How to diet fast 1 week

About six years ago I discovered an affordable brand of Tuna packed in olive oil that really made me swoon, and since then I've made many tasty recipes featuring this tuna.   It's turned me into a bit of a tuna snob, because now I never buy any other brand (and when I could no longer find it in any of the stores by my house I even started buying Tonno Genova Tuna in Olive Oilby the case from Amazon.com!)  Without this uber-flavorful tuna, I don't think I'd have considering trying a pasta recipe that featured tuna as one of the main ingredients, but the Tonno Genova tuna made this simple and quick Penne Pasta with Red Bell Peppers, Garlic, Capers, Olives, Tomatoes, and Tuna really memorable.  And then Jake and I topped it with some ultra-flavorful Gremolata, which made it even better.  Admittedly, this may be a recipe that's not for everyone, but if you like tuna and have a favorite brand I bet you'll love this recipe.

Cannellini beans, sausage, tomatoes, and fresh basil (or pesto) to finish the stew.

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites, and this delicious stew with cannellini beans, sausage, tomatoes, and fresh basil or pesto added at the end is a delicious winter meal that I first posted in January 2009.)

I can get fixated on soup in the winter, but let me make it clear that this phase-one recipe with cannellini beans, chicken sausage, tomatoes, and basil is definitely a stew and not a soup. This simple rustic dish was amazingly addictive.  It's also a recipe that's very flexible, so if you don't have exactly the ingredients I used, experiment with what you have. Cannellinis are white kidney beans, and I've been infatuated with them ever since I got the recipe for Cannellini Beans in Mint Marinade, but you can make this with any type of dried white beans, or even canned beans if you prefer.

I have a couple of friends who have embraced the Paleo Diet, so I've been learning more about it.  Happily, there's a lot of overlap between my South Beach Diet way of eating and Paleo, so it's not that much of a stretch for me to try to feature recipes occasionally that will work for my Paleo friends.  What *can* be challenging is that everyone who does Paleo seems to have their own rules about what they can or can't eat!  That's why when I redesigned my blog and added the new row of tabs to categorize the recipes by more diet types, I made a tab that says Can be Paleo.  Under that tab you'll find recipes that most Paleo eaters will be able to enjoy, like this Slow Cooker Southwestern Beef Stew with Tomatoes, Olives, and Chiles.  And even if you're not eating Paleo, I bet you'll still like this a lot if you like Southwestern flavors!

(Today's pick for the month of Daily Phase One Recipes is these flavorful Ground Beef Gyro Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Tzatziki and Tomatoes that I first posted in 2012. I've made these meatball lettuce wraps many times since then, and still love this recipe when I'm craving Greek food.  You can see all the recipes from the month by clicking the link Daily Phase One Recipes.  Check after the recipe for Phase One Flashbacks from this day in 2012 and 2013.)

This recipe is for everyone who loves the complex flavors of Greek Gyros (pronounced yeer-ohs), but it's especially for my brother Mark.  When the idea first popped into my head to make a lettuce wrap with Gyro flavors, I immediately thought of Mark and his love of Greek food.  It might have been a good thing that I had that image of him enjoying this in my mind, because it took Jake and I five tries to get the seasoning for the Gyro meatballs just right.  When I came back to the kitchen from taking photos and Jake sheepishly admitted he had eaten quite a few of the meatballs, I knew this final version was a keeper!

I guess I'm officially settled into the new house, because I had my first cooking session with my nephew/cooking assistant Jake, and we loved having the the new bigger kitchen so both of us have plenty of room to work.  The new house also has big windows and great light for photos, but I found there's almost too much light, and I'm going to have to do some experimenting to get the light filtered just right for food shots.  All those big windows are also going to make taking photos of the kitchen a bit of a challenge, but I promise some kitchen photos will be coming soon!  The house still has quite a few boxes to get unpacked, but on Saturday my brother Rand and I hung pictures and arranged my collection of African art, so the house is starting to look like it's mine.