Salad Recipes

Certain foods "go together" in my mind; for example, pork and apples are one of my favorite combinations. The Johnny Appleseed Pork Chops in tonight's menu are a luscious change of pace from savory pork chops.

CarbSmart Complete Low Carb Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes includes Zesty Roast Turkey, Molded Gazpacho Salad, Cranberry Treat, Company Cauliflower Casserole, Decadent Spinach Casserole, Holiday Spaghetti Squash Casserole, Di's Chocolate Mocha No-Bake Cheesecake.

Next week the infamous "Mideast Feast" is scheduled for the 6th graders of Rapid Run Middle School. They're studying the Mideast, you see, and the teachers and parents provide the feast as an extension of their lessons. I remember my son participating in this when he was in the 6th grade; now it's my daughter's turn.

Tonight's Low-Carb Lesson includes Fiesta Fish Fillets, Plain Ol' Broccoli Flowerets, and Simple Romaine Salad recipes from CarbSmart Low Carb Cooking 101.

Once in a while, the kids fly the coop and range about the city doing whatever kids do. In my case, that means that Chris is at his "other family's" house for dinner and the evening. (His girlfriend's mother is thinking of declaring him a dependent on their income tax return.) Judy is usually off to spend the night with a friend.

Sometimes you just have to take the time to have dinner alone with your spouse. It's so nice to have a little quiet time together, even if it means fixing a separate dinner for the kids earlier in the evening. It's worth the effort, even though it's not something you'd want to do every night.

I came up with the idea for this dish to please my 17-year-old son, who loves feta cheese, olives, and salads of all kinds. Of course, he's not really all that sophisticated; he also likes saltines spread with canned chocolate frosting. (Gag!)

Once you've been low carbing a while, you find that you get a bit bored with plain meat and vegetables. (Well, maybe not steak!) This is when the smart low carbers turn to their spice racks to jazz up their meals without adding a lot of empty carbohydrates. Tonight's meal will satisfy your bored taste buds with the zip of Italian seasonings.

Tonight's meal is a nice change of pace, and proves once again that neither low carb food nor seafood has to be boring. Broiled Flounder with Zesty Lime Cream, Steamed Broccoli Spears, Romaine and Mushroom Salad with Lemony French Dressing.

This evening's meal, Chicken Caesar Salad, is the ultimate make-ahead dinner or lunch. Everything is prepared ahead of time, so that when it comes time to serve your meal all you have to do is toss it all on the plate. It's great for those evenings when everybody is going in different directions and no one is eating at the same time. With everything already prepared, everyone can fend for themselves. This is my kind of cooking!

Kentucky Hot Brown is a traditional recipe for a hot turkey sandwich. I usually make it as an entree, but I will sometimes make it as a sandwich using Romaine lettuce leaves in lieu of the traditional bread. It's good that way, but messy.

For Italian Meatball Stew you need to make meatballs. You probably already figured that out, right? I like to make the meatballs ahead of time and put them in the freezer. The meatballs can be used not only in Italian Meatball Stew but in spaghetti sauce, rolled up into Romaine lettuce leaves with some tomatoes, cheese, and Italian salad dressing or a little heated spaghetti sauce for a meatball sandwich, or just heated and munched as a snack, so don't hesitate to make a double batch. They're always handy to have on hand.