what's for dinner?

january 2001

After all of the cooking we do in November and December, January seems to be a month when we look for the easy recipes that make our lives less complicated. Quick doesn't mean dull-these well-balanced meals are delicious and innovative. Yet you'll be spending about as much time in the kitchen as you spend watching the evening news. The first meal features a very quick Linguine with Red Clam Sauce. The salad that goes with this meal is very Italian and a great foil for the main dish. For dessert, we select fresh fruit and cheese. Linguine with Red Clam Sauce   Linguine with Red Clam Sauce Endive and Radicchio Salad with Oranges Fresh Pears and Cheese (for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above) Our second meal is baked chicken with lentil pilaf and roasted tomatoes. Nothing here is rocket science, but the results are wonderful and so comforting on a cold winter night. Keep the dessert simple such as nonfat, no sugar added frozen yogurt which we always have on hand in our freezer. Chicken with Pesto and Mozzarella Cheese   Chicken with Pesto and Mozzarella Cheese Lentil and Rice Pilaf Roasted Tomatoes Nonfat, No Sugar Added Frozen Yogurt or Ice Cream (for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above) Nothing could be simpler than tossing a few ingredients into your Crockpot and plugging it in. When you get home from work or your children's after school practice or ballet lesson, you just prepare some savory rice and open up a bag of pre-made salad with fat-free dressing. Pile some Clementines or tangerines into a bowl and supper's ready. Tex-Mex Chicken   Tex-Mex Chicken South-of-the-Border Rice Pre-Made Salad with Fat-Free Dressing Clementines or Tangerines (for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above) For our last meal, we once again rely on our trusty Crockpot. This time we're making chicken soup. The original recipe idea came from Gayelord Hauser, the "father" of the natural foods revolution in the 60s and 70s. I was honored to work with him on two of his books, Tender Loving Cooking and Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. At one of our work sessions, he described a chicken soup that he'd eaten for breakfast while traveling at great speed on one of Japan's famous bullet trains. We love it anytime, especially when it'd cold. Using the crockpot makes it almost no-fuss. In this meal, the salad and dessert course are combined. Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup   Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup Fruit Salad over Baby Greens (for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above)