Coconut Caramel Braised Tofu

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So…tofu. It’s high in protein, low in saturated fat: a big thumbs up for heart-healthy nutrition.

But it’s low in taste—which can be both a plus and a minus. AND ALSO, for me, the biggest minus of all: How on earth do you cook it?  I have always found tofu intimidating. There’s that ‘press’ thing that you have to do. And I just find it confounding: do you bake it, grill it, sauté/stir-fry it?  About the only thing I knew I didn’t want to do heart-health-wise was to deep fry it (though air-frying is probably great but I’m not there yet.)

A few weekends ago,

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Tomato Tomato Tomato Gazpacho!

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If you have a late-summer bounty of tomatoes and cucumbers, I have a Gazpacho recipe for you to try. Which is funny because I normally DO NOT LIKE gazpacho … but I loved this one.

Aptly named, Best Gazpacho, Julia Moskin explains that this recipe delivers the smooth style of gazpacho served in Seville, Spain. And as an avowed gazpacho-hater, I’m shocked to tell you that it is indeed both smooth and delicious. And easy to make.

All you need is a very strong blender, ‘2 pounds of ripe red tomatoes’ (this is about 6 ‘baseball-sized’

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Lo-Co Meal Planning

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Meal Planning. “UGH” I can almost hear you say. Who has time? Who wants to plan?

I hear ya. And I’ve gotten so lazy about meals and meal planning… and my weight is starting to creep up so I’m concerned my cholesterol probably is as well.  I need to start meal planning again so I did a little research for some tips.

I got a little help from the folks over at Kitchenda. After reading my 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines Published post, they suggested their article, Why Experts Recommend Meal Planning For Every Home, might be helpful.

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Amazing Heart-Healthy Broccoli Salad

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If your family is like mine, the ‘Broccoli Salad’ brought to family events is a dish laden with mayonnaise and sugar, not to mention bacon. Delicious, sure, but not at all heart-healthy.

Recently, a friend brought Cookie + Kate’s Favorite Broccoli Salad to a dinner party and I was WOWED.  Not only was it delicious, I loved it even though the recipe includes raw red onion, which I ordinarily despise.

My friend Lisa, who made this dish, explained her take on the recipe: she always makes the dressing the day before (or at least many hours before) and adds the onions to the dressing.

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Ina’s Baked Cod with Garlic & Herb Ritz Crumbs

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First, an apology for my absence. November and December were crazy—had a gall bladder attack which resulted in surgery and then a virus (not Covid) masqueraded as a surgical complication… It’s been a crazy past two months with a LOT of medical testing. But the good news is things are finally sorted, so I am back to writing.

If you’ve never had a gall bladder attack (and I hope you don’t) here’s one irony: it’s very important to eat a LOW FAT diet. And if you blog about cholesterol and already do that, well, then it’s a waiting game until surgery.

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