Food tip of the day ...

If you make chili, sloppy joes or taco filling from scratch, try grating a few zucchini's and adding the pulp to your dish. The zucchini cooks down to almost nothing and adds a nice dose of (undetectable) fiber and vitamins to your food. The flavor is mild and does not alter the overall appeal to the dish. I added 3 grated zucchini's to a pot of chili that I made this week and you really couldn't tell that it was in there. The green specks in the food look like herbs. If you don't want the green flecks you can always peel the skin and then grate the veggie. You will lose nutrients by omitting the skin but something is always better than nothing.

Also my mom made Eggplant Parmesan with long slices of zucchini (instead of eggplant) and it was super good. Just another way to add veggies to a carnivore's diet.

Note, if you buy a block of extra firm tofu and grate it, the "strings" make a nice addition to stir fry dishes. The strings soak up the flavor from the pan.

Low Fat Mini Cheesecakes

Here is a yummy cheesecake receipe made from splenda and a tofu based cream cheese spread. The dessert is low carb, low fat and easy to make. Prep time is 10 minutes. Cooking time is about the same.

INGREDIENTS:

2 (8 oz.) containers of Tofutti "Better Than Cream Cheese" spread
2 eggs
1/2 cup Splenda **OR** granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 foil cupcake liners
12 Nilla Wafer Cookies (omit if you want the dessert to be sugar-free)

DIRECTIONS:

Place cream cheese spread in a bowl and mix well, until there are no lumps. Add the eggs, vanilla and Splenda (or sugar). Mix well.

Place the foil cupcake liners on a baking sheet (remove the paper liner) and then lay 1 Nilla Wafer cookie inside each liner. Spoon 1/8 - 1/4 cup of cheesecake mix into each foil cup. Fill the cups as high as you like (the mix won't spill over as it cooks).

Bake the cheesecakes at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Cool then top with your favorite fruit pie filling or fresh berries (mixed with lemon juice).

** I've served this dessert at two dinner parties and both times, the guests never knew that they were eating a tofu based product. The cheesecake flavor and texture is spot on. **

Pasta Pomodoro Sauce `ala Rob

Ingredients:

4-6 large beefsteak tomatoes (or 10 romas)
1 cup fresh basil leaves (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (crushed)
1/2 yellow onion (diced)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Score tomatoes with an X on the bottom, place in a large pot of boiling water to blanch. Par boil for 1 minute (turn over occasionally in the water) then remove from pot and rinse. Let tomatoes cool then peel skin and dice.

Heat a large skillet. Place olive oil in skillet and heat for 15 seconds. Add diced onion and crushed garlic. Sweat the onion and garlic until they barely start to brown. Add tomatoes, salt and both peppers. Lower the heat and cook for 7-10 minutes. Add the basil towards the end of your cooking process.

Serve over pasta, grilled fish or chicken.