Recipes

[Food Tip: Are fresh vegetables more nutritious than canned or frozen? It depends on how fresh is fresh. Fresh tastes best, but if your produce was picked before ripe, held in storage, transported over long distances, and displayed

[Mood Tip: Cook stews in cast-iron pots and the iron leeches out of the pot and into the food, significantly increasing the iron content of the meal. This is especially true for foods with a tomato base, such as this beef stew.]

Refreshing, crisp, and colorful, this rice salad is flavored with tropical fruit. The healthy dressing is delicious with almost any rice salad. Look for the prepackaged tropical dried fruit medley in the baking section of your local

Homemade hummus is easy to make and takes only seconds in a food processor. The result is a fresh, tasty hummus with far-better flavor than store-bought versions. Try it for lunch with pita wedges and red bell pepper slices. It

Precooked-ready to eat rolled polenta makes this appetizer easy to prepare. Serve as an hors d’oeuvre or as a light lunch along with a tossed salad. The caponata can be made two days in advanced and stored in the refrigerator.

Spicy, but with a hint of sweetness, the brie in this appetizer adds a creamy mellow finish. The peach chutney gives it a final kick. Ingredients: 1 (8-ounce) loaf of baguette-style French bread 3/4 pound (at least 20) medium-sized

This delectable, attractive appetizer has authentic rich tomato-olive flavor. Creamy goat cheese adds depth and balance to the spicy/sweet base. You can find this slightly upscale tomato sauce (in a jar) with other commercially

Typically this spread contains more than twice the calories and ten times the fat found in this version, yet the pleasure, taste, and texture remain the same. A great appetizer, snack for the kids, or accompaniment to a buffet.

You can find rice paper in the Asian section of many grocery stores or at your local Asian market. The preparation takes a bit of time, but assembling these rolls is a snap, once you get the hang of rolling the delicate rice paper