How to diet fast 1 week

(I had to miss Phase One Fridays yesterday so I could post my tribute to Lis, but there are so many Thanksgiving recipes I want to share before the big day that I decided just this once we could have Phase One Saturday; this recipe is something I think everyone would love for Thanksgiving!)

Even though there's a great list of Low-Glycemic Thanksgiving Recipes in the recipe index, every year I have fun testing new ideas that might make it onto the Thanksgiving table.  Last year my favorite new Thanksgiving recipe was probably 100% Whole Wheat Stuffing "Muffins" with Sausage and Parmesan, a dish I worked on for several tries until I got it just right.  It's too early to tell what's  going to be my favorite from Thanksgiving 2011, but I know that this Blanched Broccoli Salad with Feta and Fried Almonds is something I'll be making over and over.  If you like broccoli, Feta, and almonds, be sure to try this dish even if you don't make it for Thanksgiving.

There's a lot to love about this Chicken, Broccoli, and Red Bell Pepper Salad with Peanut Butter Dressing made from chunks of shredded chicken, small bites of crunchy broccoli, and finely diced red bell pepper tossed with a flavorful slightly sweet dressing made of peanut butter, soy sauce, lime, ginger and garlic.  As soon as I spotted the original version of the salad in Sunset Magazine, I started thinking about how I could adapt it for A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes.   I switched green peas for diced red bell pepper, used natural peanut butter, sweetened the dressing with Stevia In the Raw Granulated Sweetener, and upped the ginger for a more highly-flavored dressing, and the result was an amazingly good combination that I'm sure I'll make over and over again.  

Now that I have officially been given the title of Casserole Queen, it seemed fun to challenge myself with creating more meatless casseroles.  This Vegetarian Curried Brown Rice and Broccoli Casserole with Creamy Curry Sauce is an idea that just popped into my head one day, although it's definitely a riff on the Better-than-Mom's Chicken, Broccoli, and Quinoa Casserole with Creamy Curry Sauce that I made nearly two years ago.  Once I had the idea in mind, it actually took Jake and I three tries to get this one just right (although we happily gobbled up the first  two tries as well.)