Light & Tasty Cooking

“The madness continues,” I say as I have dropped 4 pounds since my physical and continue looking at alternative recipes to cut down on my cholesterol intake. While this has not been easy I have been making some good decisions on how and what I cook. I think one of the biggest factors is not eating fried food from Chinatown in downtown Oakland 3-4 days a week. The food is tasty and inexpensive, but I am sure most of what I eat there is a cholesterol bomb!

Along with the Mexican Casserole and Vegetarian Chili I did last week I went with a Baked Ziti and Summer Veggies and Bruschetta last night. The Baked Ziti was another Cooking Light recipe from their vegetarian section, while I just grabbed a Bruschetta recipe off of Google.

I thought the ziti came out excellent! Unlike some ziti’s I skipped the meat and marinara sauce, instead opting to use Ricotta cheese and Mozzarella. The yellow squash, zucchini and diced tomatoes were sauteed with onion and made up for the lack of meat in the dish. In fact the flavor was much heartier and sweeter today as a leftover than it was last night when I finished the dish.

The Bruschetta was a simple recipe where I toasted some olive oil coated baguettes for about 5 minutes in the oven. I added canned, diced tomatoes, strained with fresh basil and garlic along with some olive oil, Balsamic vinegar and a bit of crushed pepper. This complemented the ziti very nicely. I recommend both dishes and you should see them listed shortly under Recipes. Thanks for eating!