Butternut Squash

Here's a sampling from "Chew the Right Thing: Supreme Makeovers for 50 Foods You Crave. " Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien uses specific brands of processed foods in her recipes but in a way that minimizes their caloric impact. SUPER-CHEESY ALL-AMERICAN BREAKFAST BAKE 2 cups fresh spinach leaves 1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute 1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese 1 slice fat-free American cheese 1 slice extra-lean turkey bacon Salt and pepper to taste Nonstick cooking spray Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Here are a few recipes from World Cafe Live Chef Matthew Babbage. The spicy chicken dish was served for a Todd Rundgren show, while the bisque went down easy when the Subdudes were in town. When Canadian Dancehall Queen Simone performed here, smoked turkey wings and collard greens were on the menu. ROCKIN' CHILI PEPPER CHICKEN WITH PEANUT SAUCE One 2 1/2-3 pound chicken, backbone removed and wing tips cut off 1 cup chili oil with ground red pepper (recipe below)

Asked to create recipes to tempt young palates, Rachael Ray came up with a lasagna bake she described as "a dream, rich, simple and delish. " It's easy to make and is loaded with 3 pounds of spinach and chard. 4 tablespoons ( 1/2stick) butter 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 3 cups milk Salt and ground black pepper, totaste Ground nutmeg, to taste 1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano- Reggiano, divided 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove, cracked 1 bunch green chard, stems removed and leaves roughlychopped 2 pounds spinach, tough stems removed and leaves roughlychopped 12-ounce box no-boil lasagna noodles Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Wild rice is not as wild as it once was, and it is really not rice. So, how did it get its name? One theory is that when 17th-century French explorers first encountered the grain in North America, they called it folle avoine, or "crazy oats. " The term wild rice may have come into use later because of the grain's similarity to common rice. Wild rice is self-propagating in the lakes and rivers in the northern Great Lakes region. Today, most of the wild rice found in our markets is cultivated in man-made paddies in Minnesota and California.

You could say that getting things done is the marrow of Alfonso Contrisciani's soul. He's up each weekday before the sun checks in and his workday doesn't quit until 10 p.m. Sometimes (that really means most times) even later. All of this is simply routine to him. But that's because he's an executive chef and the father of three young children, with a fourth on the way. "I have to get the kids off to school by 7, my wife, Josee, is an emergency room nurse, and then I get in here at about 9 or 9:30.

When Francis Trzeciak was growing up in Metz, a midsize city in the Alsace-Lorraine region of northeastern France, Christmas Eve meant waiting for P?re No?l, the benevolent bearer of gifts, while worrying that his ill-tempered alter ego, P?re Fouettard, might show up instead to deliver a spanking. Trzeciak, the 39-year-old chef-owner of the Birchrunville Store Cafe in Birchrunville, Chester County, has vivid recollections of the holiday foods of his childhood: sparkling pear and apple ciders, icy oysters, crisp-skinned roasted ducks, and tiny cappelletti pasta filled with ground chicken, nutmeg, eggs and Parmesan cheese.

IN THE FOOD business, there's not much that's trendier than a food truck. Maybe gluten-free pastry. Or garlic scapes. Or waiters with mustaches. That's about it. Breakfast through dinner, mobile culinary units have in recent years multiplied nationwide. In our town, the campuses of Temple, Drexel and Penn have long been home to falafel, kielbasa and soul-food vendors. Today, they also host trucks and carts serving gourmet grilled cheeses, breakfast tacos, pork bulgogi and vegan banh mi. Last year, LOVE Park became a temporary residence to a mess of mostly newbie trucks proffering wood-grilled pizza, custom burgers, Trinidadian doubles, single-origin coffee, red velvet cupcakes and "Iron Chef"-approved tacos.

Karen Vollmecke was packing eggs from her free-range chickens along with some of her butternut squash for a Malvern restaurant one recent afternoon. It's Alba, "a little chef-owned restaurant and he [Sean Weinberg] has a passion for cooking with local produce," Vollmecke said. Growing for locals seems to be what gets Vollmecke percolating most mornings. Karen, 44, and her mother Jan, 77, are copartners in the 22-year-old Vollmecke Orchards, on Cedar Knoll Road in West Brandywine Township.

It was Washington's version of the Oscars: a star-studded state dinner to fete Chinese President Jiang Zemin. In an East Room grandly decorated in gold, with tall candelabras covered with fragrant roses, 232 guests selected for their corporate or political power dined last night in the knowledge that they were on the A-list of A-lists. All state dinners are impressive, but the jockeying to be included in this affair was heightened because of the importance of the country being honored, and the infrequency of visits from its leaders.

As recently as a decade ago, we Philadelphians still had a reputation for avoiding any restaurant that was either above or below street level. The success of Upstares at Varalli (on the second floor at Broad and Locust) and Michels (down a few steps at the Latham at 17th and Walnut) suggests that locals of the current fitness generation have no such hangups. Nonetheless, Galileo's isn't taking any chances. The restaurant occupies a second-floor location at 17th and Spruce, but when a first-floor room is completed, dining is scheduled to move downstairs and the current space will become a late-night room offering a light menu and musical entertainment.