sauce on top. Cover the sauce with the shredded cheese and bake for 20 more minutes. Let it cool for five minutes or so before serving.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

This is a variation on my stove top recipe. I actually developed it to enter into a contest, but then missed the deadline for submissions.

I love buffalo chicken, so for me this was a pretty natural step.

Ingredients:

• 1 boneless chicken breast, cut into small bites.
• 1/2 lb elbow macaroni or other pasta, uncooked
• 4 tbsp butter, cut into ~8-10 chunks
• 2 eggs
• 6 ounces evaporated milk (You can substitute 1/2-3/4 cup skim milk and let it cook a little longer to thicken)
• 3 tbsp buffalo wing sauce
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 3/4 tsp dry mustard
• 4 ounces Colby Jack cheese, shredded
• 6 ounces sharp white Cheddar cheese

Brown the chicken in a frying pan with a little salt and pepper, remove to a plate and set aside.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente and drain.

Combine the eggs, evaporated milk, wing sauce, salt, pepper and mustard in a bowl.

Return the pasta to the pot and add the butter, stirring until melted. Pour in the egg mixture and add the cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted, then add the chicken and cook until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.

Stove Top Manchego Chorizo Mac & Cheese

This is a variation on my stove top recipe. I actually developed it to enter into a contest, but then missed the deadline for submissions.

For what it's worth, I also have this Manchego Chorizo Mac recipe, but I think this one is easier and turned out better.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb Spanish chorizo (the kind that comes in links, not a tube), sliced thinly
• 1/2 lb elbow macaroni or other pasta, uncooked
• 4 tbsp butter, cut into ~8-10 chunks
• 2 eggs
• 6 ounces evaporated milk (You can substitute 1/2-3/4 cup skim milk and let it cook a little longer to thicken)
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 3/4 tsp dry mustard
• 8 ounces Manchego cheese, shredded
• 2 ounces Monterrey Jack cheese

Brown the chorizo in a frying pan, remove to a plate with a paper towel and set aside.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente and drain.

Combine the eggs, evaporated milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper and mustard in a bowl.

Return the pasta to the pot and add the butter, stirring until melted. Pour in the egg mixture and add the cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Stir in the chorizo and enjoy.

Ravioli Pesto Lasagna

FOUND IT: At Stacey Snacks

MODIFIED IT: To incorporate the pesto and remove one ingredient that proved to be a little too much.

If you enjoy lasagna, this might be the easiest way I've found to make it. This was simple, flavorful and flexible.

Ingredients:

• 24 of your favorite frozen ravioli (for me this was two small packages. Your results may vary.)
• 2 cups pasta sauce
• 1 cup pesto (here's my pesto recipe), or another cup of pasta sauce.
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (more or less to taste)

Combine the ricotta, egg and salt and pepper and set aside.

Spread a cup of the pasta sauce across the bottom an 8x8 or 9x9 square pan. Then use a dozen of the frozen ravioli to create a single layer of pasta. Follow that with the pesto (or another cup of sauce), then half of the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle mozzarella over that.

Repeat with another layer of pasta, sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 40 minutes, then uncover and continue to bake for 15 more. Let it cool for at least five minutes before serving.

Spinach Basil Pesto

FOUND IT: At Simplyrecipes.com
MODIFIED IT: A fair amount.

Pesto is pretty simple and flexible. In my household, there's usually three complaints about the traditional methods:

1) Using all oil makes it a little too greasy. I fixed that by combining oil and chicken stock.

2) Using all basil makes the flavor a little too strong for my wife. Spinach makes an easy substitute to knock it down a bit.

3) I'm not a big fan of pine nuts. I don't think they add much. Replacing some of them with roasted pistachios seemed to help.

This recipe makes about 3 cups. Feel free to cut it in half if you don't need that much.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed.
• 2 cups fresh spinach, packed.
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• 1/3 cup pine nuts (toasting them before seems to help)
• 1/3 cup roasted, shelled pistachios
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper

Put the basil, spinach and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse it a few times to give yourself some room to work.

Then add the cheese, pine nuts, pistachios, garlic, salt and pepper and let the food processor run. Combine the oil and stock and slowly drizzle it in. Continue to process it until it reaches the desired texture, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.

Raspberry Strippers

FOUND IT: My sister-in-law directed me to this recipe at myrecipes.com.

These cookies might look complicated, but they're quick and easy. Also, the ingredient list is pretty easy: I was able to make them with stuff I had on hand.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 5 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup raspberry preserves (I used peach. Almost anything would probably work.)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice (the juice of one small lemon)
• 1/4 tsp almond or vanilla extract

Beat sugar and butter until well combined. Add the vanilla and egg white and mix again, until well combined.

In another bowl whisk flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together. Combine with the wet ingredients and mix until stiff dough forms.

Lightly flour a work surface and your hands, and turn the dough out onto the surface. Form the dough into three 12 inch long logs, and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Form a 1/2 inch indentation with your finger or a wooden spoon the full length of the logs, then fill the indentation with the raspberry preserves.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. While they're still warm, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla/almond extract, and drizzle it over the logs. Slice the logs into 1 inch slices immediately, but let them cool for about 10 minutes before you separate them.

Spinach Artichoke Mac and Cheese

FOUND IT: At the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's mac and cheese site.

MODIFIED IT: Only to change the blend of cheeses a bit.

There's really no such thing as a healthy mac and cheese. By nature, it's a combination of carbs and fat. That's why it's delicious. With that said, this one isn't as unhealthy as most of the others.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces uncooked macaroni
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 10 ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 14 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 3 1/2 cups shredded Fontina cheese (about 12-16 ounces)*
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

* - I only had half a pound of Fontina, so I supplemented it with some Muenster and some sharp cheddar.

Boil pasta as usual. Drain and set aside.

While the pasta is boiling, whisk together the milk, flour, salt and pepper. Once that's combined, stir in the pasta, spinach, artichokes and cheese. Stir until blended, then pour the mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Combine the parmesan and bread crumbs, and sprinkle them on top. Drizzle the melted butter over the top.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Sesame Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Chicken

FOUND IT: In Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cookbook. If the fact that this book got me to try (and like) Brussels sprouts doesn't convince you to buy it, I don't know what will.

My wife loves to make me try new things and give me guilt if I don't want to. She's told me countless times she doesn't like Brussels sprouts (and I'd never had them), so I set off to find a way to make them as something like revenge.

I don't think either of us expected to find a Brussels sprouts dish we'd make again, but that's what happened. This one was excellent.

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp sesame seeds (I didn't have these on hand so I skipped them)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces.
• 2 tbsp minced ginger (I bought it in a tube.)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 lb Brussels sprouts, washed and with stems removed
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (or other stock, water or white wine)
• Salt and pepper
• Soy sauce and lemon wedges, for serving*

* - I forgot to put these on the table and neither of us missed them.

Toast the sesame seeds in a large, deep skillet (choose a skillet you can cover) over medium-low heat until they begin to brown but don't burn - 5-10 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

Add the oil to the skillet and turn it up to medium-high. Add the chicken once it's hot, sprinkle in some salt and pepper and brown it for roughly 5 minutes. Add the ginger and continue to cook for a minute or so, then move this mixture to a plate and set it aside.

Add the sesame oil, Brussels sprouts and stock to the pan, sprinkle it with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and lower the heat so the mixture bubbles slightly but does not boil. Cook until the sprouts are tender - roughly 10 minutes. Add more liquid if needed.

Once the sprouts are tender, uncover the pan and return the chicken to it. Raise the heat to boil off any excess liquid and cook until the sprouts and chicken are glazed and browned. Don't stir too often - let the mixture cook for a couple of minutes, then give it a quick stir, then wait again. Stir in the sesame seeds once it's done and serve.

Potato-Leek Gratin

FOUND IT: In Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cookbook.

We're all familiar with the usual way to make potatoes good: Slather them in butter, cheese, or something else loaded with extra fat. This recipe is simple and pretty good despite the fact that it uses a relatively low amount of those extras.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs potatoes, thinly sliced (I used Yukon Golds)
• 1 lb leeks, trimmed, rinsed well and thinly sliced (you could probably use onions if you don't have leeks)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Dried thyme
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp melted butter

Put the potatoes and leeks in a 9x13 baking dish and toss them with the oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme, then cover with foil and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes, until the potatoes are just starting to get tender.

Remove from the oven at this point and give them a quick stir. Then, combine the melted butter and bread crumbs, and crumble this mixture over the top. Press everything down a bit and return to the oven without foil at 425 for 15-20 more minutes, or until the bread crumbs have browned.

Pasta with Roasted Eggplant and Meat Sauce

FOUND IT: I recently purchased a copy of Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cookbook. So far I've made four recipes out of it: Three so good I'm adding them to this site to make sure I use them again, and a fourth so bad I almost ripped the page out of the book so I wouldn't accidentally make it again.

MODIFIED IT: Only slightly to adjust to ingredients I had on hand. Modifications are noted in the ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs eggplant, cut into bite-sized cubes
• 8 ounces ground beef or lamb (I had venison on hand, so that's what I used)
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp roughly chopped garlic (I used minced)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried oregano (or 1 tbsp fresh)
• 1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tbsp fresh)
• 3 tbsp tomato paste*
• 6 ripe Roma tomatoes, chopped (or canned and drained)
• 1/2 cup red wine or water
• 8 ounces pasta
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

* - I had one of those small cans of tomato paste. 3 tbsp was about half of it, but I used the whole thing since I hate wasting it.

Combine the eggplant, ground meat, onion and garlic in a large roasting pan, drizzling with the olive oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper. Roast at 425 for 40 minutes, stirring once in the middle to continue to break up the meat.

Add the bay leaf, oregano and thyme, then the tomato paste and stir it in. Stir in the tomatoes and wine, then return to the oven for 10-15 minutes more or until the mixture has thickened. Take out the bay leaf.

Cook the pasta, and toss with the sauce. Top with some grated parmesan and enjoy.