One ingredient, that is if you don’t count water. An incredible scientific approach to dessert. Are you like me and mousse is something you either put in your hair or order from a French restaurant? I never looked into preparing mousse at home. It seemed unapproachably Le Cordon Bleu. I came across this fascinating preparation that was perfect for our crunchtime burden and just in time for another burden, that Big Red Holiday, and I’m not talking about Christmas or World Smile Day. You won’t believe how easy it is to make something so purely decadent.

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Today, we salute the groundhog with a ground chicken Mediterranean wrap. What, you want pork balls? We are big fans of ground proteins mixed with herbs and seasonings because they are forgiving recipes that pack big flavor for low cost. This same recipe would work just as well with lamb or beef or maybe groundhog. Payback for cloudy days.

This recipe first came to us in the seven-day detox cleansethatwe tackledat the beginning of the year.

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Among the list of much too late discovered foods in my life, is roasted olives. I met these intensely salty, crunchy nuggets when my daughter brought home leftovers from a notable restaurant in LA. Olives, like beets, cilantro and capers, are polarizing. You either have the palate for them or you don’t. If you’re in the latter camp, omit olives in this insanely easy, sheet pan dinner or you can make friends with tiny bits of the charred olives combined with of bite of succulent dark meat poultry. Flavor explosion.

I dwell on olives, but the glory, really, is in having a one-pan meal. It’s flatter and faster, but has all the hands-off relief of a slow-cooker.

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My dinner plate, as a kid, always had a meat, vegetable, fruit, meat and something white. It was the Midwest, middle class, wholesome – not quite whole – food. My mom called the white side dishes, the “starch” like it was one of the major food groups. Starches – potatoes, rice, bread, pastas – have an important role as meal extenders and definitely, back in the day, keeping people warm. True comfort food.

What do you say we get out of ourcomfort zone today and take our tastebuds from the Midwest to the Middle East. Although seemingly exotic, most grocers sell Israeli couscous or pearl couscous. It’s different from instant couscous, not only because it doesn’t get caught in your teeth and cookware, but because it’s not presoaked with all flavor strained out.

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All diets on deck. We’re dabbling in thisdetox for six days, including caffeine, dairy, alcohol, sugar, gluten eliminations. My head aches thinking about morning tomorrow’s coffee deprivation.

Creamy vegetables reign supreme in this cleanse, so I’m pulling out one of my recent obsessions, creamy cauliflower soup that relies on this cruciferous’s natural creaming properties, or as America’s Test Kitchen puts it – low insoluble fiber content. See the bottom of this post for their scientific explanation.

I discovered ATK’s gorgeous recipe when looking for a use of cauliflower head abundance leftover from a party centerpiece. Credit for vegetable arranging comes from my super ridiculously creative friend Susie. Check out her display. read more