Italian

When you need some serious cold weather comfort food, ratatouille hits the spot. This shortcut ratatouille-inspired recipe was submitted by dieter Angela. She Zolafied the original recipe and created a delicious ZReduction veggie sauté that can be made in less than half the time of a traditional ratatouille.

You’ll think you’re eating at an Italian Grandma’s house when you taste this.

This delicious recipe was submitted by Dieter Karen. Thanks Karen!

This is a fun, colorful side dish to a plain piece of meat. This goes together so fast! You can even make it in the morning and finish assembly just before dinner.

This is super easy. A great summer entrée that comes together in a flash.

This is a super easy meal to make; made even easier by doing it in your slow cooker. Simple Italian.

To make this burger taste extra special, consider topping it with a soup spoonful of spaghetti sauce. You can find one with no sugar in the spaghetti sauce aisle.

Dieter Emily sent us this easy to make crock pot weeknight recipe. Emily says, "when I came home from work, it smelled heavenly! This soup has so much flavor and is also quite filling!"

Get out the grill! This is one way the Italians do steak. I took a Food Network recipe and Zolafied it to come up with this option for a healthy steak dinner.

Normally Chicken Milano is a pasta dish. This one makes a rich, sundried tomato ‘gravy’ to go with plain chicken breasts. You’ll never miss the pasta. Promise.

I redesigned this recipe to incorporate cream to make a smooth sauce that will remind you of an old spaghetti house. Just no spaghetti.

This dish is full of vitamins. One cup of Swiss chard has over 700% of the vitamin K you need in one day. Over 200% of the vitamin A you need and over 50% of your vitamin C.

So today you can “Enjoy a Bowl-a-Zola.”

These go with any grilled meat or fish. Or any Italian meal as a side dish.

The broiling of a tomato lends a special sweetness to it. The garlic adds an Italian zing. Serve with any simple grilled, baked, broiled or roasted meat and you have dinner in a flash.

You can vary the spices or vegetables according to taste, making the variations on this almost endless.

I typed up this recipe as a serving for six because most pork tenderloins come packaged in twos these days. Be sure to get the unseasoned ones.

Anyone with an oven can make this dish. It takes just a few minutes to assemble and 30 minutes in the oven and dinner is ready to roll.

Seafood is often served on New Year’s Eve. In some cultures it’s a celebration that is supposed to come with good luck if you eat seafood.

This falls under the category of “so easy even a bachelor who professes to know nothing” can cook it.

I served this with roasted asparagus and enjoyed a simple, tasty meal.

This is my favorite recipe development in quite some time. It’s so simple. It’s so satisfying. Sort of like a warm version of bruschetta sauce or a chicken parmagiana with no cheese.

Serve with tomato slices and a salad and you have a nice meal. These are also good as Zola To GO!

This is my favorite summer recipe. It’s colorful, it’s light, and it’s very tasty.

When the chicken is done plate it with the veggies and then drizzle the whole thing with the dressing.

This makes a very authentic tasting meal that is satisfying and still diet food! Because of the breading on this dish you’ll skip your bread portion for this meal.

You can also have a salad on the side with a few bits of celery and cucumber.

A mild Italian dish that tastes fresh and healthy.

This is a great crock pot recipe. Super simple but really tasty.

"Spaghetti" and meatballs -- yes, that's what I said. I think this is my favorite so far! -- Plan Z dieter Amy.