Blog Posts by The Editors of EatingWell Magazine

Chile Con QuesoI get excited for March Madness not because I like college basketball (to be honest it's really lost on me): I like the excuse to get together with friends, drink beer and eat some seriously junk-a-delic food.

Chile con queso (recipe below) is one of my favorite guilty pleasures, along with homemade pizza and my favorite beer. If you're not familiar with chili con queso, it's a cheesy, gooey dip usually served in a crockpot to keep it hot. My family (the half from Texas) makes it with Velveeta, jack cheese, salsa (preferably Herdez brand) and maybe some green chiles.

Last fall the food team here at EatingWell decided to work on makeovers of classic dip recipes. When it came to deciding which recipes to make over, everyone on the team wanted to do Queso...except me. I stomped and moaned and said no way! I suggested all sorts of other ideas like French Onion Dip, Hot Artichoke Dip or Spinach Dip. I thought there was no way to keep Queso delicious and make it healthy. How could

Irish Lamb StewEveryone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day. But are the days of getting sloshed on green beer in a packed pub behind you? Instead throw a last-minute dinner party at your place Tuesday night. The highlight of the meal is one of our easiest recipes ever: Irish Lamb Stew (recipe below). Full of potatoes, leeks and carrots, it will cure what ails you. And since it's made in traditional Irish fashion (i.e., nothing is browned first, just all thrown together), all you do is cut up the ingredients, put them in your slow cooker and turn it on. When you get home, dinner is practically done for you.

Not into lamb? Try our beer-lover's Cheddar-Ale Soup, made quick and easy with precooked diced peeled potatoes. Whichever you choose, these easy accompaniments will round out your meal.

Get your green on with a simple salad, like Mixed Greens & Oranges with Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Irish Soda Bread: It takes just 15 minutes to stir up the batter, and the aroma of warm homemade bread is so

Salmon with Pepita-Lime ButterMy secret weapon for quick weeknight meals? Frozen wild salmon. I buy individually packaged portions in bulk and can quickly defrost a few pieces in water or the refrigerator to make easy salmon recipes for dinner. Plus, I'm doing my body good by eating this fatty fish packed with EPA and DHA-omega-3 fatty acids that help heart health by slowing growth of arterial plaque, lowering triglyceride levels and reducing the risk of irregular heartbeat.

A few quick recipes to try:

Lime juice, chili powder and pepitas give Salmon with Pepita-Lime Butter (recipe below) Mexican flair.

Indian-inspired Cashew Salmon with Apricot Couscous uses many ingredients I always have on hand for a practically complete meal (just add a steamed vegetable).

Tangy plain yogurt mixed with the classic ingredients for chermoula-a Moroccan spice mix-serves as both the marinade and the sauce in Moroccan Grilled Salmon.

Or try a Blackened Salmon Sandwich, with a spread of

EatingWell Power SaladI love those stretches when my eating is nearly picture-perfect: yogurt and berries for breakfast, salads for lunch, fish for dinner; plus, plenty of water and a couple of healthy snacks in between. (You know what I'm talking about, right?)

But inevitably something-like the candy dish at work-breaks my stride. On my way to a meeting, I'll help myself to a few peanut M&Ms. On my way back from the printer, I'll snag another handful. And so it goes. Before I know it, I've easily eaten more than a serving. Ick.

In the past, this sort of unplanned eating might have led me to throw in the towel for the day and just eat whatever I wanted and as much of it as I liked. But now I know the key to overcoming slip-ups is to forgive, forget it and get right back on track.

Don't let little lapses keep you from reaching your goals. Here's how to recover from a binge:

1. Ask yourself what happened. Were you trying to be too good? If you've been eating nothing but celery all day, of

I'm bonkers for all the mushrooms, beef and creamy sauce in beef stroganoff. I could just bathe myself in it. OK…maybe not bathe. But how about bathe a bunch of egg noodles in the luscious sauce and then chow it down! That sounds like a serious comfort-food dinner to me and one that's an easy crowd pleaser. Plus our recipe only takes 40 minutes start to finish.

Our secrets to keeping it light are:

• We use flank steak, which is a relatively lean cut of beef.
• We make sauce with beef broth thickened with a little flour.
• Instead of heavy cream in the sauce, we just stir in a little reduced-fat sour cream at the end.
• The sauce is rich-tasting from a touch of cognac and plenty of portobello mushrooms.
• Serve over whole-wheat egg noodles, which have the added benefit of fiber.
  

Here are two more of my favorite comfort-food recipes starring beef:

• Creamy Hamburger Noodle Casserole
• Chicken-Fried Steak & Gravy
  

Beef

Peanuts and peanut products, such as peanut butter, are just the latest items to be recalled because of Salmonella contamination. But does that mean you should stop enjoying these otherwise healthy foods? No! Peanuts and peanut butter are rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. Plus, peanuts deliver some protein, fiber, magnesium, copper and vitamin E.

What you should do before you enjoy peanuts or peanut products is check to make sure the food you have isn't part of the recent recall. The Food and Drug Administration's website at fda.gov is the best place to go for an up-to-date list of products involved in the recall.

But once you've determined your peanuts and peanut butter have a clean bill of health, enjoy them in healthy peanut recipes, quick snacks like Gorp (recipe below) and kids' lunch recipes.

Gorp

1/2 ounce whole shelled (unpeeled) almonds
1/4 ounce unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
1/4 ounce dried cranberries
1 tablespoon chopped

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Maple-Mustard Baked Chicken

Few things are more comforting than baked chicken. And Maple-Mustard Baked Chicken (see recipe below) is one of my favorite recipes because it's just as good cold the next day as it is hot from the oven. It's my go-to recipe for picnics, and I'm even going to bring it to the March Madness party my friends are hosting later this month. The chicken is quickly marinated in mustard and maple syrup, then coated in breadcrumbs and baked for that crispy, delicious crust we all love. But since it's not deep-fried, it's way healthier than the crispy chicken-in-a-bucket from you-know-where.

Active time: 30 minutes
Total: 1 3/4 hours (including 30 minutes marinating time)
To make ahead: Marinate the chicken for up to 6 hours. Refrigerate the baked chicken for up to 1 day.

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Before I started working at EatingWell, I generally thought of tofu as an ingredient for Asian recipes. That changed when I met our Test Kitchen manager, Stacy Fraser. At a tender age, Stacy decided she wanted to become vegetarian. Then when she went off to college she took it a step further and became vegan. Anyway, she eats meat now, but she still has a real fondness for vegetarian recipes and has a flair for preparing tofu creatively.

One of the first recipes I tried was Stacy's Italian-inspired concoction that she served with polenta: Tofu with Tomato-Mushroom Sauce. I was impressed. And this recipe for Tofu Parmigiana (see recipe below) is even more delicious. One of our tasters, who's a big meat eater and not so into tofu, kept coming back for seconds every time we made it. He said he would even make it at home. Our art director, who doesn't really cook, tried the recipe at home and said it turned out perfectly. Try it for yourself or try another of our healthy tofu