Ever try something that is so perfectly ready for adaptation that you instantly begin dreaming of ways to make it better?  A chocolate chip cookie leads you to a dark chocolate cherry cookie.  Or a piece of pumpkin pie leads you to spiced sweet potato pie.  Well, that was my experience with zucchini boats.  So versatile.  So healthy.  So easy.  So many possibilities!

Zucchini makes a perfect vessel for a variety of fillings.  The insides of the zucchini are easy to scoop out, leaving a sturdy shell that is just asking to be heaped full of delicious goodness.  Choose from an Italian filling with tomato sauce, peppers and topped with mozzarella cheese or a Southwestern filling with black beans, green chilies and topped with cheddar cheese (and sour cream!).  With all these flavor combos, you will never again be screaming “What can I do with all this zucchini?!?!”

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Meet my new favorite side dish.  In case I haven’t mentioned it lately, I’ve been a little short on time these days.  An elaborate side dish that requires lots of dicing and chopping and stewing is beyond my realm of thinking at the moment.  Give me something fast, deliciously creamy and oh, can it please be relatively healthy too?  Awesome.

A simple side dish that is packed with protein, fiber and happens to be incredibly flavorful, this will quickly become a staple in your recipe arsenal.  The sauteed garlic and rosemary paired with the smooth, creamy white beans create a dish that will rival plain ol’ mashed potatoes any day.  I hate to say it, but this may be the mistress that breaks up the eternal marriage of Steak and Potatoes! Gasp! Oh, the horror!

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Have you heard about this big football game that’s coming up next week?  It’s this once-a-year excuse to go all out, throw dietary caution to the wind and eat massive quantities of wings, dips and chips.  Or is that only at my house?  From what I understand, this is a nationwide phenomenon.  In case you are suffering from a last minute panic about what to make for the big game, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite football appropriate recipes, starting with this so-good-you’ll-want-to-eat-it-with-a-spoon onion dip.

I know that it’s so simple to grab a packet of powdery nothingness to whip up a batch of onion dip, but who is excited about telling their guests that the dip they are consuming at a furious pace came from a powder?  Astronauts eat food that comes from a powder.  Us earth dwellers should expect better.  This dip is so far beyond powder-based dips that you will never go back.  This takes traditional onion dip and cranks the volume up to Irrationally Good.  You may have to hide your spoons.

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I don’t think I can remember a time when some form of spinach artichoke dip didn’t appear on every restaurant menu.  It seems to have become a standard American pre-meal munchie, a quintessential appetizer.  Not that I mind.  Who doesn’t love the thought of eating something healthy (spinach and artichokes) wrapped in mounds of cheese, butter and heavy cream?

This recipe is a healthier version of the restaurant stand-by that you can feel good about serving to friends and family.  Instead of pounds of butter and heavy cream, this recipe uses reduced-fat sour cream and ricotta, plus it ads in some cannellini beans (my current favorite) which ups the fiber content.  Truly a perfect party dish, this guilt-free dip lets you save some calories for where it counts … dessert!

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Quick — Name the number one preconceived notion about turkey burgers … 3 … 2 … 1 … you said they are dry and have no flavor, right?  This ingenious recipe from Cook Yourself Thin is going to convert you into a lifetime turkey burger lover.  I promise.  I was never a big turkey burger fan because they generally tasted like dried out sawdust.  This recipe incorporates diced green chilies in the burgers which not only keep the burgers profoundly moist (even if you over cook them!) and but also give them a flavorful kick in the behind!

No joke, I’ve eaten these burgers three times in the last two weeks.  They are just that good!  When I was asked to whip up a recipe for an interview segment on WithJosh.com, these turkey burgers were the first thing that came to mind.  Yes, you read that right … an interview segment!  My first interview!  Cooking up the burgers was a blast and the best part was that we got to eat all the leftovers.

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Having never worked with leeks, I was always so intrigued to hear them described as “creamy” on cooking shows (ok, mostly Top Chef).  How can an over-sized scallion be creamy?  It seems counter intuitive, against nature, and frankly, unbelievable.  Thoroughly intrigued nonetheless, I began inspecting leek recipes for one to sufficiently spark my interest.  As someone who doesn’t eat a lot of cream-based soups, the idea of using this allegedly creamy vegetable to achieve a smooth soup base was very appealing.  Plus, I’ve been dying to try out the new immersion blender my boyfriend just bought me!

The most common pairing I came across was leeks and potatoes.  I generally try to avoid potatoes (they aren’t South Beach friendly!) and I wasn’t happy at the idea of wasting these creamy leeks in a mess of pureed potatoes.  After reviewing a couple different leek soup recipes, I decided to venture out on my own.  The resulting creating is a hybrid of a couple different recipes, with my own added twist.  I’m proud to report that the result was utterly delicious!!

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I have a confession to make.  I eat a lot of hummus.  The term ‘a lot’ probably doesn’t accurately depict the level of addiction I have to hummus.  I’m embarrassed to admit that there have been weeks where I’ve eaten nothing but hummus for dinner.  And lunch.  I practically buy it in bulk . . . yes, this clearly garners a variety of questioning looks from the grocery store employees when I deplete their entire stock of Tribe garlic hummus.

Perhaps the biggest problem of all is that I don’t see this hummus addiction as a problem!  Hummus is delicious, healthy, contains no weird chemicals or foreign substances and can stay in the fridge for weeks without going bad.  It is a perfect, no-effort required meal!

However, there are times when too much hummus is too much hummus.  My boyfriend’s mother recently asked me if I had ever made baba ganoush as an alternative to hummus.  I’ve eaten baba ganoush at various Middle Eastern restaurants but I had never ventured to make it myself.  Her suggestion inspired me to search around the internet for the easiest, tastiest, and most appealing baba ganoush recipe.  Success!

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