ODEL-APPROVED WEIGHT WATCHER RECIPES

Got miso? Tofu?

I’m a fairly adventurous cook but, until a few years ago, these were not ingredients I was eager to use. Their names are odd, the textures and uses unknown to me. Little by little, though - and in spite of tofu's hideous clammy texture - they have became friends, and I have a couple excellent recipes to share.

Though I have enjoyed the thin broth known as miso soup in Japanese restaurants, I didn’t know what form miso took, or what it was. My sister Sydney (a good cook and a sometimes Weight Watcher) recommended a miso salad dressing so highly that I finally went looking, bought some miso, and learned to make what has become our favorite salad dressing: Miso Honey Mustard Dressing.

Salads are a frequent component of my Weight Watcher meals, and I have one major complaint about low- or no-fat salad dressings: the texture. No cling! All the dressing (and all the taste) goes right to the bottom of the salad.

Not so with Miso Honey Mustard dressing. It is thick and it clings, like salad dressing should. It’s easy to make, it’s delicious, and it is just ONE point per 2 tablespoons, the standard “serving” for salad dressing. Even Odel, who fears the phrase “healthy meal”, loves this dressing. So what if miso looks like putty? Give it a try.

When I went back on Weight Watchers a month ago, I got their newest cookbook, "Best Eats". I'm going to share two delicious soups from that cookbook, both easy and both Odel-approved.

The first is Tomato-Tofu Bisque. Even the tofu-adverse will like this super-rich tasting soup, extra creamy due to pureed tofu (I know, I know, "pureed tofu" sounds - and looks - disgusting. Just try it.)

The other, Harvest Chicken Chowder, is perfect for fall, when you can easily find canned pumpkin in the stores. Stock up if you like the soup - it can be impossible to find canned pumpkin outside of "pumpkin pie season". Again, this is a simple recipe with a rich, creamy texture and flavor, a winner. I'd have a cornbread muffin with it if I wasn't on Weight Watchers!

I've added an archive for Weight Watcher (WW) recipes to the left side of the blog, above the archive of arteries-be-damned recipes I have recommended in the past; you can find all three of these recipes there.

Thanks to all the previously anonymous blog readers who have contacted us through blog comments or email (you can find an email link by clicking on View My Complete Profile under WHO ARE WE in the upper left column of the blog) with good wishes for Odel's health. We are happy with the decision to pursue Proton Beam Therapy and are very optimistic about his treatment and cure - and we appreciate all the positive thoughts and good wishes that have come our way. It feels good!