Tomato

The next time you have company, make sure to treat them to this! This relatively simple side will have your family and friends thinking you’ve cooked all day. And if you can get little Johnny to eat spinach, then that’s a plus, too! This creamy, rich spinach dish graces the plate and stands up to any meat pairing, making it a perfect side for your next dinner party. When serving, use an ice cream scoop to make neat, perfectly shaped mounds. Try pairing it with our Savory Salmon Turnovers (page 90) or our Pastitsio (page 70).

This dish is so simply prepared, yet yields amazingly complex flavors. Sandy was inspired to make these tasty stacks from ingredients that seemed always to be on hand in her and Michael’s home. Because there are so few ingredients in this dish, it is imperative that your ingredients are quality. We also recommend that you take the time to make your bread crumbs from scratch, as it adds that extra something to the dish. And don’t worry about any extra bread crumbs getting stale; just store them in the freezer and they will stay fresh for months. If you find yourself with extra basil, don’t waste it! Use it to make some tasty pesto (see opposite).

Enjoy this flavorful Mexican dish with a casserole twist that’s not only easy to put together but adds pure spice to the dinner routine. Since this recipe calls for you to layer ingredients as a stack, versus individually hand-rolling the enchiladas, we recommend that you bake the corn tortillas separately in the oven until crisp. With traditional enchiladas, the corn tortillas become mushy, but by toasting them in the oven, they help this casserole keep its shape. Serve with light sour cream, fresh salsa, and guacamole for a real fiesta. Olé!

“Good for you” doesn’t have to mean “bland.” Crystal is a sucker for lots of flavor, and this dish is an extravaganza for her palate! It’s light, fresh, and oh-so-flavorful. While the fish and roasted vegetables have a wonderful taste all on their own, Crystal adores the tangy caper sauce that makes this dish sing! Capers—small green pockets of salty goodness—are actually the unopened flower buds of a Mediterranean bush, Capparis spinosa. Once harvested, they are dried in the sun and then pickled in either a vinegar brine or packed in salt. There is a rather large variety of capers, varying in size and origin. Feel free to experiment to find the ones you like best, but we typically prefer the smaller nonpareille size that hails from southern France. If you are trying to watch the amount of salt in your diet, rinse the capers and pat dry with a towel before adding them to the sauce.

Dill is one of our favorite summertime herbs. Its fresh, clean flavor is perfect for a flaky white fish like halibut. It’s lovely served with wild brown rice and crisp green beans. You can also make this with haddock or red snapper.

Light on calories. More than delicious. We took the best of Mediterranean flavors and brought them together harmoniously in this fresh and delightful dish. Scrumptious shrimp and feta are baked with fresh herbs and tomatoes in a light sauce of wine and clam juice that is perfect for serving over a bed of linguini.

All hail to the Queen! If you’re a fan of our Traditional King Ranch Casserole (page 41), you will love this lighter version, which delivers on taste but not on fat. We cut out the creamy soups to home in on the flavors from the green chiles and Rotel tomatoes. That’s not to say that this dish is super-spicy; it has a kick, but is overall very fresh. The cornstarch and broth mixture is called a slurry, and is used to thicken soups, stews, and sauces. Here are a few tips for making a slurry: Never add cornstarch directly to a hot liquid or it will lump; slurries should be 1 part cornstarch to 2 parts liquid, and, when stirred, should have the consistency of heavy cream; if you don’t have cornstarch, you can substitute flour—just use twice as much.

We all have a friend who can literally eat whatever she wants and continue to stay in shape. One of Crystal’s dear friends, Carolyn, is that type of person: a Yankee from New Jersey—and a skinny one at that. Lucky for her, she introduced Crystal to this pot roast, and their friendship took off . Crystal soon found out that Carolyn actually cooks everything with lighter ingredients. Now we’re on to Carolyn’s secret!

Tamales are a huge part of the Christmas celebration and tradition in the Rio Grande Valley, where Sandy was born and raised. As such, the holiday season simply wouldn’t be complete without eating copious amounts of tamales. Tamales are fun to make, but very time-consuming, so many people simply purchase them from a local restaurant. We go to Delia’s in Edinburg, Texas. Around Christmastime, they make about 25,000 tamales and become so busy that the doors are closed to regular customers and the police are dispatched to direct traffic. If your order isn’t in at least two weeks prior to Christmas, then you’re out of luck! Our spin on the tamale is a casserole that saves you both calories and countless hours of preparation.

Or as we like to call them—Hungarian pigs in a blanket! (We’re a bit silly, if you haven’t noticed.) This dish traveled into our hearts long ago and has satisfied our families for generations. It was surprising to us that this comfort food that we grew up on wasn’t that bad for you! Made with lean ground beef, rice, and veggies, and covered in a tomato sauce, these rolls will fill you up but not weigh you down.

Say no to grapefruit diets, and yes to feeling satisfied. Similar to a burrito filling, this casserole boasts a creamy rice mixture made with low-fat sour cream and green onions, all covered in a spicy meat sauce and topped with reduced-fat Cheddar. Round out a healthy dinner by serving this dish with either a fruit or green salad and dinner rolls. It’s also perfect to use as a filling for whole wheat or corn tortillas.

This Hungarian-style dish reminds us of learning to cook on our own while in college. The term “goulash” is very loose in its definition as it was a dish invented for using leftovers—or in our case, whatever we could find in the kitchen! Sandy, in particular, has fond memories of goulash. She was the last of the four Pollock sisters to leave home. Lucky for Sandy, her sister Yvette lived nearby. While Sandy was living with her parents and attending college, Yvette was a young schoolteacher, just getting started in her career. Yvette didn’t have a lot of money, but she was always generous and creative. From time to time, she would invite Sandy and her parents over for goulash, asking, “Oh, would you mind bringing over a can of corn from the house? And could you grab some cheese? And some beef? Oh, and an onion?” It turned out that her goulash was composed of whatever the Pollocks had in their fridge or pantry at the time. But Yvette would always set the table for the family and turn the borrowed ingredients into the most delicious meal.

Just like mamma used to make, only better for you! By using a mixture of fat-free ricotta and low-fat cottage cheese, we’ve slashed loads of unnecessary calories while maintaining a true traditional taste. People all over Austin have fallen in love with our layers of lasagna noodles combined with our homemade meat sauce and light cheeses. It tastes so much like the real deal that you won’t believe it’s light.

Firm polenta serves as the base for a delectable shrimp sauce made with tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes, and crisp pancetta crumbles. Once seared, the polenta is perfectly crisp on the outside and velvety on the inside. You’ll need to make the polenta a couple of hours before serving, since it needs time to cool and set before you can sear it. Luckily, it can be made ahead of time.

French-food lovers, fear not the long list of steps and ingredients for this traditional dish. It’s easier than you think. Many of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry, and the rest can easily be found in your local grocery store. The key to great bouillabaisse is fresh seafood. We’re talking fresh-from-the-sea fresh, not Joe’s week-old specials. Nothing spoils a fish-based stew like subpar fish. Get to know the person at the fish counter and find out what’s fresh that day. In fact, ask to sniff the fish before they wrap it up for you—you want it to smell like the sea. Much like paella, this dish has very flexible ingredients. It’s part of the fun. Plus, you’ll be amazed at how quickly and easily it comes together. It’s time to start a French revolution—in your kitchen!

Crystal’s mom, Charlotte, should have installed a revolving door in their home, as it was the place where everyone stopped by—conveniently right around dinnertime. Charlotte fed almost everyone in Blue Ridge—the small town located in the North Georgia Mountains where Crystal grew up—for years and finally decided to make a successful catering business of it. Her prime rib was by far one of the most requested items and has become a Cook family holiday favorite. Lucky for Charlotte, her recipe made it into this book, so now she can stop by someone else’s house for dinner.

Put some lovin’ in your oven! This fabulous dish gets its rich flavor from slowly brazing the veal until the meat is so tender, it literally falls off the bone with the touch of your fork. As it cooks, the aromas of the fresh herbs, earthy vegetables, and wine fill the kitchen. In fact, you may have to keep yourself busy by reading this cookbook until the timer goes off , lest you dig in before it’s done. Seriously, if you have never tried osso bucco, this is your chance! It takes a little more time—and expense—to cook than other dishes, but it’s completely worth it. Traditionally osso bucco is served over risotto, but we like it best over a bed of mashed potatoes or cooked white rice. So go ahead and treat yourself, you deserve it. If you’re not keen on veal, you can use lamb instead.

Every family has a signature dish, and this one belongs to the Lovitt family. Sandy’s other half, Michael, grew up on this dish, and to this day his mom makes it for him whenever he goes home to visit. In fact, Michael’s mom, Jayne, has been making this dish ever since she was newly wed to her husband, Mike. The story goes that when Jayne and Mike were first married, they spent a lot of time with another couple in the neighborhood (we’ll call them “Bob and Sally”). Jayne, Mike, Bob, and Sally would get together on a regular basis and play cards. Eventually, they decided that they would start making dinner for each other, too. This tradition didn’t last long before Bob called and said they could no longer participate in the dinner parties. When Jayne asked if everything was okay, Bob said that Sally was very upset because there was no way she could ever compete with Jayne’s baked spaghetti. They haven’t spoken in thirty years!

Crystal’s sister, Cindy, has always been a fantastic cook, but recently she has found a special connection in the kitchen. During a year-and-a-half-long treatment for breast cancer, she found that cooking is amazing therapy. Not only has Cindy been a great sounding board for our recipes, she concocted this easy, nutritious, and delicious dish that is so tasty that we just had to share it with the rest of the world. Go Cindy! Go Cindy!

Crystal’s Aunt Mary Ann prefers to accompany her stuffed peppers with a rich tomato sauce.