(Yield: 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups strawberry nonfat yogurt
• 2 fresh peaches pitted and diced
• 1/2 cup granola

Preparation:

1. Place 1/4 cup strawberry nonfat yogurt in the base of four 6-oz parfait glasses. Top each with 1/4 cup diced peaches, followed by 1 tablespoon granola.
   
2. Repeat the layering process in each glass.
   
3. Variation: Also try using other varieties including: vanilla, plain, cherry vanilla or strawberry/banana.
   
4. Substitution: You can substitute 1 15-oz. can of cling peaches in their own juice, drained and diced, for fresh peaches.

For more yogurt recipes, go to www.dannon.com.

Super Smoothie
This is the same recipe that Dish Diva Carolyn O'Neil whipped up on Fox & Friends.

(Yield: 3 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Dannon ® Light 'n Fit™ Strawberry Nonfat Yogurt
• 1 cup fresh sliced strawberries
• 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
• 1 ripe kiwi fruit peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 3 tablespoons cranberry juice
• 3 fresh whole strawberries
• ice cubes

Preparation:

1. Place yogurt, strawberries, pineapples, kiwi, orange juice and grenadine in blender. Cover and blend until smooth. Add ice cubes, one at a time, blending well after each addition until mixture is thick and spoonable.
   
2. Pour into 3 frosted mugs. Garnish with fresh whole strawberries. Serve immediately.
   

Bump up the Fiber:
Brown Rice Mushroom Pilaf

(Yield: 4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 TBS olive or canola oil
• 1 cup brown rice
• 2 cups chicken broth

Preparation:

1. Brown chopped onion and sliced mushrooms in a large saucepan with one TBS olive oil, about 5 minutes.
   
2. Add one cup brown rice and stir to coat grains in oil.
   
3. Add two cups chicken broth, bring to boil, then turn down to simmer.
   
4. Simmer for about 45 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed.

©Whole Grains Council

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(Recipe courtesy of Gourmet Guru Lidia Bastianich, Restaurant Felidia, New York)

(Yield: 4 large artichokes, one per person)

Ingredients:

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 6 garlic cloves
• 4 large but tender artichokes with stems
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon mint, chopped
• 4 small whole dried red peppers or 1 teaspoon crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups good vegetable or chicken stock

Preparation:

1. Cut the lemon and squeeze the lemon juice into one quart of water.
   
2. With a sharp paring knife, pull off the tough outside leaves of the artichokes, proceeding from the bottom to the top and cutting off the top third.
   
3. Peel the stem and place the artichoke in the lemon water. Keep in lemon water until you finish cleaning all the artichokes. Remove the artichoke from the water, drain it well and pat it dry with a towel.
   
4. In a deep pan, where the artichokes fit snugly, set them with their stems up. Add all the remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Let simmer for 30 minutes, covered with lid or foil. Add more stock if necessary. Serve one artichoke per person in a soup plate with braising liquid from the pan.

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Be a Gourmet Guru:
Accessorize Your Breasts

Sometimes cooking dinner means pulling out a basic recipe and dressing it up, depending on your cravings or the setting. It's not unlike the simplicity of that little black dress - cute with sandals at the beach - demure with pearls at the theater- or sexy with high heels and dangly earrings for a night on the town. So, let's take the entrée version of that LBD, the boneless, skinless, naked chicken breast, and accessorize it to entertain the many moods of your taste buds.

A Simple Chicken Breast Sauté:

1. Remove the excess fat and sinew from two boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

2. Place shiny side down on cutting board and cover the breasts with sheet of wax paper.

3. Pound the breasts with a wooden kitchen mallet or a rolling pin to even the thickness.

4. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Heat a medium sauté pan and add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom.

6. Add the chicken breasts, without crowding the pan.

7. When a half inch of white shows on the sides of each breast, turn over with tongs.

8. Cook until firm to the touch and the juices run clear.

9. Set the chicken aside on clean plate.

After sautéing the chicken breasts and setting aside, now it's time to accessorize! Each of these recipes is for two chicken breasts.

Lemon Caper Chicken - Deglaze the pan with white wine, add rinsed capers, very thin slices of lemon, and minced parsley. Add chicken breasts back to pan to warm in sauce and serve with orzo pasta.

Tomato Garlic Chicken - Add chopped garlic, chopped tomato, tomato paste and red wine vinegar to the pan. Place the chicken breasts back in pan to warm with the sauce and serve with roasted new potatoes.

Taste of Thai Chicken - Stir in sliced scallions and sliced shitake mushrooms, remove from pan and stir in tamari sauce (a slightly thicker soy sauce), rice wine vinegar and a teaspoon of peanut butter. Add the scallions and mushrooms back to the pan and the chicken breasts to warm. Serve with steamed brown rice.

Green Chile Chicken - Deglaze pan with chicken broth, add chopped scallions, minced jalapenos, long thin slivers of mild green chiles (such as poblano). Optional: Whisk in 1/4 cup of light cream to finish the sauce. Add chicken back to pan to warm with the sauce serve with black beans and rice.

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A Dishy Twist on Steak with Bernaise Sauce:
Rare Seared Tuna with Shallot-Tarragon Vinaigrette
Over a Salad of Baby Watercress, String Beans, and Olives

(Yield: 6 Servings)

The Vinaigrette:

• 1 1/2 tsp minced shallots
• 3 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• Pinch of freshly ground white pepper
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped tarragon (French tarragon is best; add more, depending on the intense intensity of the tarragon's fragrnce)

The Tuna:

• Two 8 oz tuna steaks (about 1 inch thick)
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, halved and seeded

The Salad:

• 1/2 lb baby watercress (or mesclun greens)
• 1/2 lb haricot vert, trimmed
• 30 niçoise olives, pitted and halved
• 12 red cherry tomatoes, halved
• 12 yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

Preparation:

1. For the vinaigrette, whisk together in a small bowl the shallots, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper until the salt dissolves. Constantly whisking, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Blanch the haricot vert until crisp tender, about 5 minutes. Strain and then run under cold water until chilled. Set aside.

3. For the salad, place the haricots vert, olives, red and yellow tomatoes in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

4. Add the tarragon to the vinaigrette and whisk to combine.

5. Toss the vegetables with enough vinaigrette to coat and set aside. (You could add the watercress/mesclun here to make salad, if you are serving right away.)

6. For the tuna, cut each steak into 3 equal slices (about 1" thick). Place two nonstick pans over high heat. When the pans are hot, brush the tuna with olive oil on each side. Season generously with salt and pepper.

7. Add the tuna to the pans and sear on both sides until nicely browned, but still rare, about 30 seconds on each side. Remove from the pan.

8. Squeeze the lemon juice over the tuna.

9. Toss the watercress/mesclun with the other vegetables and mound on six plates. Place tuna slice on top of salad and drizzle with remaining vinaigrette.

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Not a Boring Salad:
Avocado and Arugula Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette

(Yield: 4 servings)

For the salad:

• 1-2 heads Bibb lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
• 1 bunch arugula ,torn into bite sized pieces
• 2 avocados, peeled and cubed
• 2 ruby red grapefruits, peeled and segmented, reserve excess juice
• 1 cup green grapes, seeded and halved, may be peeled
• 1/2 cup julienne red pepper
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 2 Tb. fresh chives or Italian parsley, minced

For the dressing:

• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
• juice from segmented grapefruit ( approx 3 tablespoons)
• Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. On large platter add the Bibb and arugula.

2. On the bed of greens arrange the avocado and grapefruit segments.

3. Garnish with the grapes and red pepper.

4. Combine the ingredients for the dressing and drizzle over the entire salad.

5. Add final garnish of minced chives or parsley and toasted nuts. Serve chilled.

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No-Reason-To-Split Banana Split Cheesecake

(Yield: 16 servings)

Crust:

• 1 cup packaged chocolate cookie crumbs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, melted
• Cooking spray

Filling:

• 3 (8-ounce) blocks fat free cream cheese, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) carton low-fat sour cream
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs

Toppings:

• 1/3 cup canned crushed pineapple in juice, drained
• 1/3 cup strawberry sundae syrup
• 1/3 cup chocolate syrup
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans or almonds
• 16 maraschino cherries, drained

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. To prepare crust, combine the first 3 ingredients in a bowl; toss with a fork until moist. Press into bottom of 9-inch spring form pan coated with cooking spray.

3. To prepare filling, beat cheeses and sour cream at high speed of a mixer until smooth. Add 1 1/2 cups sugar, banana, flour and vanilla; beat well. Add eggs, one at a time; beat well after each addition.

4. Pour cheese mixture into prepared pan; bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until almost set. Cheesecake is done when the center barely moves when pan is touched.

5. Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife around the outside edge. Cool cheesecake to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Top each slice with 1 teaspoon pineapple, 1 teaspoon strawberry syrup, 1 teaspoon chocolate syrup, 3/4 teaspoon nuts, and 1 cherry.

6. (Though we're not hung up on that sort of thing, in case you're interested, it's 317 calories and 1.6 grams fat per serving.)

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Carb-Correction Confetti Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup julienne carrots
• 1/2 cup julienne zucchini
• 1/2 cup julienne yellow squash
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups basmati white rice (cooked in chicken stock to package directions)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Preparation:

Heat oil in large skillet and add carrots, zucchini, yellow squash and garlic. Cook until crispy tender. Fold in cooked rice, pepper and rosemary.

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A Simple Mocktail

Equal parts club soda and orange juice

(100% not-from-concentrate orange juice)

Preparation:

Serve in a tall glass over ice.

This cuts the orange juice calories in half, while still providing the vitamins, minerals and hundreds of other healthy compounds in oj. More refreshing and interesting than plain club soda and certainly a better choice than soda, or even diet soda. Best part is, these ingredients are available almost anywhere, even from the limited choices on airline beverage carts. Cheers!

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