Flavor

Get more for less. If you're a bargain-hunter, calorically speaking, you want more flavor for fewer calories. Here are some ideas: GET A LEMON. IF your diet vetoes sweet or salty, think tart and tangy. Use lots of lemon and lime, not only on seafood but with poultry and meat as well. (Italians like their steak squirted with lemon - it's terrific.) TRY TEA. Become a connoisseur of the calorie-free. Expand your expertise on different kinds of coffees and teas. EXTRACTING MORE FUN. Experiment with pure flavors and extracts, not just vanilla.

Greens are user-friendly vegetables because they cook quickly and are extremely nutritious. Numerous varieties - both common and exotic - are available in the market these days, and other new ones are appearing all the time. Greens not only taste good, but some are considered "wellness foods. " These are foods that belong to a family of vegetables called crucifers - specifically kale, mustard greens and collards. (Other vegetables such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts are also good sources.

Fresh blueberries are in season from late spring into the summer and are as American as apple pie. They are great to eat out of hand and work well in a number of healthful warm-weather dishes. Blueberries have the power to elevate an interesting medley blended with tofu and mushrooms by creating a fruity flavor for a fresh-tasting, ginger-spiked tomato sauce. Juicy, sweet, smooth-skinned berries were highly valued by American Indians. Ninety-five percent of the world's blueberries are exported from North America.

You may not have noticed this, but very little has been written in the last half-century about how to keep meat-on-the-edge from spoiling and make it taste better into the bargain. Before the days of refrigeration, this used to be a common problem. Now you never think about it except when you go to the supermarket on Thursday and see a lovely lamb roast on sale, but it already has a slight greenish cast and the company isn't coming till Sunday. Of course, you could freeze it. But then you'd have frozen meat.

Affordable restaurants with cozy, candelit alcoves don't really need great food. For most of the romantics who find their way to such places, the seductive settings will usually compensate for any kitchen shortcomings. Which is why, after a slightly disappointing first meal at Restaurante La Paella Tio Pepe, I wasn't reluctant to go back for more. Food is fairly secondary here. What comes first is the nice feeling you get snuggling or just relaxing with friends in what was once an ordinary Northeast Philly home on busy Bustleton Avenue and is now a cozy, stucco- frosted cave just like the one you fell in love with in Barcelona.

Fresh herbs are at their most abundant and affordable during these waning days of summer. So, yes, use them with abandon. Chop and sprinkle on grilled fish, mince and rub on lamb, tuck whole sprigs in glasses of iced tea and lemonade. But the onset of autumn doesn't have to signal the end of herbal enjoyment. Now's the time to preserve your herbs for use later in roasts, stews, even cocktails. Herbs are extremely easy to "put by. " No sterilized jars and pots of hot water needed.

Fast food vs. slow food. For every trend, there is a counter-trend. On the one hand, we've been cooking and eating faster and faster till we've lost much of the joy of cooking and the delight of food. The reason for this? Seems nobody has the time to cook. Funny thing is, the slowest-cooking food is also often the easiest. Just put the pot in the oven and forget about it. Recipes for short ribs of beef are a perfect example, and hopefully will convince you that there is more to cooking than the quick saute, stir-fry, or simply tossing something on the grill.

Strawberries and rhubarb are tied in the fruit department, asparagus and artichokes among the veggies, but though shad and its roe have their devotees, there is no doubt that salmon was, is and ever shall be the premier fish of spring. It stands supreme as a symbol and in its fine substance. There are a few landlocked exceptions, but salmon are by and large anadromous creatures. Born in fresh water, sometimes far up river, they spend their adult lives in the ocean and return to their native streams only to spawn.

Too often less fat means less flavor. This is not just because oils and fats are themselves flavorful, but because most flavors - including those of herbs and spices - need the presence of fat in order to be perceived. So whenever we think of reducing fat in a recipe, we must also think of how to preserve and boost the flavors that remain. That's when a good rub can help. What are rubs? Rubs are powders ground from flavorful ingredients such as individual spices and herbs or blends of seasonings.

What: Veggie Milk Maker: Galaxy Foods Where: Supermarket produce sections, nationwide Size: 32 ounces Price: $2.99 Veggie Milk is a cholesterol-free, lactose-free and low-fat non-dairy product with calcium and vitamin values comparable to one dairy, one vegetable and one grain serving in each 8-ounce portion. That helps to justify the relatively high cost. It comes in a shelf-stable box, but must be refrigerated after opening. Our open sample kept well for a month in the fridge.