Enliven Plain Vegetables and Chicken

You've got the basics down - you can cook veggies without making them limp as a dead snake. You can broil a chicken. But are they starting to look a little boring? Do you want some of the pizzaz of restaurant food but without the expense? You can make a decent but boring meal into something quite popular without too much fuss.

What To Do With Plain Veggies

Who says that vegetables always have to be cooked? If you have children that swear that they hate vegetables, try serving them raw. Veggies taste and feel completely different when they are not cooked, and many (especially kids) prefer them raw.

*Yogurt Dipping Sauce*

Mix yogurt cheese with ranch (or your favorite) dressing to taste. Powdered salad dressing works very well. If you haven't tried making yogurt cheese, you have to try it. It's like a tangy, not sweet cream cheese. Line a colander with paper coffee filters and position over a bowl. Dump in a container of plain, gelatin-free yogurt. Let drain in the refrigerator for one or two days. Then scoop out the drained, thickened yogurt from the colander. Yogurt dipping sauce is a wonderful addition to raw veggies.

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If you like cooked vegetables, but are prone to making mush, try stir-frying them. It's very simple. Before-hand, cut up your veggies in bite sized pieces. In a wok or a heavy skillet, heat up about a tablespoon of good oil. As soon as the oil gets hot, put in your vegetables, cooking them very briefly. If you have a lot of vegetables, cook them in batches.

*Garlic Sauce for Stir-Fried Veggies*

Return all vegetables to your wok or skillet. Add about .25 c. soy sauce, 1 T. vinegar, 1 t. sugar, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1 chopped hot pepper, 2 t. corn starch mixed with 2 T. water. Stir over low heat until thickened.

How To Use Leftover Chicken

Roasted chicken is a lovely Sunday dinner, but what do you do Wednesday when you're looking at the leftovers? How about a fun meal of Dipp'n Chicken? Dice the chicken into bite-sized chunks and reheat them. (Microwaves are great for this.) Dump the pieces onto the platter and surround the platter with several dipping sauces. Let the family sit around the platter and help themselves.

*Honey Mustard* Mix equal amounts of honey and mustard. (Or to taste.)

*Yogurt Dill* Stir dried dill and a touch of salt into some yogurt cheese. (See directions above.)

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