8 Smart Points/Mac & Cheese * 2 Smart Points/Tenders I’ve tried pumpkin and squash. I’ve even puréed heads of cauliflower. I’ve used and abused low-fat cheese, but I never made a Mac & Cheese that I love as much my splurge-y bechamel-based number. In desperation, I got trashy and gussied up an idea I... Continue Reading →
Cincinnati 5-Way Chili
0 Smart Points/Chili * 9 Smart Points/5-Way with crackers Picture this -- Cincinnati, Ohio 1920s: A couple of Slavic-Macedonian immigrants started serving a “stew with Mediterranean spices” to top their hot dogs at the Empress stand located nest door to a burlesque theater. Eventually the unique, beanless sauce was offered as a spaghetti topping in... Continue Reading →
Easiest ‘Scotch Eggs’ & Mustardy Watercress
2 Smart Points/1X Egg * 2 Smart Points/Dressing Long, rambling, and completely inconclusive, the history of Scotch Eggs sees them from countryside picnics of wealthy Victorians to blankets of “good brown gravy” as middle class supper. Recently re-discovered by (mostly American) gastropubs after falling stale to gas station cold cases in the 90’s, the... Continue Reading →
Turkish Lahmacun
1 Smart Point Bright vegies and fresh flat-leaf parsley pile into a crispy flatbread and minced-meat wrap for a perfect hot weather lunch. With nearly a half dozen spellings from just as many countries, in Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon, and Syria, Lahmacun is a big deal. Often compared to pizza but bearing very little resemblance save... Continue Reading →
Rotisserie Chicken Egg Foo Yong
3 Smart Points Silly name. Serious dish. Although I wasn’t raised on Egg Foo Yong, as a child of the 80’s, in a world of sweet-and-sour chicken, it read serious glaa-mmmmour. Something Angela Lansbury might order in Boston’s Chinatown on “Murder She Wrote,” or Charo might find on the “The Love Boat’s” Lido deck... Continue Reading →
Classic Diner Meatloaf
2 Smart Points I tried them all. Every…single…turkey or chicken meatloaf out there. Disappointment came in the form of leaden and dry, hard to swallow loaves, or dark-meat versions with nearly as many Points, fat, and calories as their beefy counterparts. It’s when I thought of meatloaf as one humongous meatball, I finally hit... Continue Reading →
Chicken Waldorf Salad
2 Smart Points Finding a classic recipe for a simple Waldorf salad might not be so simple after all. In fact, as recent as a decade ago, the newly hired executive chef of the famed hotel was shocked to discover that salads delivered from room service differed from those served at the lounge and... Continue Reading →