553 season recipes

General Tao's chicken with crispy water chestnut flour coating, Thai chili peppers, ginger, and orange peel in a sweet-sour sesame sauce. Restaurant-style Chinese takeout at home.

Microwave ratatouille pie: zucchini crust, sautéed onion and pepper in tomato sauce, crowned with breaded frozen eggplant slices. A 50-minute vegetarian main.

Easy to pack and perfect as crudités for that favorite dip, the crunchy texture and sweet taste of carrots is popular among both adults and children. Although they are shipped around the country from California throughout the year, locally grown carrots are in season in the summer and fall when they are the freshest and most flavorful.

This is a very colorful and tasty arrangement of marinated and then skewered and grilled vegetables and fish. The marinade, called chermoulla, is a blend of fragrant seasonings, oil, and lemon juice. In this version I've suggested my favorite vegetables for kebabs. You should choose your own favorites; some other good choices are eggplants, mushrooms, and onions.

A simple and scrumptious fried rice made with green peas, bean sprouts and mixed herbs.

Gumbo z'herbes, the New Orleans green gumbo: spinach, mustard, turnip, and collard greens simmered with smoked pork, ham, and oysters, spiced Creole-style and served over rice with file powder.

A hearty healthy barley risotto is cooked with winter vegetables and fresh greens, definitely will bring some refreshing taste into your Thanksgiving dinner and a good appetizer for a start.

First this double corn bread is absolutely delicious itself. Using the already-yummy cornbread makes a even more flavorful stuffing that has apples, celeries, pecans, and mixed herbs.

Balsamic-rosemary chicken cutlets sliced over fresh spinach with crispy bacon, mushrooms, radishes, and a warm shallot-mustard vinaigrette. A low-calorie dinner salad that's filling enough to be the whole meal.