In this delightful recipe adapted from Skinnytaste.com, broccoli florets are cooked together in the same pot with orzo pasta resulting in a rich risotto-like texture. The broccoli florets partially melt into the pasta to give it a green tint. It’s then topped with a low-fat shrimp scampi (achieved with less butter and lots of lemon juice). You can use another small pasta such as orecchiette (Italian for “little ear.”) Any small pasta will do, but orzo best resembles risotto w

On a warm and sunny Spring day last year I posted a recipe for Eat-the-Rainbow Salad. Two days later it snowed. Eating cold salad while...

You either like split pea soup or you don't. I am a big fan and I challenge doubters to make this soup and not fall for its chunky,...

Last night during halftime at the Super Bowl that the KANSAS CITY CHIEFS WON, we dined on chili. Not just any chili, though. Ours was...

Here's one more super-easy recipe to stir up during this hectic holiday season. If you love lasagna but don't like all the effort it takes to assemble and bake, here is your ticket to cheesy pasta nirvana: lasagna soup. It's easier to assemble than traditional lasagna and here comes the "nirvana" part, it's healthy! To make this a full meal, I adapted the recipe on skinnytaste.com to include 5 ounces of baby spinach at the end of cooking time. If you're a Weight Watchers memb

My first recipe for 2023 -- chicken vegetable soup -- is made with frozen mixed vegetables, because who wants to chop vegetables on January 1st? You have several options with this easy peasy soup: if you omit the pasta you can reduce the WW Points from 3 to a measly 1. If you're a vegetarian you can leave out the chicken and add beans, potatoes or another winter vegetable. However you choose to make this soup your own, you will enjoy every delicious, veggie-laden mouthful. W

I grew up Catholic in the 1950's and '60's, which meant that my family ate a lot of tuna noodle casseroles on Friday nights. My mom made a company-worthy version of this standard that she got from Better Homes and Gardens magazine. She scooped the tuna/noodle mixture into a ring mold, baked it, unmolded it and poured peas into the center hole. We all thought that my mom was a gourmet cook! My Uncle Bill requested this "elegant" entree (remember, this was the 1950's) whenever

Here is an Americanized version of classic Italian Wedding Soup. Actually, this soup has no relation to weddings. The name comes from the Italian phrase "minestra maritata," or marriage soup, a reference to the delicious "marriage" of its savory ingredients. There are many renditions for Italian Wedding soup. My favorite is from Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. Deb is a self-taught, talented NYC home cook who has published 3 very successful cookbooks. Her recipes range from

Thanksgiving is over and I, for one, am tired of turkey. However, it didn't stop me from making this soup from Melissa Clark of the NYT...

What, you may ask, is Avgolemono? It's a classic Greek sauce made by combining raw egg and lemon juice and slowly adding them to hot...

Pizza has never been considered to be acceptable diet fare. In 1971, when I lost 50 pounds on Weight Watchers, pizza was an "illegal"...

This veggie-filled spicy casserole was last week's recipe handout at Weight Watchers workshops. Immediately after the workshop I made a...