Z3: Starters, Salads & Sauces

Who doesn't love cranberry sauce. Happy holidays!

Talk about comfort food. This is the pure definition. Thankfully fat doesn’t make you fat so you can eat this at parties and not feel the guilt.

Chris, VP Anger Management, loves his food spicy. He invented this sauce to go on sandwiches.

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!

Things like peppers are popular at Italian little plates restaurants. I’m offering you a recipe for mine here. Mine have a bit of an after-burner kick to them.

I ordered this dish at a restaurant in town. It was so good I said, “I have to figure out how to make this myself!” It was that wonderful.

Smell this sauce before you put it on your steak and you’ll swear you’re in an old-time steakhouse. The addition of the Worcestershire and Dijon elevate this simple sauce.

These are delightfully decadent treats. A word of CAUTION: Treat them like candy!

LOVE these cheesy bits for an appetizer. They go great while you are sipping your wine.

Can’t get any easier than this. Toss all of the ingredients in a bowl and serve with your protein hot off the grill!

This Smokey-Sweet Barbecue Sauce is a great addition to your recipe collection. This can be made spicier with the addition of cayenne. I kept mine mild and spiced it up for my husband.

This mushroom steak sauce is for those that want to make fancy food. The sauce can be served at a romantic dinner for two or even for company. It’s rich and yummy for sure.

I found a recipe very similar to this one about 15 years in an old Southern cookbook. I have made a few changes to “Zola-fy” it. This goes over BIG at any party, and it's so simple!

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.

In addition to being crunchy, satisfying and delicious, pumpkin seeds are a nutritious snack. You can buy shelled pumpkin seeds in the grocery store (also know as pepitas), but when pumpkin season rolls around, you can buy a fresh pumpkin, scrape out the seeds, and toast the whole seeds yourself. YUM! 

This is an elegant meal you can serve to company or even just for a romantic meal at home. I served this with haricot vert (roasted French green beans). That kept the meal totally low carb.

This recipe was submitted by dieter Dave, who is an avid gardener and serious grill-master. He grows his own peppers and likes this recipe because it is so simple - and always delicious. Even though this recipe calls for Anaheim peppers, you can use any type of pepper that suits your fancy.