Italian

I have seen in some restaurant menus that chefs have made pesto with walnuts, so I decided macadamia nuts must work too. Now I can attest. They not only work, it tastes great!

This is what I call cheating when I’m in a hurry. I use my favorite bottled Italian dressing as the marinade and everyone thinks I put so much effort into this really pretty dish.

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.

Angela says, "I love pizza, so I was looking for alternatives. I was disappointed to find cauliflower crust is not much lower in carbs than a traditional pizza crust. I came across that recipe for a meatzza crust and was pleasantly surprised. It satisfied my pizza craving, and I could have a slice of pizza without needing a fork! For those pizza cravings, here’s a recipe for a meatzza crust."

A traditional Italian meal made the Plan Z way. My husband declared this one of his favorite meals of the year.

Orzo is a wonderful, tiny pasta. This is the most requested side dish recipe I get from dinner guests–but watch your portion size. Enjoy!

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.

You can use the recipe as an appetizer or a brunch entrée or even a lunch or light dinner served with a salad.

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.

This dish is Italian comfort food. I curl up on sofa with a bowl of this and watch a movie. You can go totally low-carb with this one and make it without the pasta. Tastes just as good. This also makes a great casserole addition to a pot luck party.

This dish is Italian comfort food. I curl up on sofa with a bowl of this and watch a movie. You can go totally low-carb with this one and make it without the pasta. Tastes just as good. This also makes a great casserole addition to a pot luck party.

These meatballs are my take on an authentic meatball recipe from New York city. These actually have a cheesy element to them that make them super yummy. BIG YUM!

This is a very thick soup. If you like your soup thinner you can add tomato juice to thin it out. I'd say a couple of cups of juice would be plenty.

Today’s recipe is a really easy version of a summer, grilled chicken parmesan; only I changed it. Everyone talks about de-constructing recipes these days.

Two basic ingredients and some herbs. Simple elegance at its finest.

This makes a quick light appetizer that's pretty in the summer. Or it can be a side salad or even an Italian side dish to go great with grilled summer foods.

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

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 is a great Italian sauce that you can serve with steak, chicken or fish. You can eat it warm or cold.

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.

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