If you want a SUPER healthy side dish to take to Thanksgiving this year, this is what you’re making. Vegan. Fat Free. High Fiber. Gluten Free. Nothing but flavor going on here. And if you DON’T want to take this to Thanksgiving, may I suggest serving it the day before or after to balance the rich and delicious meal you’re sure to enjoy that day? It’s all about balance, so while I’d never suggest you forego your holiday favorites, I like to think about bookending the big meal with some days of lighter, healthier fare. Get this one into the queue…

Curried Rice Salad

Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups brown basmati rice
Zest and juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup dried currants
6 green onions (white and green parts) finely chopped
1/2 small red onion, peeled and minced
1 jalepeno pepper peeled and minced (for less heat remove the seeds)
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Rinse the rice under cold water and drain. Add it to a pot with 4 cups cold water. Bring it to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, covered, for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
2. While the rice is cooking, combine the lime zest and juice,  rice vinegar, brown rice syrup, currants, green onions, red onion, jalapeno pepper, curry powder, cilantro, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and mix well.
3. When the rice is finished cooking, allow to cool and then add the rice to the bowl and mix well. Chill and serve cold.

We’re knee-deep in soup weather these days and I especially like to have a big pot on the stove on Halloween night so that I can spend my time bundling up my little trick-or-treaters after exhausting them with 452 pictures of them in their costumes! (What is it about a mom with a camera on Halloween?!)

This is a rich chowder full of fall vegetables, mostly pureed, but with some extra corn added and fresh spinach wilted in for texture. If you’re making this soup in advance, reserve the spinach leaves and stir them in when you’re heating the soup before serving.

Then, if you decide to go completely over the top and do something like, oh, say, add a SPIDERWEB to the top of the soup before you serve it, I say go for it! (Pipe a swirl of sour cream onto the top and then drag a toothpick through the lines to get this look.)

Halloween Harvest Chowder

Yields 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
3 celery stalks, diced (about 1 cup)
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
6 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
2 small zucchini diced
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons thyme
2 cups frozen corn
4 cups packed spinach leaves

Directions

1. Place the onion, celery, carrots, and 1/2 cup of vegetable stock in a large soup pot and saute over medium heat for 6-8 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.

2. Add the zucchini, sweet potatoes, bay leaves, thyme, and the remaining broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

3. Add 1 c. of the corn and cook for 10-15 more minutes. Remove the bay leaves.

4. Puree the soup using immersion blender (or in batches in a blender with a tight fitting lid). After pureeing, add the remaining corn and spinach leaves. Cook for 5 more minutes or until the spinach is wilted. Stir well and serve hot.

I’m always telling people to eat more vegetables,  so I often get asked what they should do to make them more interesting. The fact is, plain frozen broccoli tastes like, well, like plain frozen broccoli and that’s not exactly something anyone wakes up dreaming about!

I think of vegetables as a canvas and to build upon using low calorie ingredients that pack a big punch of flavor and aroma. This dish is a perfect example – sesame oil, ginger, soy sauce and black pepper transform humble snow peas into something really special!

Try this and watch the veggies disappear from everyone’s plates faster than you can defrost that package of frozen broccoli.

Snow Peas with Ginger

Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
3 cups fresh snow peas, ends trimmed (about 8 ounces)
1 teaspoon minced pealed fresh ginger
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Add snow peas and ginger; saute 3 minutes.  (You will DIE over how amazing this smells!) Remove from heat; stir in soy sauce and black pepper.