RECIPE CORNER

Send your great food ideas to the editor. Your recipes will be evaluated by dietitians, and if necessary, adjusted to make them more diabetically appropriate. Then he gets to taste them...

Macaroni Salad
from Ann S. Williams, RN CDE,
of Cleveland, OH

Boil about 3-4 quarts of water.
Add and cook until tender (about 10 minutes):
1 lb. (2-1/4 cups dry) macaroni
Drain, and rinse with cold water until cool.
While the macaroni is cooking, stir together in a bowl:
� cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 cup no-fat yogurt
2 tbsp. yellow mustard
� - � cup finely chopped onion
� cup chopped red bell pepper
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine
1 cup chopped dill pickle
1-1/2 cup chopped celery
Add the cold macaroni, mix well, and chill about one
hour. Makes 6 servings.

Per Serving (1 cup): calories = 252; fat = 9.5 grams. Exchange: 2 starch, 2 fat

Easiest Strawberry Jam

from Ms. Belver Ladson
of New York, NY

Ingredients:

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2/3 cup unsweetened white grape juice
4 teaspoons tapioca
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 cups mashed, fully ripe strawberries

Directions:

Wash and mash the berries. Combine the gelatin, grape juice, tapioca, and lemon juice in a sauce pan. Stir the mixture, and let it stand for two minutes. Dissolve the gelatin over medium heat, stirring constantly (This will take about two minutes). Add the berries, and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for about five minutes. Cool the mixture, then refrigerate.

FREE FOOD: one serving.

Per serving (one tablespoon): 10 calories; 2.5 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams protein; negligible fruit exchange.

Lemony Green Beans
from Ms. Belver Ladson
of New York, NY

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh (or canned) green beans � cup sliced red pepper (fresh or frozen)
2 tbsp. lemon juice
� tsp. dried whole basil
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
2 tbsp. lemon rind (julienne)

Directions:

Remove all strings from the green beans. Wash and cut the beans into two-inch pieces. Place the beans, the red pepper, and basil in a saucepan with a small amount of water. Cover and cook for about 12 minutes or until tender (only heat if using canned green beans). Drain the beans. Transfer everything to a serving bowl and add lemon rind and sesame seeds. Toss well. Garnish with the lemon rind.

Exchanges: 2 Vegetable Per serving: 54 calories; 9gm carbohydrate; 2.6gm fat; 2gm protein.

Spicy Orange Ginger Beef
from Dave Griffith,
of London, Ontario, Canada

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean round steak cut into strips
3 green onions cut into �" pieces
1 cup sliced water chestnuts
2 tbsp. rice wine
2 tbsp. low sodium soya sauce
2 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1 clove of minced garlic
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. hot pepper flakes (optional; you can lessen)
� cup orange juice

1 tbsp. tapioca starch (corn starch if you can't find tapioca) zest from two oranges... this is the orange part of the skin, you do not want too much of the white part which is the bitter part. You can use a zester if you work in a well-equipped kitchen or you can just grate the stuff with a normal cheese grater. If all else fails, slice the stuff into thin strips.

Directions:

Mix the onions, water chestnuts, rice wine, soya sauce, ginger, garlic and pepper flakes together in a bowl. Add the beef strips, mix well, and let sit for an hour or two in the refrigerator.

Mix the orange juice, starch, and zest together and bring to a boil while stirring. Simmer until it begins to thicken then remove from the heat.

In a hot skillet, saute the beef and vegetables until the beef is no longer pink. Add the orange mixture and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 11gm carbohydrates, 27gm protein, 8gm total fat, 233 calories. Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1 carbohydrate.

This would go nicely on a bed of rice or noodles.

Snack Mix

from Betty Johnson
of Lewiston, ID

Ingredients:

1 cup Kellogg's All Bran cereal
1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Combine and mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Yield: 4 cups (1 serving = � cup); Calories: 180; Exchanges: 1 carbohydrate, 2 fats.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

AN INSECT RECIPE
(from Zambia)

Most cookbooks contain something inedible. This is our contribution...

Ingredients:

flying moths
mealie meal
greens
1 bottle "Gold Medal" brand Zambian beer

Method:

Collect flying moths (lifespan about 1-2 hours). Once you have collected a bag-full (plastic or whatever is to hand), de-wing the dead moths. Discard wings. Place on baking tray, in moderate oven for 10-15 minutes.

Serve with mealie meal and greens. Goes well with delicious Gold Medal Zambian beer, but only after holding bottle to light to check for unwanted `bodies' in the bottle! Contains much protein, from honey-tasting bodies of crunchy insects.

Once you get over the idea of eating insects, it's delicious. Also, no chemicals required, land ploughed, or foodstuffs specifically grown to feed the insects.

Exchanges:

I wouldn't exchange this for anything....