Pie A La Murder (43 page)

 

Take out and carefully remove plastic wrap covering. (Don’t burn yourself with the steam.) With a fork, lightly fluff the chopped vegetables into the cooked brown rice. Cover again and let stand for 5 minutes outside the microwave. Serves 4.

 

Serve alone or with Zucchini Canoes.

Wash zucchini, chop off the stem ends, place in a microwave-safe baking dish, and cook in microwave for 7 to 8 minutes. Let cool.

 

When you can handle them comfortably, cut off the top third lengthwise so that the zucchini look like little canoes. Rough chop the tops and set aside in mixing bowl. Hollow out the canoes and discard scooped-out matter. To the mixing bowl with chopped zucchini tops, add nuts, tomato, onion, parsley, and salt. Fluff together with a fork. Fill the zucchini canoes with this mixture.

 

Melt butter or margarine in microwave (about 25 to 30 seconds).

 

Take half of the melted butter and brush the filled zucchini canoes. Mix other half of the melted butter with seasoned bread crumbs and sprinkle this over the filled canoes.

 

Heat zucchini canoes, uncovered, in microwave for 2½ to 3 minutes. Serves 4.

 

DRESSING:

Wash, but don’t peel, potatoes. Put into a pot of salted water to just cover. Bring to a gentle boil and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain. When cooled enough to handle, cut potatoes into chunks—quarters or eighths, depending on size of the potatoes. (If you have some leftover cooked red potatoes from a meal the night before, take them out of the fridge, let them get to room temperature, and cut into chunks.)

 

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, potatoes, red onion, parsley, black olives, basil, and cubes of French bread.

 

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, and minced garlic. When whisked into a dressing, add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Whisk again briefly, to incorporate seasoning.

 

Add the dressing to the bowl of vegetables and bread cubes and toss. Let sit for a few minutes so the bread can absorb the dressing. Serves 4 as a side dish, or 2 for a hearty onedish lunch.

 

 

 

CRUST: (THE WORLD’S EASIEST)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

Lightly spray a 9-inch pie pan with nonstick cooking spray.

 

Crush the wafers or cookies (I put them in a Ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin).

 

Combine crumbs with melted margarine. Stir.

 

Add egg white and stir.

 

Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and sides of the pie pan, using back of a wooden spoon, or what I do is press with my right hand inside a clean plastic baggie. (Or your left hand, if you’re left-handed.) Bake 8 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven. Don’t overbake.

 

Set aside to cool.

 

FILLING:

Mash the strawberries in a mixing bowl. Add Splenda and lemon juice. Let Splenda dissolve for about 15 to 20 minutes.

 

Pour cranberry juice cocktail over strawberry gelatin. Heat to dissolve gelatin, then cool slightly. Combine gelatin with strawberry mixture. Cool completely. When cooled, fold in light whipped topping. Pour into pie shell and refrigerate for 2 hours, until firm. Garnish with light whipped cream and top generously with more sliced fresh strawberries. (Or blueberries, if available. The red, white, and blue colors make it perfect for national holiday parties.)

Here is the first of two main dish tortilla wraps that are low enough in calories so that you can enjoy a rich dessert without feeling guilty.

Mix yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, and pepper in a bowl and put in refrigerator, covered, for 15 minutes. (You can make this several hours ahead if you keep it refrigerated.)

 

Divide the yogurt mixture so as to have enough to spread down the center of each of the whole wheat tortillas. (Tortillas can be eaten after heating in nonstick pan for 1 minute on each side, or just as they come out of the package. Divide the chopped cooked chicken and top the yogurt /cucumber mixture. Add lettuce, a few grape tomato halves, and feta cheese. Roll up tortillas and secure with toothpicks.

 

Slice the Roma tomatoes and peel and slice the reserved whole cucumber.

 

Put one or two of these Greek Chicken Tortilla Wraps on a plate, surrounded by thin slices of Roma tomatoes and thin slices of cucumber. Grind a little more fresh pepper over the slices of tomatoes and cucumber.

 

Depending on how hungry you are, this recipe will serve 4 or 8.

Here is the second main dish sandwich recipe low enough in calories so that you can enjoy dessert without feeling that you’ve spent too much of your calorie budget for this meal.

Mix the chicken, hoisin sauce, scallions, and pepper in a bowl until thoroughly combined. (Hoisin sauce is a great ingredient, found in the Asian foods aisle of most large markets, and it will keep for a long time in the refrigerator.)

 

Heat the tortillas, one at a time, in a large, nonstick pan over medium heat for about 1 minute on each side, just to warm them. Handle with tongs. (You can also eat them without heating, if you’re in a rush, or aren’t where you can cook.)

 

Divide the chicken mixture into 4 equal parts, and spread 1 part lengthwise down the middle of each tortilla. Top with several watercress leaves. Roll up and secure with toothpicks. Cut the rolls in half, on the diagonal.

 

If you want to serve these rolls warm, you can heat the chicken, hoisin sauce, scallion, and pepper mix over medium heat until just heated through (1 or 2 minutes). Then put the mixture onto the tortillas and roll them up. These must be served immediately, but if you don’t heat the mixture these can be made in advance and kept fresh with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

 

This recipe serves 4. Put 2 halves on each plate and surround them with a few slices of cucumber, tomatoes, carrot sticks, some grapes, or slices of cantaloupe, or slices of peaches, or orange slices—whatever you like that is in season.