Next time you make a salad, forget the romaine and make this leafless salad instead. It's named after the small cafes in Greece, or tavernas, that serve traditional Greek cuisine. Greek salads usually contain tomatoes, cucumbers and feta cheese. This version, adapted from the NYT Cooking section, also includes chickpeas, bell peppers, Kalamata olives and capers. It's so filling that you can serve it as a main course for a healthy lunch or light dinner. Want more options? Leav

Texas has become famous for many things, but haute cuisine hasn't been one of them. That is, until 1941 when Dallas department store Neiman Marcus hired chef Helen Corbitt to bring more sophisticated fare to hungry Texans raised on chicken-fried steak and BBQ. Helen had never heard of black-eyed peas when she moved from the East Coast to Texas, but since they were so popular in the South, she decided to combine them with a tart vinaigrette on New Year's Eve and Texas Caviar

I offered crumbled feta cheese to each family member when this was served. When we think of salad, lettuce usually comes to mind. Romaine and iceberg are two popular leafy greens, but nobody is buying them these days for obvious safety concerns. Here's a leaf-free alternative salad made with corn, cucumbers and grape tomatoes. It's refreshing and it takes advantage of one of summer's best vegetables: farm fresh corn. You can use either raw corn in this delightful salad or you

James Bok is a popular Canadian content creator who focuses on cooking and lifestyle. He started his career in finance (one of his positions was as an Assistant Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch) but quickly changed directions, becoming a full-time "influencer" on daily life, cooking and skincare. (Sounds like much more fun!) He now has more than 900,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok. I came across one of his videos and found him to be charming. And when he

This is the chicken breast recipe for those of us who are becoming tired of healthy, low-fat, diet-friendly (yawn) chicken breasts. Several factors contribute to its success: lemon-pepper seasoning, fresh lemon juice and butter. Yes, you read that right, butter. The recipe, adapted from the NYT Cooking section, calls for 3 Tbsp. of unsalted butter. The butter combines with fresh lemon juice to make a delectable sauce to serve over the chicken. I cut the butter down to 2 Tbsp.

Eating healthfully doesn't have to be tasteless or predictable (aka the ubiquitous boneless, skinless chicken breast...zzz! ). You can jazz up any low-fat meat or fish with a flavorful side like this offering from Melissa Clark of the NYT Cooking section. It's a riff on Spanakorizo, a classic Greek spinach-rice dish. Made with orzo pasta instead of rice, this meatless recipe is loaded with chopped baby spinach (so much that at first you'll think it's too much, but it’s not)

Here's a great example of a healthy, high-protein meal you can make when you absolutely, positively do not want to cook but you need to eat. It's bare-bones, assembled with readily available pantry-ingredients. Water-packed light tuna is combined with cannellini beans and tossed with sliced red onion and a light vinaigrette. This is a classic Italian salad from famed Italian cook Marcella Hazan, who introduced Americans to traditional Italian cooking with her seminal cookbook

An Air fryer is a countertop convection oven that cooks food by circulating hot air rapidly throughout its interior. Food cooks more quickly, and becomes crispy and golden brown without using a lot of oil. With an air fryer you can make crispy french fries with just a light spray of olive oil. Fried chicken? Same thing. Meatballs are another food that is traditionally fried in oil. I like to make turkey meatballs because they're leaner than typical Italian meatball meat (a co

Eating Black-eyed peas on New Years is an old Southern tradition believed to bring good luck in the new year. Black-eyed peas symbolize coins or pennies and are said to guarantee financial prosperity. This recipe comes from MediterraneanDish.com and is seasoned with Greek spices such as cumin, oregano and paprika. Canned black-eyed peas are used for convenience, but you can use dry beans and cook them in a slow cooker (click on the link above for instructions). Black-eyed p

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 2022 I posted a recipe from Weight Watchers for White Chicken Chili with Salsa Verde. It was very popular among WW members despite the...

Here's a lightning-fast recipe using chicken tenders, which cook in less time than whole chicken breasts and thus remain tender and...

Trader Joe's Farro This salad is the epitome of healthy summer cooking. All of the ingredients (besides the farro) can be added straight...

It's Spring, which means April showers (no tornados, please) and lighter, fresher meals. This recipe from famed Italian cook Giada De...

Last year Weight Watchers expanded its Zero-Point food list to include dark meat poultry and lean red meat, which includes beef, pork,...

This colorful chickpea and orzo stew, from Melissa Clark of the NYT Cooking section, is a simple, delicious way to get a variety of vegetables in one meal. Melissa uses carrots for color and fennel bulb for depth. If you've not cooked with fennel, I suggest you try it. It has a very mild taste that’s a cross between celery and anise. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, but you can opt for celery instead. Cherry tomatoes add a burst of bright color. Don’t feel constrained

You could almost call this a non-recipe because it's so straightforward and simple. Roast three peppers and an onion and store them in a...

When I was a child, we ate watermelon cut into big wedges for dessert. We had as much fun picking out the seeds with our fingers as we...

I found this super-easy, delicious salad in a 1993 edition of the Sunset All-Time Favorite Recipes cookbook. I'm originally from Northern...

Quinoa has become very popular as a healthful, meat-free source of protein. It’s called a super-grain because it contains a complete set...