‘Tis the Season for a Simple Pot Roast

By Lori Powell

With the first snowfall of the season just a couple of weeks before Christmas, what could be cozier than a roaring fire and a pot roast in the oven while decorating the Christmas tree?

Pot roast is one of the easiest of dishes to make as long as you allow time, 2 to 3 hours’ worth, and resist the temptation of trying to quicken the cooking since it smells so darned good!!

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Easy Stuffed Peppers

By Lori Powell

I was shopping yesterday for a food shoot and while in the produce aisle, I could not stop looking at the towering stacks of beautiful bell peppers of all colors. While bell peppers are a bit overused to add color to dishes in a saute, chili, stir-fry and such, I love to stuff them with an assortment of healthy ingredients.

When used whole, peppers are a perfect sweet vessel – yes, a little retro, but great to make for one or two all year round.
My easy take on the stuffing is to use the pre-cooked rice that you can buy now in all varieties in supermarkets from shelf-stable to the frozen organic kind. They are available in brown rice, wild rice mix, jasmine and white, to name a few. I especially like the frozen organic brown and jasmine varieties.

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Kale – Delicious and Healthy

By Lori Powell

Not sure if Kale is on your hit list, but it should be! This cruciferous dark veggie is one of the healthiest around; so delicious, smoky and with such an appealing texture, you should try it if you haven’t already.

Forget how good it tastes – it has so many health perks that you can’t lose by consuming it. Kale has anti-cancer health benefits and cholesterol-lowering properties, to name a few.

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Tri-Color Roasted Cauliflower

By Lori Powell

Take your pick of color…white, purple, orange/cheddar or green. Cauliflower is super-yummy at this time of the year and now we can enjoy many different varieties that come in jewel tones. They’re popping up at your local farm stand and even in supermarkets across the country.

Some interesting facts: orange cauliflower contains about 25 times more beta-carotene than the white variety. Purple cauliflower’s color is a result of the presence of the antioxidant anthocyanin, which is also found in red wine and cabbage. Purple cabbage is similar in flavor to the white. Green is sometime called broccoliflower; its cone-shaped cousin goes by “Romanesco broccoli.” Yes, they all retain their color once cooked. How great is that?

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Thanksgiving for Two

By Lori Powell

It’s wonderful to have a long table laden with friends and tons of food to devour at Thanksgiving, but after you have attended or hosted many of these wonders over the years it’s nice sometimes to just have a peaceful, intimate reflection with a close friend or significant other.

So here is a menu geared for simplicity and allowing you to have the time to actually relax and reflect on the many, many things to be thankful for including, possibly, this menu….

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