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Here's a tip for eating light: when you're making a pie, subtract a crust. For instance, usually you'd make a blackberry pie with a bottom and top crust. But how about not doing a top crust? Or better, yet, don't have a bottom crust - make it more like a cobbler and just lay a crust gently on top of the pie filling. This way you get a nice, golden flaky crust and you cut out a lot of the calories. Who needs a soggy bottom crust anyway? We've been subtracting crusts in my family for years, and we hardly miss them.

To take it even further, a couple days ago I made pumpkin pie without any crust at all - that is, I made pumpkin custard! It's not what I'd serve to company, but it's a delicious and reasonably healthy snack/breakfast/dessert for me.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/series/thenewvegetarian

I've been ogling this series of veg recipes written up by Yotam Ottolenghi from the UK Newspaper THE GUARDIAN.

They seem so *exotic* but most, upon closer examination, are pretty simple - just interesting ingredient combos. Caveat that I haven't tried any yet - but thought I'd share.

I'm looking for a tool/database/search engine that gives me recipes for those leftover specialty ingredients, or just plain leftover ingredients. Like, I bought beautiful turnips this weekend at the Winter Market and I'm not sure what to do with them. This mythical tool would be more useful for something like truffles or almond butter.

I'm pretty sure I saw it on this site, but now I can't find it.

Thanks!

--And my eating light tip: Broth based soups with as much vegetables as you can fit in the pot, then sprinkling on thin sliced spinach as a finisher.

Practically no fat and all that liquid fills you right up.

Regarding a tool/database for recipes, try www.cookstr.com -the "surprise me" feature is addictive.

Also, I baked a ham for a 6 person dinner party and we ended up eating leftovers for over a week...and it's still not gone! Albeit delicious at first...cold ham is getting a little dull - any suggestions for what to with seemingly endless ham leftovers?

AnnaG, I was faced with half a ham all to myself over the holidays and I definitely put it to use. For the first round, I ate about a week's worth of homemade Egg McMuffins (egg, ham, cheddar, on one of those Ezekial sprouted grain English muffin), but it barely made a dent in my ham supply. Then I made homemade mac & cheese and threw in about 2 cups. Still, the ham carried on. I finally finished it off making lentil soup that turned out to be ham soup with lentils, but still very good. Dorothy Parker said "Eternity is two people and a ham." No, eternity is one person and a ham.

AnnaG: I suggest split pea soup. There are literally hundreds of readily available recipes and as long as you don't add too much salt it's hard to mess up. Make sure you add 2 whole cloves and a bay leaf.

Though that might be best for the bone at the end!

Found a recipe for delicious Carrot Ginger Bisque (though that's a misnomer, since the resultant soup is hardly bisque-like) at -- of all places -- a Web site maintained by a Chicago restaurant. I have no way to telling you how light it is except to use Weight Watchers points, and this is 4 per cup, so gulp a couple as I just did for lunch. Wonderful gingery flavor and light. Here's the link:
http://www.southportgrocery.com/

my friend needs some help looking for different lentil and bean recipes to help with her dad's high blood pressure. any ideas?

AnnaG: I made a really delicious leek and ham quiche that used up a bit of a leftover ham that I had. Though, truth be told, I've frozen a lot of it to stick in soups later.

driftandfloat: your friend could look up recipes for daal. There are all sorts of varieties and it's a nice use for lentils. And then there's white bean chili...with chicken breast and lots of good white beans (and veggies!) it shouldn't be too bad for one's cholesterol.

My go-to soup recently has been a mexican themed soup. It's got a tomato base with onion, garlic, jalapeno, and a couple of cans of diced tomatoes with chicken (or veggie) broth. Dried oregano, ancho chili powder and chipotle chili powder are added. Then a can of black beans and a huge can of hominy are drained and added. The soup is finished off with some cilantro. Bowl that up with some avocado, a bit of cheese, and a splash of lime, and I do believe you've got one of the most hearty and healthy (and delicious!) meals you could possibly ask for.

our recent quest to eat light has been a very interesting journey! we are two college students who have a sort of tight budget, but we just love fresh fruits and vegetables as mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. all the good kind of sugars, carbs, and vitamins you need, and they allow you to eat less at your standard meals.
we also love to cook with fresh ingredients that we pick up right before the meal. just fill your wok or pan with loads of fresh vegetables, chicken or better yet tofu, and a low sodium marinade. delicious the next day too! :)

we also use a food log to sort of monitor what we are eating and the foods with the highest calories and fats. its kind of a hassle, but if you know what you put in your cooked meals, than you can monitor you daily caloric intake!
not so much "cooking" with this one, but it helps you spread your calories throughout the day.

My boyfriend and I made a food plan for this week. We decided what we would eat for five days and then went grocery shopping. We're both trying to eat lighter, healthier and possibly lose a little weight. It's been great so far. We went grocery shopping and got everything we needed for the week, including snacks. That way, we don't do compulsive buying at the store during the week.

Today we're having tortilla soup chock full of lentils.

driftandfloat:
Try grinding the lentils with rice to make a dosa. You can find recipes online, but you basically make a batter and the end product is something that looks like a crepe and empanada. You can stuff it with anyhing you want. It's delicious and if you only use lentils, it's a complete protein.

Here's my tortilla soup recipe;
1 container of Trader Joe's Tomato Sauce Starter OR large can of Muir Glen's Chunky Tomato Sauce
2 1/2 cups of broth or water ( I normally use water)
4 cloves garlic
2 stalks of celery
1/2 onion
2-3 onions
1-2 carrots
1/2-1 cups of lentils
3 tsps ground cumin
salt to taste
pepper to taste
olive oil 2 TBS

I finely chop the garlic, and throw it into a pot with the onion and celery(chopped however you prefer). After that's cooked for bit, I throw in the tomato sauce. Then the water, veggies and cumin. I usually ad the salt and pepper last.

I brush corn tortillas with oil on both sides and pop them in the oven until crispy.

When I serve the soup I crumble one tortilla in the bottom of the bowl, then serve the soup and crumble another tortilla on the top.

I find it so hard to eat light in this cold. Soups and grain salads are definitely on the agenda, but I'm throwing it all to the cold, cold wind for the Inauguration and making mushroom ravioli with brown butter and pine nuts. Plus cupcakes. And champagne. The only nod to "light" will be the steamed green beans.

Lentil Soup

You can add whatever veggies you want, but I recommend keeping the carrots and tomatoes. You can also add bacon or ham to this (Anna!) but it veganizes just fine. Great with cornbread.

1/2 lb brown or green lentils

Olive/vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 c. leeks, sliced
3 large carrots, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (green or red are both good but have very different vibes)
(other veggies as desired or as found in crisper)

6 cups tomatoes, juice and all, or 14 oz canned tomatoes
10 oz beef or veggie broth
1 Tbs cornstarch

2 Tbs vinegar (this is the secret ingredient)
1 (?) tbs salt

Rinse and sort lentils; boil in a large (5 qt or more) pot with 5 cups of water for 1 hour (about).

Meanwhile, prepare the veggies. In a large pan saute the onions. Add leeks, then carrots, then pepper, then fresh tomatoes if using, adding any other hard veggies early in the game, and saute until crisp-tender. Add to lentils. (If your pan fills up, you can do this in batches, adding the veggies to the lentils as you go.)

Dissolve cornstarch in a little of the broth and add (both) to lentils. Add canned tomatoes (if using). Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes or whatever. (The soup will be edible in less than 45 minutes, but the longer the better, so the flavors can blend.

Add salt and vinegar toward the end of cooking (they can make the lentils tough.)

***
Try a crumble or crisp topping on your baked fruit concoctions... I'm fond of a topping that uses rolled oats, wheat flower, brown sugar and a little olive oil. Don't remember the proportions, sorry. Or just use a bit of granola.

***
The ham dillema reminds me of a Lake Woebegone episode in which a couple's leftover ham starts growing.

I was gifted a bag of starter for "amish friendship bread" along with a recipe....that calls for instant pudding.

i'm pretty sure the amish don't use instant pudding in their bread, but even if they do, i don't have any in my pantry. any ideas for how i could use this starter for a bread made out of unprocessed foods would be appreciated.

the starter, for what it's worth, seems to be flour, sugar, yeast, and water.

I have some milk going bad tomorrow.
Any tips on how to use it? It's 1 liter of 2%.

artstellla - Make chocolate (or other) pudding - the cook boxed kind or from scratch. Or a milk based soup for dinner tonight.

ok, I swear your user name just said artstellla but now it says Ana K. Anyhow, the comment asking about what to do with spoiling milk is what my previous response was for.

Thanks for the bean and lentil suggestions, I will forward them to my friend.

I've got crab on the menu for tomorrow, simple salad and a hunk of bread on the side. Sunday I think I may make buckwheat crepes and fill them with shredded cooked root vegetables and a goat cheese sauce...Soup is definitely going to be made as it's cold around here!

I made tortilla soup this week, too, just like Ana K., but mine has chicken (and I fry my tortillas, which is a bit of a production. Baking them is a good idea. I will try that next time -- thanks, Ana!). Here's my recipe:

http://wellfedeveryone.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/tortilla-soup/

Thanks, driftandfloat.
It did say arstella, but I figured I would use my name instead.

I decided to make rice pudding, Barefoot Contessa style. Although, I made it without the rums and raisins(way too cold in Chicago to go get any). It's got an egg in it, which makes it nice and silky.

Ana K-

Use the milk to make ricotta cheese.

To thinkingwoman - I had the same problem when I received a friendship bread starter. I just left the pudding out altogether and it turned out fine; I think I even subbed in some whole wheat flour with no ill effects. (It's been a while since I made it so I can't remember exactly what I did!)

Whytephoenix - I've been hankering for lentil soup so I copied your recipe and will cook some. It is not freezing in Seattle, but gray and temps 35-40 for the last week so soup, especially one with bright colored veggies will be great. Thanks.

I'm always looking for new tortilla soup recipes, but this is the one I usually fall back on:

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 onion, sliced
2 cups (roughly) green beans in 2cm slices (fresh or frozen)
2 cups (roughly) corn (I always use frozen for this soup)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomatillos
2 cups vegetable stock or water
cumin, coriander, salt and pepper to taste
2 or 3 canned chipotles, chopped
2 or 3 tsp of the adobo sauce from the can of chipotles
baked corn tortillas (I usually assume two per person)
grated cheddar cheese and/or sour cream to garnish

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil (or vegetable oil) and sautee the onions until soft. Add the diced squash and sautee for another few minutes. Add the spices. Pour in the canned tomatoes, tomatillos, and stock. Add the chipotles and adobo sauce. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender. Add the corn and green beans (I like mine to be tender but not squishy, so the cooking time is flexible after this point). Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

To serve, crumble a tortilla into each bowl, ladle in the soup, and top with cheese and/or sour cream.

Thinkingwoman - I also recently received starter for Amish Friendship bread and will actually be posting about it later this week on the Kitchn! I'm thinking of maybe subbing some milk powder in. Stay tuned...

Say, is anyone celebrating lunar New Year this weekend? My in-laws are doing hot pot and we're all supposed to bring stuff. I found a pretty simple-looking recipe for spinach noodles in an old Cantonese cookbook. I'm not sure if I should attempt to turn them into longevity noodles (cut super-long) or if it will be a pain to fish them out of a hot pot!