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We are always wowed by how complex in both flavor and texture hand-milled grits are compared to their supermarket counterpart, which we don't recommend for this particular recipe. Grits are best when freshly cooked, but if you're making an entire menu, you'll probably want to prepare them the day before (see cooks' note, below). We suggest storing raw grits in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook them.

The trick: Roast on paper.
Cooking on parchment, a nearly indestructible cooking paper, removes the need for most of the oil. The paper's waxy surface keeps food from sticking. "We can replicate a pan-fried finish by roasting anything on parchment," says Steve Pernetti, executive chef at Cal-a-Vie in Vista, California. Pernetti's Parchment-Roasted Vegetables offer C, A, folate, potassium, and calcium.

Although this dish is lower in fat due to the skim milk and reduced-fat cheese, you'll love it so much you may never resort to the fluorescent-orange boxed stuff again!

Some say it isn't soul food unless it's mashed, creamed, candied, or deep-fried. But Southern cuisine needn't swim in saturated fat: Witness the recipes in Dr. Ro's Ten Secrets to Livin' Healthy (Bantam Dell Books) by nutritionist Rovenia Brock, Ph.D. With this delicious down-on-the-Delta dish, Brock slashes the fat while upping the nutritional ante with picks high in vitamin A, beta-carotene, and lycopene. You get a meal that's good for your heart and soul.

The health benefits: Tofu is a great source of iron (37 percent of the RDA in 1/2 cup), calcium (43 percent), and protein (21 percent). Eggplant has fiber, vitamin A, and potassium.

The health benefits: 1/2 cup cooked cauliflower has 36 percent of the RDA for vitamin C; beets deliver nearly 20 percent of your folate needs; good amounts of potassium and fiber in both vegetables.

The health benefits: almost 25 percent of the RDA for magnesium in 1/2 cup cooked chard; 20 percent of the RDA for vitamin A; almost 25 percent of your potassium quota.

Saturday dinner. From Miraval Resort & Spa in Catalina, Arizona. This dish tastes indulgently creamy, but it's made with rice milk, so it's low in fat.

When the heat is on, veg out with this easy meal. With farmers' markets sprouting up everywhere, it's easy to feast on good veggies. How to prepare all that produce? Serve it on skewers with a side of hummus, says Daniel Orr, executive chef of Guastavino's in New York City. Not only are the vegetables healthy, but the creamy bean dip boasts plenty of protein, some heart-helping monounsaturated fat and rosemary for an added antioxidant punch.

Tip: Use plain lowfat yogurt in place of sour cream. Result: less fat, great flavor.

Jerry Traunfeld, author of The Herbfarm Cookbook (Scribner), says, "Vegetables that are very fresh and picked at the perfect time are delicious cooked very simply. Just boil or steam them and serve with a little butter and maybe a sprinkling of tarragon, chervil or basil." Or savory, or oregano, as in this recipe.

Jesse Ziff Cool, author of Your Organic Kitchen (Rodale Press), advises, "When moving toward any plant-based diet, don't be too drastic. You'll hate it. Instead, cut down the amount of meat you eat and choose vegetables that taste good to you."

It's healthy, tasty and, yes, a full meal. This fiber-packed (12 whole grams — almost half your daily dose!), meal-sized salad comes from Gabrielle Hamilton, chef and owner of Prune, a tiny New York City restaurant that's wowing diners with natural, wholesome food that tastes delicious. Bonus for you home cooks: This dish is also quick to fix. Just chop, toss, then chow.

Although this recipe has a long ingredients list, it's a snap to throw together, even when you're zapped by sneezes and sniffles. Best of all, you'll be feeling better in a flash — chicken soup is a true germ conqueror, and the spiciness kicks up the cure a notch.

This dish, from Scott Uehlein, executive chef at the renowned Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona, is basically potatoes baked in a blend of broth and onions. It's amazing how rich they taste, and they take only 15 minutes to assemble.

Plain old pasta goes low-fat gourmet. Creamy pasta, good-for-you greens... What's wrong with this picture? Nothing! It's a weeknight-easy, flavor-packed treat from Alfred Portale, chef at New York City's famed Gotham Bar and Grill and author of the new Alfred Portale's 12 Seasons Cookbook (Broadway Books). Make this low-fat dish even healthier by using reduced-fat goat cheese, which we think is one of the best-tasting slimmed-down cheeses around.

We traded fish for fowl for a fresh approach to the classic niçoise salad, and guess what? It's tastier than ever (and still lowfat).
Think salad means a bland bowl of greens? Not with this recipe, adapted from the revised Taste of Summer cookbook by Diane Rossen Worthington (Chronicle Books). The dish is so full of scrumptious finds, you won't miss the lettuce. You can prepare the salad ingredients and dressing in the morning and refrigerate, then combine and serve for dinner.

Veggie perfection This nutrient-stuffed dish won't leave you hungry. What do you get when you give bell peppers center stage on your plate? A veggie-heavy meal that even a meat fiend will find too tempting to resist. Here we stuff antioxidant-rich bell peppers with couscous (a tiny, round pasta) and hardworking nutrient powerhouses like zucchini and yellow squash. The result? A meal low in fat, high in fiber, and loaded with vitamins A and C.