Recipe Rehab

        Smooth Seashell Salad makes cool main dish

        With the arrival of warmer weather, main-dish salads make appealing meals. We found this recipe for Seashell Salad in an ad for Barilla pasta. Medium shells are combined with tuna, peas, onion and seasonings and mixed with a creamy dressing of mayonnaise, sour cream and Parmesan. It's easy to make and can be made days in advance. Each serving contains 25 grams of fat.

        For this recipe, we:

        • Replaced the regular mayonnaise with Hellmann's “Just 2 Good.”

        • Used fat-free sour cream.

        • Used skim milk and increased the amount from 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup.

        • Kept the full amount of Parmesan cheese.

        We made three versions of this recipe and tested it on the staff at the Jewish Hospital Cholesterol Center. Tasters were amazed by the insignificant taste differences among the samples. The main difference was in appearance. For some reason the “medium” fat version had the most eye-appealing creaminess. The high- and low-fat versions looked drier. To remedy the situation, we simply added a little more milk. Presto — a creamier salad.

        The consensus was to go with the lowest-fat salad. With only 6 grams of fat per serving, it was delicious.

        Tip of the week: Because this dish is not heated, the fat-free sour cream worked beautifully.

Seashell Salad

       1 pound package medium shell pasta
       1 10-ounce package frozen peas
       1 cup low fat (2 grams per tablespoon) mayonnaise
       1 cup fat-free sour cream
        1/3 cup skim milk (see note)
        1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
       1 1/2 teaspoons salt
        1/2 teaspoon black pepper
        1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
       1 12-ounce can water-packed tuna, drained
        1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

        In large saucepan, bring 4-6 quarts water to boil. Add pasta shells, return to boil; cook 6-7 minutes. Add frozen peas to pasta; return to boil. Cook for 2-3 minutes more; drain. Rinse under cold water; drain. Set aside.

        In large mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add pasta mixture, tuna, and onion. Toss gently. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until serving. Makes 10 1-cup servings.

        Note: For an even creamier consistency, add additional skim milk.
        Contact Karen Weber, Pat Streicher and Ellen Illig of Jewish Hospital's Cholesterol Center by phone: 585-7946; fax: 585-6107; e-mail (weberkd@healthall.com).
       

Before and after

Values based on 1 serving (1/10 of recipe)

Seashell Salad....Adapted
Calories ... 463...318
Fat ......... 25 g ...6 g
Carbohydrate ...41 g ...49 g
Sodium .......714 mg ...820 mg
Cholesterol ...37 mg ...16 mg
Fiber ........3 g ......3 g
Calories
from fat......48%......16%
Nutritionists recommend those on a daily 2,000 calorie diet limit their fat consumption to 65 g or less, cholesterol to 300 mg or less and sodium to 2,400 mg or less per day.        

We Be Jammin'

        If you are one of those wonderful old-fashioned cooks who still makes homemade jams and jellies from fruit in season, and if you think you're pretty good, why not enter some in the Ohio State Fair contest?

        Sure-Jell Fruit Pectin sponsors the competition. Entries are judged on appearance, texture and taste. You can win cash prizes and gift bags and, of course, the ultimate prize: a blue ribbon. Entry deadline is June 20. Judging will take place during the fair, Aug. 2-18. For complete details and rules, call the fair office in Columbus at (614) 644-4040.

Required Reading

        If I were a man, I think I'd be insulted. A Man, A Can, A Plan (Rodale; $15.95) is a cookbook aimed at men that contains recipes made mostly by opening cans and combining the contents. It's not so much the simplicity of the recipes that is outrageously condescending, it's the plastic-coated wipe-off pages (just like a kids book) and the full-color photos of the various cans needed for each recipe. The instructions are based on words like dump, plop, squish, slop, stab and nuke.

        And yet, this book is irresistible. The idea that you can take a can of baked beans, a can of corn, a can of Mexican-style tomatoes and some instant rice and end up with a meal (Fried Bean Tomatoes) is real nifty. How about a can of chicken, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of mushrooms and a bag of noodles for '50s-Style Creamed Chicken?

        The book was put together by David Joachim and the editors of Men's Health magazine with healthiness in mind. I think it would be a great cookbook for kids who are expected to occasionally get dinner ready for the family.

        Some information about canned food from A Man, A Can, A Plan:

        The standard “safe” shelf life of canned food is two years from the date of manufacture. But in the 1820s, Sir William Edward Parry carried a 4-pound tin of roasted veal on two expeditions to the Northwest Passage. The can never was opened, so it was kept as an artifact. In 1938, scientists analyzed the 100-year-old contents and found them to be intact both physically and nutritionally. The veal was fed to a cat, who had no complaints.

        According to the Canned Food Alliance, unless a can bulges, is dented, or spurts when opened, the contents are edible.

The People Speak

        This year at Taste of Cincinnati, eaters could vote for their favorite dishes through the on-line service PlanetFeedback. The winners were not the fancier dishes that do well at the pre-event Best of Taste judging, but were more mainstream.

        Best Appetizer was Cafe Cin-Cin's chocolate covered strawberries (sounds like a dessert to me). Buffalo Wild Wings' Buffalo Wings were voted best entree, best ethnic entree was a tie between Izzy's Reuben and Black Forest Restaurant's bratwurst with sauerkraut.

        Best dessert, and best overall, was Mexican chain Don Pablo's chocolate volcano cake, proving that chocolate always trumps everything else. The cake is described on the menu as chocolate-cinnamon cake surrounded by a pool of molten chocolate butter sauce, topped with vanilla bean ice cream. It is served at the restaurants exactly as it was at Taste, except it's $5 at the restaurants, instead of $4.

We Tried It

        Kool-Aid is turning 75 this year, which brings back many memories — of not drinking Kool-Aid. It was one of many things I was deprived of as a child “for my own good.”

        But one summer a friend and I entertained ourselves by making Kool-Aid cakes. We'd add orange Kool-Aid to a cake mix and bake it, then frost with frosting made with purple Kool-Aid. Very psychedelic. Not especially delicious.

        This recipe, based on kids' surprising love for extra-puckery sour candy, sounded like a better use of Kool-Aid: To make Super Sour Kool Kubes, mix any two envelopes of Kool-Aid, 1/3 cup of sugar, 3/4 cup of water, then pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Add to regular Kool-Aid and “enjoy the sour bursts of flavor from the melting ice cubes.”

        This works pretty well, though the cubes don't freeze very hard. Don't get too creative with the combinations of flavors, or it will just taste weird. If you really like sour candy, just eat the ice cubes.

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