You don't like seafood?

I tried a new recipe out of one of my cookbooks for the potluck yesterday. Red Chili Linguine with Scallops. The cookbook I found it in was for The Range Cafe, one of my favorite local places (my dad and I go there for lunch after church almost every Sunday).

I was not able to find red chili linguine at Walmart, but I did find it on Amazon. It has a bit of a kick, but not much. Just enough, you know? I did find vacuum sealed scallops at Walmart though so that was nice. The recipe called for white wine, but I had no desire to purchase any wine (I don't like alcohol), no matter what size the bottle was. I looked up good substitutes and chose to use unsalted organic vegetable broth. I added a little more of the shallots than the recipe called for but since they're like little purple onions, I thought it was okay, and I added a little more garlic too. I used low salt butter (Smart Balance with extra virgin olive oil - found at Walmart) instead of regular butter, as well. The recipe was actually pretty easy to make, and my dad and I thought it was pretty good. Even ate some of the leftovers for dinner!

But only a few people tried it at potluck, and they told me it was pretty good. One person, who is diabetic like me, declined to try it because she didn't like the smell of the scallops. I think she didn't like seafood if it wasn't fried, which is perfectly okay. I only say this because she mentioned the fish sandwich at Blake's Lotaburger was good, so obviously she doesn't hate fish! I know why one other person didn't try it and it's because she doesn't like spicy food. I can say it's only very slight spicy, but she won't try it. It's cool. As my dad says, not everyone like the same food I do, and I can't expect that everyone will like what I make.

I bought two packages of the red chili linguine and only used one (each bag was 16 ounces/1 pound), so I'll probably make another pasta dish in the future. Maybe I'll use it for another recipe I like to make. Pasta with Garlicky Greens that I found in my Williams Sonoma Healthy in a Hurry cookbook. It's actually called Spaghetti with Garlicky Greens, but hey, I can still use my linguine, right? I've made it with regular pasta and chickpea pasta, so I think the red chili linguine could work!

I also made a simple dessert. I found the recipe on the side of a box of Jello. Jello Whip. Basically, it's Jello mixed with Cool Whip or whatever brand of whipped topping. I will admit that I didn't know you could quick cool Jello with ice cubes! I will definitely have to remember that for any future Jello Desserts I want to make. I just winged it with my dessert this time. I got a few different flavors of Jello (zero-sugar), followed the directions and ended up with a rainbow-like layered dessert that I topped with plain Cool Whip. It was really good. I bet if I did it again with fruit added, it would be awesome!

Sometimes I think people don't want to try stuff I make because it's not likely something being low salt and/or low sugar could possibly taste good. Not to mention that I like to try new, sometimes unusual, recipes and maybe trying something new is too scary. Those that do try usually end up being pleasantly surprised. Plus, I tell them that they could add salt if they wanted. I don't have any right to say they can't!

I won't stop trying new recipes. I might be looking for a specific recipe and just see another one that looks interesting/tasty. That's how I found recipes for low sodium baked beans and fried "rice" made with riced cauliflower instead of rice. Both of which, I might add, went over very well. I will keep trying to find healthier versions of things my dad and I like. There is no limit!

God Bless!