NEW!! The Diet Diva is back! As many of you know, the Diet Diva column started back in early 2006 as a way to provide all of our readers with healthy, high energy recipes that taste great.    Unfortunately, due to scheduling issues, our original Diet Diva, Tina Souza, could not continue with the column and so we pulled it from our monthly newsletter. The good news is that we found a replacement – right under our nose!  Denise Argiro has been a member here at TPS for some time and once we discovered her hidden culinary background, we invited her to take over the column and she agreed. For those of you who don’t know Denise, she is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America with over 15 years of culinary experience under her apron.  She has worked in several locations including in and around the Boston area, Block Island and Maine as well as Rhode Island.  She has worked in several restaurants, bakeries and specialty food stores including owning and operating her own gourmet pizza restaurant. So for her assignment, we asked her to come up with a quick and easy recipe for folks on the go that even the kids would like and we are pleased to say her Quick Breakfast Blueberry Quesadillas fit the bill!

NEW!! Diet Diva: Roasted Root Vegetables Roasted Root Vegetables 3 Tbs. Olive Oil, plus a bit to grease pan 1 Tbs. fresh rosemary, chopped 1 Tbs. fresh basil, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp.) 1 Tbs. shallot, minced 1 large butternut squash (2 -2.5 lbs.) 1 acorn squash (1 -1.5 lbs.) 3 med. carrots 3 med. parsnips 1 med. onion 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly oil rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan. 2. Whisk together olive oil, rosemary, basil, garlic and shallot in small bowl.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 3. Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds and cut into 1/2 by 1 1/2 inch pieces.  There  is no need to peel the squash.  Cut acorn squash in half, scoop out seeds and cut into 1/2 by 1 1/2 inch pieces.  There is no need to peel the squash, the skin is edible and will become tender when roasted.  Peel and cut the carrots and parsnips into 1/2 inch thick slices on the diagonal.  Peel and cut the onion into 1 inch thick wedges.  Place all vegetables in a large bowl.  Pour herb mixture over vegetables and toss to evenly coat. 4.  Spread vegetables in a single layer in roasting pan or on baking sheet.  Be sure that the vegetables are in a single layer as they will not caramelize if the pan is overcrowded.  Split between two pans if needed. 5. Roast for 30-45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes, until tender and begin to brown. Note:  To prepare a day ahead: Slightly undercook dish to compensate for reheating and cool completely before storing it the refrigerator.  Bring to room temperature before reheating.  Reheat in oven for best results or top with grated cheese and heat under the broiler to melt cheese and warm veggies. Serves: 6. Nutritional Breakdown: Calories per serving: 223. Protein per serving:3.5g. Carbs per serving:42g. Fiber per serving:8g. Fat per serving:7g. Download This Recipe

Diet Diva Archives

Oct 07 Lemony Lentil Spinach Stew

Sept 07 Quick Breakfast Blueberry Quesadillas

April 06 Orange Almond Angel Food Cake

March 06 Turkey Chili