Eating salad is a great way to slim down, especially during the warm months of spring in preparation for summer. However, salad dressings can often be packed with fat and calories. Food Network Magazine has decided to give your favorite dressings a makeover — transforming the classics into healthy, yet still flavorful options.
Get the recipes:
What’s your favorite salad dressing? Tell us in the comments.
You would never guess that fruity olive oil is the secret ingredient in this light, lemony cake. Grated lemon zest and fresh thyme are added to the batter for sweet and savory combination, while a glaze of confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice and butter is drizzled on top.
Get the recipe: Mini Olive Oil Cakes With Lemon Glaze
Browse more of Food Network’s olive oil recipes.
On Monday, April 25, Food Network’s own Marcela Valladolid had the rare opportunity to participate in a cooking demo on the South Lawn at The White House as the First Family hosted the 133rd Easter Egg Roll.
With 30,000 people in attendance, everyone took part in this year’s theme “Get Up and Go,” which focuses on promoting health and wellness, a key initiative for the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign. According to the Let’s Move! website, it’s important to “put children on the path to a healthy future during their earliest months and years.” An easy to way to do this is by getting them into the kitchen — kids are more likely to try new foods when they’ve invested themselves in the process.
Read more about Marcela’s time at The White House »
Giada De Laurentiis, Paula Deen and The Neelys are scheduled to appear at the 2011 Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show in Atlanta, taking place April 30-May 1. In addition to presentations, there will be book signings featuring all 3 headliners. Plenty of other offerings will be available throughout the 2-day event with over 200 exhibitors, cooking classes, cooking demonstrations and food samples. Visit Metrocooking.com for calendar and ticket information.
Alton Brown will give the 2011 commencement address for the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont. Alton, the host of Good Eats, is a 1997 Graduate of NECI. The Burlington Free Press reports the graduation ceremony is planned for June 4th in Montpelier.
Find out what Claire Robinson and Ted Allen are up to »
When I was developing the Mix-and-Match Quick Bread story for Food Network Magazine’s May issue, I was taking a statistics class in graduate school, so math was on the brain. The whole concept of our mix-and-match stories is to give the reader (you) the ability to come up with an endless number of combinations using our suggested ingredients. With that in mind, I decided that I needed to make the whole development process as random as possible, to ensure that any combination would work. I typed up little slips of paper, each with the name of a potential ingredient. Then, I had my fellow test kitchen members (Andrea, Bob and Claudia) blindly pick out ingredients.
Look at some of the random combinations we came up with »
Start preparing for Cinco de Mayo with this easy dessert. Using your favorite boxed brownie mix, add ground chipotle chile powder and cinnamon to the batter for a Mexican twist on a traditional dessert. Top each brownie with a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream.
Get the recipe: Mexican Brownies
Browse Food Network’s Cinco de Mayo feast for more Mexican-inspired recipes.
After April showers come May flowers, right? Well May is just around the corner and soon spring will be in full bloom. Take advantage of longer days, warmer temperatures and fresh springtime produce with these fair-weather dessert recipes.
Grilled Banana Splits from foodnetwork.com are almost too cute to eat and extremely easy to put together. Simply wrap a split, unpeeled banana in aluminum foil, grill for a few minutes and top with your favorite sweet condiments. This creative dessert will please all the kids (and kids at heart) at your table.
For a unique twist on a classic favorite, try Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcakes from food2.com. Layers of fresh strawberries and whipped cream are nestled between two soft chocolate chip biscuits in this satisfyingly sweet sandwich.
Get more springtime sweet recipes »
Have last minute dinner guests? Dress up store-bought spinach ravioli with a homemade sauce tossed with plump San Marzano tomatoes, Italian salami and fresh basil — dinner will be ready in 20 minutes.
Get the recipe: Spinach Ravioli With Tomato Sauce
Browse Food Network’s pasta recipes for more dinner ideas.
Easter is right around the corner and while everyone’s busy preparing for the main course, whether it be ham or lamb, don’t forget to end your holiday meal with a sweet.
Food Network has rounded up Easter desserts for everyone at the dinner table:
Easter cupcakes: 11 adorable holiday cupcakes with one vanilla cupcake batter.
Just Desserts Buffet: Soothe your Easter sweet tooth with a buffet featuring Giada’s classic Easter pie and Paula’s family recipe for carrot cake.
Get the recipes to five more favorites »
In honor of National Grilled Cheese Month and Los Angeles’ annual Grilled Cheese Invitational (taking place Saturday April 23), we’re diving into the cheesy world of previous Invitational winners. This year’s event will draw more than 200 competitors, all hoping to take home the grilled cheese title in one of three categories: classic, freestyle and dessert.
From savory to sweet, each of these award-winning sandwiches pack a flavor punch:
Grilled Mac and Cheese with Pulled Pork (pictured above) by Dave Danhi of The Grilled Cheese Truck
Three-Cheese Grilled Cheese by Mathew Michaud
Grilled Cheese with Dates and Prosciutto by Shaelyn Clements
Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Thousand Island Dressing by Greg Morris of Oaks Gourmet
Grilled Pound Cake with Mascarpone by Robert Atallah, Jr.
Which one will you try first? Tell us in the comments below.
Watch: Triple D Under the Hood This Weekend
Cheesy Spring Sides
Iron Chef Michael Symon Off the Clock
