Vegetarians and omnivores alike can enjoy this tasty burger.

This recipe requires some items from the specialty, vegetarian, or health food section of the supermarket, or from the health food store. It is worth the small extra effort.

Perhaps you are unsatisfied with the frozen meatless burgers you find available. You may find the flavor too spicy, or not spicy enough. Or the sodium content may be too high. Try these instead. You can adjust the seasonings any way you like, to get exactly the burger you want.

Here is a an American adaptation of a Vietnamese dish. I came up with the recipe because someone requested it. This soup has lots of protein, and tastes really good. It should fit into almost any diet.

A comforting soup with an Asian flavor!

Sauerkraut is best known as a traditional German and Czech food. It is a common feature of most traditional Northern, Central and Eastern European cuisines. And it is popular in parts of China and North and South America as well.

Sauerkraut is a healthy food that offers an abundance of vitamin C, healthful lactobacilli, and other nutrients without artificial preservatives. The benefits are so compelling that sailors started carrying sauerkraut hundreds of years ago on long sea voyages. They found that eating sauerkraut prevented the debilitating effects of scurvy.

Try this quick and easy dish for lunch or supper. It’s healthy and well-balanced. It’s filling. And it’s very tasty!

If you are a low-carb dieter, you probably have heard that you should avoid white potatoes. The white potato category includes red potatoes, yellow potatoes, and brown potatoes — basically, anything besides yams and sweet potatoes. Some people avoid white potatoes, along with eggplant, peppers, and other nightshade vegetables, for other reasons, One common concern is that these may make arthtitis worse.

If you are among the potato-avoiders and you miss your spuds, there are a number of ways to get a similar dish using other veggies.

Try some of these ideas, and you may find your cravings diminished to a tolerable state. And for the low-carbers, remember that you can have a little bit of real potato every now and then, particularly if accompanied by some protein to temper the glycemic effect.

The next time you have a craving for pasta, but think you can’t have it because it is so high-carb, consider these recipe tricks.

Use green beans — also known as string beans or snap beans — in place of part of the pasta. Use veggies in place of part or all of the meat. You can feel good about this meal.

I wanted to get some heat-and-serve gravy at the supermarket. The first problem was finding the canned gravy section, since I rarely buy any. Once I found it, I remembered why I stopped buying the stuff. Many are very high in sodium, and most contain white flour and other ingredients that I try to avoid.

So I realized that if I wanted a healthy gravy, I would have to make my own.

What’s a party without a tableful of great snacks? Chips and dips, crackers and cheese, crunchy things and creamy things? Not much fun, that's for sure.

But if you are watching your weight (go down), you have to be careful not to overindulge on high-calorie, nutrient-poor munchies. Does this mean that your parties will be a big, bland bore? No way!