Use these colorful, versatile peppers to top crostini, on a sandwich or as a condiment on fish or chicken. Reader Maggie Poppa from Yorkshire, England, contributed the recipe.
An updated and untraditional rémoulade makes a tangy sauce for these spice-rubbed shrimp. While this is a warm-weather favorite on the grill, you can also cook the shrimp under a preheated broiler. Cook shrimp on a lightly sprayed broiler rack, about 4 inches from the heat, for a winter warmer any night of the week.
Blackened salmon is great in a sandwich with a spread of mashed avocado and low-fat mayonnaise plus peppery arugula leaves, cool tomato slices and zesty red onion. We grill our Cajun-style salmon so there is no need for any added cooking oil. Catfish makes an excellent stand-in for the salmon but you'll want to use a grill basket if you have one to keep the fish from breaking apart.
With a traditional high-fat pie dough, it's easy to go wrong because the dough must be chilled and rolled out while the butter or shortening is still cold - a relatively small window of time (especially for beginners). Nuts and nut oil replace most of the butter in this pie crust, so the timing is less particular. The dough doesn't need to be refrigerated, which cuts down on preparation time, and because it is rolled out between sheets of plastic wrap, it won't stick to the countertop and it can be easily lifted.
Garlic-cheese grits are a typically rich Southern dish, but the truth is you don't need a half a cup of butter and a pound of cheese to make them taste good. By using a pungent blend of super-sharp cheeses we've found you can use much less cheese and still get flavor-packed results.
Take “Fat Tuesday” a little less literally this year with a more creative, more colorful approach to your Mardi Gras menu. Our perfect-for-a-dinner-party recipes are low in calories and celebrate the colors of Mardi Gras: purple, green and gold. These hues traditionally symbolize justice, faith and power, respectively. To us, they also reflect nutrients galore. Gold-tinged produce provides beta carotene. Those green vegetables deliver folate and lutein, a phytochemical linked with healthy vision. “Red” (or purple!) fruits and vegetables can be rich in anthocyanins, antioxidants that may prevent age-related cognitive decline, and flavonoids, antioxidants that help keep blood vessels healthy.
And of course, if you want to stick to traditional Cajun favorites, we have healthier versions of those as well. These recipes are delicious and totally perfect for entertaining—just toss in some colorful beads and you’ve got yourself a party.