Featured Recipes:
Cut cucumber in half lengthwise, then in half again. Dice cucumber and red onion into 1-inch chunks. Cut cherry tomatoes in half. Cut feta into half-inch chunks.
Pour in red wine vinegar and sprinkle in oregano and sugar. Toss a few times to incorporate ingredients. Cover and marinate overnight for best results.
Per serving: 130 calories, 8 grams fat (6 grams saturated fat), 8 grams total carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 6 grams protein.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Slice eggplant into rounds about ¼ inch thick. Generously sprinkle slices with the coarse salt and place in a single layer over paper towels to draw out excess moisture. Set aside for an hour or so.
When done, blot/brush off excess salt and pat dry. Slice squash, zucchini, and 3 roma tomatoes about ¼ inch thick.
Boil remaining 10 tomatoes in a pot of hot water for 60 seconds, let cool, then peel, de-seed, and purée them with the roasted red pepper in a food processor or blender. Heat oil in a 12-inch oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add puréed tomatoes, thyme leaves, salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered 5 to 10 minutes, until sauce thickens, straining excess liquid if necessary.
Smooth surface of the sauce and begin arranging sliced vegetables in a spiral form with 1 slice each of eggplant, yellow squash, tomato, and zucchini, starting on the outside of the skillet and working inward. Cover skillet with foil and bake 30 minutes. Take skillet out of oven and remove foil. Sprinkle top with basil, parsley, garlic salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and 4 tablespoons olive oil.
Bake uncovered for another 30 minutes. Serve hot with a loaf of toasted, crusty bread (optional).
Using vegetables with the same circumference will make layering easy. If you have an abundance of vegetables, the recipe can be doubled. Simply stack the sliced vegetables vertically to fit more into the pan. If an oven-safe skillet isn’t available, use a regular skillet, then transfer sauce and layer vegetables in a round, oven-safe casserole dish.
Per serving: 331 calories, 19 grams fat (3 grams saturated fat), 40 grams total carbohydrates, 17 grams fiber, 8 grams protein.
Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly toss fruit with vinegar, basil, and 3 tablespoons sugar. (If fruit is pretty sour, lean on the side of more sugar.) Pour into 9 x 9-inch oven-safe baking dish.
With your hands, crumble together flour, butter, 2 tablespoons sugar, and cinnamon until it resembles small clumps. Top fruit with crumble mixture.
Bake 30 minutes, until the crumble is golden and fruit starts to bubble around the edges.
Note: If you’re not really into measuring ingredients or don’t have the right amount of one of the fruits, not to worry. This recipe is very forgiving; it can be adjusted in lots of different ways and will still turn out great.
Per serving: 259 calories, 8 grams fat (5 grams saturated fat), 47 grams total carbohydrates, 7 grams fiber, 2 grams protein.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
De-stem and de-seed peppers. Cook whole peppers uncovered in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Remove with tongs, dunk in cold water, and invert to drain well.
Cook onion and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add ground chicken, breaking it up as it cooks, about 7 minutes. Drain excess fat.
Add remaining ingredients except for cheese, stirring until heated through. Stuff peppers with chicken mixture. Place peppers upright in a casserole dish or roasting pan. (If pepper won’t stand on its own, cut a thin slice off the bottom to make it level.)
Cover with aluminum foil and bake 25 minutes. Remove foil, top peppers with cheese, and bake another 5 minutes or so until cheese has melted and begun to brown slightly.
Note: Look for bell peppers that are of similar size to ensure even cooking time. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom sit better than those with 3 bumps.
Per serving: 470 calories, 19 grams fat (8 grams saturated fat), 40 grams total carbohydrates, 6 grams fiber, 35 grams protein.
