Coquilles Saint Jacques – 374 Cal

Can you have an exotic French dish like Coquilles Saint Jacques while on Dad’s Diet? Of course! One seashell serving is 374 and although it’s not filling alone, combined with a nice salad and maybe 50z of white wine, you’ve got a meal worthy of a romance novel for under 550. That’s perfect for one…

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A lighter taste of France: Mushroom Monsieur

Normally, this dish would be served in a classic French restaurant as a luncheon entree, but it is equally as good for a dinner if you’ve also indulged earlier in the day. By making everything from scratch (especially the Bechamel) and not scrimping on the oil and butter you are guaranteed mouth-watering explosion of both…

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Nectarine & Tomato Salad with Fried Halloumi and Basil

I’m always looking for a new salad, and when it includes Tomato–and my favourite cheese, Halloumi–then I’m in. This one is based on nectarines, but they must be very ripe. The combination of sweet nectarines with juicy tomatoes, combined with the salty, squeaky pan-seared halloumi is remarkable to the taste buds. Be sure to have…

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Fried Green Tomatoes (aka Winter Caprese Salad)

If you have a bunch of these at the end of the summer…             Then turn them into this with this proven, basic recipe that I call a Winter Caprese Salad. It was one of the appetizers used at the President’s Address at the end of the summer in “New…

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Fish Tacos with Secret Sauce

So simple it’s ridiculous. Which begs the question “How can restaurants charge $13-15 for a dish that you can easily make yourself for a fraction of that price?”. Of course, we could gourmet it up by making our own “secret” sauce but why bother; the restaurants don’t. A good dill and lemon sauce (found in…

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Nicoise Salade

Top chefs everywhere argue what constitutes an “official Nicoise” salad. Lyonnaise Chefs insist it is only fresh ingredients with no fish or vegetables. Chefs from other French regions, as well as Western afficionado’s, beg to differ, saying that potatoes and haricots verts (green beans) are integral to the original recipe. Others say there must be…

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