Onion

When I was a little girl, my teacher said that carrots would help me see in the dark. My mother told me they'd give me curly hair, and my father said they would put "hair on your chest. " I just didn't know who to believe. Today, the promises are even more beguiling: the beta carotene in carrots help protect against cancer. Carrots are now regarded as "health food" as well as beauty food. Regardless of what else carrots can do for me, I enjoy them for what they add to a meal: crunch, color and complex flavor.

One way to str-r-r-etch pasta without splitting your seams is to combine it with veggies. A diet-size portion of spaghetti or macaroni can seem like more when an equal amount of bulky vegetables is mixed in. There are a number of ways to accomplish this. You could top your pasta with a chunky sauce that's chockful of garden goodies: my Slim Gourmet Harvest Style Spaghetti Sauce, for example. Or you could combine the pasta and vegetables in an oven-baked casserole, such as the one-step Middle Eastern macaroni and cheese below.

Soups are among the easiest meals your kids can make. There are plenty of steps that each age can help with, with a range of difficulty to match your child's ability. Savory Butternut and Apple Soup combines two familiar flavors; Cajun Bean Soup requires little preparation but needs to simmer and cook. Preparation time for Cajun Bean Soup is 20 minutes; soaking time, 1 hour. Cooking time is 2 hours and 5 minutes. You will need a 4-quart saucepan, cutting board, knife, strainer, can opener and measuring cups and spoons.

Pasta and seafood has replaced spaghetti and meatballs for today's health- wise cooks who are fashionably figure-conscious. This quick and easy combination is high in lean protein and complex carbohydrates, relatively low in cholesterol, fat and saturated fat, and rich with heart-smart Omega 3. With garden fresh veggies as part of the "sauce," these flavorful main courses are high in appetite-appeasing fiber. Rigatoni are good for waistline watchers - the tubes take up so much plate space that it takes relatively few calories' worth to make a meal.

You probably have in your kitchen right now something that Columbus was looking for. Cinnamon! It was the search for an easier way to get cinnamon, and other exotic spices, that led European explorers into uncharted waters and ultimately to discover the Americas. Did you know that most of the cinnamon we get isn't cinnamon at all, but cassia? Cinnamon and cassia are the dried inner bark of two related evergreen trees in the laurel family. True cinnamon is tan, while cassia is a darker reddish brown, and the more strongly scented of the two. NORMANDY SPICED CHICKEN & RAISINS 2 chicken breasts, split 4 tablespoons raisins (preferably golden)

Makes about 21 puffs or 5-7 servings 1 medium onion, cut    into 8 wedges 2 pounds Yukon Gold    potatoes, peeled and    cut into quarters, or    into sixths if the    potatoes are large 2 tablespoons unsalted    butter 2 large egg yolks, plus    1 whole egg 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly    ground black pepper...

Dress up your dogs with these gourmet toppings. 1 large Spanish onion, sliced thin 1 small can tomato puree 1 cup Heinz chili sauce 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds 1 teaspoon ground cloves 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon bacon fat ...

Call this the "you-don't-have-to" recipe. You don't have to soak black beans overnight. You don't have to invite 25 of your closest friends to help you polish off the pot. And you don't have to wait, nibbling celery sticks for hours, until dinner is ready. It's 30-Minute Black Bean Soup, as robust and mellow tasting as the slow- cooked versions. It starts with canned beans, a sure convenience. But as cooks know, soups usually need time for the seasonings to blend.

Tex-Mex recipes provide a milder version of Mexican cuisine, lending themselves to microwave cookery. These dishes consist mainly of ground beef, tortillas and cheese. The most efficient and healthful way to microwave gorund beef with or without chopped vegetables (onion, green pepper, celery) is to place the beef mixture in a microproof (hard plastic) colander placed over a microproof bowl or casserole. Microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes per pound, stirring once, or until meat is still a little pink.

Eric Gower found a calling in food as an economics writer living in Japan. Now he's a private chef in San Francisco, and the author of three cookbooks. The latest, The Breakaway Cook: Recipes That Break Away from the Ordinary (William Morrow) focuses on flavor. Call it simplified fusion - fewer novelty pairings, more sensible seasoning. Whether sprinkling maccha salt (sea salt and powdered green tea) on poached eggs, braising duck legs with pickled plums and plum wine, or pan-frying flank steak with an Indian-inspired spice crust, his global approach to flavor is inspiring.