Fresh Mango Salsa

Salsa is a food with a ton of secret advantages. It tastes indulgent when it's actually low fat, low calorie, and high in fiber and other nutrients. It's cheap, especially when you take advantage of seasonal ingredients. It's surprisingly versatile - you can use any combination of vegetables, fruits, and spices you like to create the perfect blend of freshness, acidity, salt and spice. And even though it is shockingly easy to make, it never fails to impress families and guests. One of the most impressive and simple salsas that every home cook should have in their repertoire is fresh mango salsa.

Herbed Flatbread

Sometime last spring I received a text message from a friend and fellow medical student asking if I could recreate a flatbread they tried at a restaurant in Minneapolis. Never one to decline a challenge, I tasted samples and spent some time in the kitchen trying to recreate the light, flaky texture and wonderful flavor of fresh herbs in this flatbread. After doing some research and several attempts later, I realized I was making this far too complicated and instead needed to approach this flatbread not as a yeast bread, but as a quick bread.

Oven "Fried" Zucchini with Lowfat Buttermilk Ranch

Lately I've taken a liking to a local restaurant's newest side dish: breaded fried zucchini. And yes, it's exactly as good as it sounds! But between greedy bites I'm keenly aware of the amount of grease that has soaked into those perfectly healthy veggies and inevitably guilt sets in. Fortunately, this year my garden has been graced with a very prolific zucchini plant so I've had plenty of materials with which to craft a lighter oven "fried" zucchini.

Fresh Mushroom Salsa

Oh how I adore fresh salsa, and this is one of my absolute favorites! This is a slightly modified version of my mother in law's mushroom salsa recipe which has become a staple at family parties. Like all fresh salsas this is simple to make, and if you like mushrooms this recipe is definitely worth a try.

Spicy Cilantro Pesto Pizza

It's rare for me to get bored with foods, but for me pizza is one of those things that gets old fast. I also tend to be a minimalist when it comes to pizza, my favorite being a traditional neopolitan-style pie on a thin crust fired in a brick oven. A few months ago I stumbled upon a frozen pizza that used a cilantro pesto in place of traditional red sauce, and it was absolutely delicious! Of course that means my grocery store promptly stopped carrying it. In protest of losing access to a favorite go-to quick dinner option from the freezer section, I decided to rewrite the book on frozen pizza.

Classic Hummus with Kalamata Tapenade

To be honest, I've never had much of an appreciation for olives. But while on vacation I tried a delicious traditional hummus with olive tapenade and the combination was amazing! The nutty flavor of the chickpeas mellowed the natural bitterness of the olives so I could finally enjoy the subtle fruity flavor of this widely popular ingredient.

Baked Onion Rings

A long time ago I remember giving a restaurant server a very hard time for putting onion rings on top of my burger. At the time, I failed to recognize the genius behind taking one of the world's most delicious foods and using it as a topping instead of a side dish. No one needs a lecture on how deliciouly unhealthy deep fried onion rings are for the body, so instead I'll tell you about my quest to perfect the baked onion ring.

Baked Cream Cheese Wontons

I can't order Chinese food and not order a side of cream cheese wontons. They're my favorite part of the entire meal - warm, crisp, sweet, and outrageously addictive. But just one deep-fried wonton has 120 calories and 8 grams of fat making them a very guilty pleasure. The other thing about take out wontons is they're always cold by the time they arrive at your door. To solve all my wonton woes, I learned how to make these at home.

Tzatziki

They say that vegetarian cuisine has it's roots in Greek cooking, and both have been sources of culinary musings in my kitchen for quite some time. The essence of Greek food is simple ingredients including fruits, nuts, grains, legumes, vegetables, olive oil, honey and yogurt - all of my favorite things. The cooking methods are also simple, enhanced by traditional Greek seasonings of garlic, oregano, basil, mint and thyme. What you get is a seemingly endless variety of combinations and flavors to choose from. But what I love most about Greek food is the idea that the social aspect of dining, specifically family, friends, ambiance and conversation, are as essential to a good meal as the food itself.

Fresh Corn Salsa

There's something almost magical about fresh homemade salsa.  Maybe it's the fresh veggies or perhaps it's knowing that someone cared enough not to simply open a jar, but it's always delicious.  The best thing about homemade salsa is there is no wrong way to make it.

Baked Southwest Egg Rolls

If you're like me, you can make a meal out of finger foods.  Several popular restaurant chains offer versions of Tex-Mex Egg Rolls, but they're loaded with fat and calories.  A serving of three rolls at one big restaurant chain  costs you 810 calories and 51 grams of fat.  That's almost half a day's caloric intake let alone a starter before the meal.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Personally, I like to graze between meals to avoid turning into a crazed hypoglycemic madwoman while I'm trying to cook dinner.  But it can be really difficult to find a healthy, simple snack that is nutritious, tastes great, and is actually satisfying to get me through the hours between lunch and dinner.  From my education, I know that protein and healthy fats are the way to go for maximum satiety, and as a vegetarian I found hummus to be a great option to enhance my snacking experience.  There's just one small problem...store bought hummus is expensive, contains some weird ingredients ending in -ate that I can't pronounce, and in my humble opinion has a weird off-taste that I just don't like.  Looking at the label and ignoring the -ates, hummus is a very simple product made from chickpeas, oil, lemon juice, seasonings and tahini.  How hard can it be to make?