Pasta Fagioli is a hearty Italian soup made with pasta and beans. It was once eaten only by the poor and was also Dean Martin's favorite Italian dish. He even sang about it in his hit song, "That's Amore." He called it Pasta Fazool. On a recent snowy day, I made a big pot of Pasta Fazool. Due in part to the frigid weather, I would describe it simply as a "bowl of comfort." Actually, the warm temperature of soup sends signals to our brains that trigger a calming response. No

Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman adds the works to her tortilla soup. Make this your own with your favorites! I am a big fan of the Smitten Kitchen website, created by a young New York City woman who is married with two kids and has no professional culinary training. She is simply a brilliant cook with three best-selling cookbooks under her belt. I have to cherry-pick Deb's recipes because many of them are calorific. (Yes, it's a word.) In other words, Deb has way more fun cook

Turkey is on everyone’s mind these days as Americans prepare for Thanksgiving. Turkey and lots of high-fat, must-make family sides like Grandma’s stuffing, Aunt Harriet’s green bean casserole and — read it and weep— 23 WW Points-per-serving pecan pie. I suggest that we try something different before the big day (from Weight Watchers, no less) that will knock your socks off without adding to your sense of holiday indulgence. It’s completely different from the usual holiday far

Thanksgiving is a cherished annual holdiay where we give thanks for our blessings and then dig into a veritable food fest. Potatoes always appear in some rich, calorific form, aka mashed potatoes steeped in lots of butter. Here's a suggestion for potatoes that won't break the calorie bank: baby potatoes well seasoned and roasted until browned and crisp. They're utterly delicious, and what's more, you’ll have room for a slice of pecan pie! Life is about moderation, not depriva

From November 16, 2009: One of our family’s favorite Thanksgiving traditions is this sweet potato casserole. My daughter Elizabeth, who has been known to cast a suspicious eye on my attempts to make recipes more Weight Watcher-friendly, once said to me, “Don’t go messing with this recipe. It’s perfect just the way it is.” It took me years to admit to her that it came from an old Cooking Light cookbook. It’s not exactly “diet” friendly, but it’s a good example of how you can

In the 1950's, the Cabbage Soup Diet became popular as a fast way to lose pounds. Most recipes included dry onion soup mix and lots of chopped cabbage. Dieters were instructed to follow the diet for one week, during which they could eat as much soup as they wanted. I'm pretty sure no one could tolerate it for more than 7 days, and results were likely only short-lived. Even Weight Watchers took a turn with Cabbage Soup, calling it Zero-Point Soup and praising its ability to be