Easy Plum Tart
Here is easy, peasy, fool-proof dessert, made with just four ingredients. You can easily swap the plums for apples, pears, or apricots, and it would be just as good. Sure, pie crust is involved, but it's very thin, and no extra butter is added to the recipe. Add a nice scoop of low-fat vanilla ice cream or fro-yo while it's still warm, and you're golden. 

Simply Smoothie
This is hardly a recipe but the results were so great that now it's going to be one. I have a lot of frozen pre-cut fruit hanging out in a ziploc bag in my freezer -- they were leftover from the fruit skewers we put out at my sister's baby shower. I took a healthy handful of it and threw it in the blender, then splashed in some OJ to get it going. Let the blender do its thing, and voila. 

Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Waffles
Played with my waffle recipe this morning by adding some fresh raspberries and white chocolate chips that I had leftover from the Valentine's Day muffins I baked for the girls at work -- and what a great idea it was! I love the bite of the raspberry seeds and the intense flavor that develops when they cook on the waffle iron. 

Zucchini Bikini Pumpkin Bread
We'll name this skinny version of Zucchini Bread after my Zucchini Bikini Soup. After all, it is much lighter than the zucchini bread I was told about. This is my first zucchini bread ever, as in the first I have ever tried, and therefore tried to make. (Okay, this one pictured is the second one, because round one of recipe testing was a major fail.) It's surprisingly delicious, moist (and almost fat free) and packed with healthy stuff. I also decided to add a fall twist with the pumpkin. You zucchini bread connoisseurs can try this out and let me know how I did.

Fruit & Feta Summer Salad
Here's an easy one for the dreadfully hot days we are having: add some refreshing fruit to your salad for a sweet twist. I say fruit instead of watermelon (as pictured) because you can easily swap the watermelon for sliced peaches, pineapple, berries, cherries, mangoes or a bit of each.

Summer Steak Salad
This salad represents so many things that I loved about Piedmontese food. From the creamiest, most decadent Gorgonzola to the ripest apricot picked straight off the tree, juicy cherries at their peak and veal so tender we ate it raw (not rare, raw!), there are layers of flavor in this salad that take me right back to beautiful Italy.

Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
It's easy to make your own healthy chocolate-covered strawberries at home. Yes, healthy. Mine are (lightly) dipped in (antioxidant-rich) dark chocolate and covered in heart-healthy nuts. If you love Nutella, and who in the right mind doesn't, you'll fall in love with this recipe.

Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins
Muffins don't have to be the calorie bombs that most bakeries make them out to be. Mine are 100% whole wheat and sweetened naturally with agave and real fruit. Dessert meets breakfast with my strawberry cheesecake muffins, and I'm not worried about it!

Mango Parfait
It's like I rediscovered Greek yogurt all over again, and I'm finding endless ways to enjoy it. A secret to staying on track is keeping it interesting, and by that, I mean playing with flavors and presentation. There's no reason why I can't enjoy my breakfast or snack in a martini glass. Cheers to that!

Ceviche de Mango
 I love me a good ceviche, but sometimes the fish isn’t all that fresh. Here is a refreshing remix – ripe, sweet mango is tossed together with tangy lime juice and thinly sliced red onion. This makes a great appetizer and also a  very sweet topping for grilled meats.