Nut

Pesto is at its best when used immediately after it is made. However, it can be refrigerated for up to a few weeks if it’s spooned into a container, topped with olive oil, and sealed tight. If you find yourself with an abundance of basil in summer, make some pesto and store it in small portions in the freezer, where it will last for up to a few months. Frozen pesto gives great freshness of taste to hearty winter soups and pasta sauces. Long pasta shapes, like fresh tagliatelle or dried spaghetti or linguine, pair well with pesto. When dressing pasta with pesto, remember these important points: Don’t actually cook the pesto—you’ll lose its fresh quality—but warm it together with the cooked pasta for a minute over low heat. There should be just enough pesto to coat the pasta lightly. If necessary, spoon in a little of the pasta-cooking water to help the pasta and pesto glide into a bowl.

For a pasta dressing

This country was built on apple pie with a very flaky crust, thanks to an abundance of lard or vegetable shortening. Instead of an overly caloric full-blown crust, this lightened-up pie has a crumbly Brown Betty–type topping. When you pulse the topping mixture, don’t over-mix or it will be tough—not melt-in-your-mouth tender. If you must serve ice cream with this pie, look for a low-cal alternative. The usual scoop of “à la mode” adds 250 to 350 calories.

Typical pesto can be more than 50 percent pure fat, and even though a little goes a long way, that’s just too many calories. This is a re-invention of the classic pesto alla genovese. The garlic, pine nuts, basil, and Parmigiano-Reggiano are all still there, but low-fat sour cream stands in for the olive oil. It may not be 100 percent authentic, but you’ll love what it does for your dress size.

Stir-fry is a perfect work-night dish. You cook every ingredient from start to finish in the same pan and make the sauce in the pan as well. This all happens in a matter of minutes, when you have all of your ingredients prepared ahead of time, because you are working with high heat. There aren’t many home stoves that have the BTUs of a real wok in a Chinese kitchen, so use a heavy-bottomed skillet like cast iron or a stainless steel pan with a clad bottom, and get it very hot before you start. Gather your ingredients and wait until the pan is almost smoking before you begin cooking. High heat = high flavor and less need for fat. It’s the original nonstick cooking technique.

This is such a great salad—especially in the fall, when beets are in season. The sweet, earthy flavor of the beets provides a nice foil for the tangy blue cheese and peppery arugula. By lightly crushing the walnuts, you need less of this healthy but high-fat nut in your salad. Sometimes it’s the little things that make a big difference.

A classic—like biting into a chocolate-covered cherry, only lower in carbs, and better!

This recipe takes a little planning, as it needs to chill before cutting. It comes together in a snap, however, and is truly yummy—just like the Creamsicles you had as a kid!

These crunchy, chewy treats are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth! Try adding dried cherries or chopped bittersweet chocolate (depending on how many carbs you’ve had for dinner).

I like to use frozen berries for this crumble. Not only can I have it any time of year, but the juices left in the bag after thawing provide sweetness (without adding a lot of sugar) and sauce for the crumble.

As satisfying to me as a big, chewy, still-hot everything bagel schmeared with lots of cream cheese, but these have better crunch and way less carbs!

This dish is what I call a “Retro Metro.” Back in the day, Chicken Divan—poultry, poulet sauce, broccoli, and mushrooms—was a continental cuisine staple. As a special treat, my mom would take me to NYC to the Magic Pan for Chicken Divan Crepes. This is an easy cosmopolitan update on the classic. The broccoli is swapped out for asparagus and the preparation time is reduced. Enjoy!