A few weeks ago, I bought some brown basmati rice for a night when my husband was working. Though we’ve never really loved any brown rice in the past, this time the kids and I enjoyed the nutty grain. But when it came time to make rice a few days later for the whole family, I pulled out white rice thinking my husband would never want to eat brown rice. So, you’ll imagine my surprise when he made some last week for dinner — without any prompting. Turns out, he was ready to give it another go. And he liked it too.

Well, I guess this makes us brown rice fans. Who would have thought it?

Anyway, when I went to whip up this spicy lunch for myself, I went right for the brown rice … it was perfect for it.

This dish is adapted from a Mark Bittman recipe. Recently, I was asked to join The Food Matters Project — a group of bloggers cooking our way through Mark Bittman’s Food Matters Cookbook. If you aren’t familiar with the cookbook (or the book Food Matters), the basic premise is that you should eat like your ancestors would have in the early 20th century. It’s not unlike the lessons I recently learned reading Why Women Need Fat. So, when asked to join in, I said yes right away. I could definitely use the lessons from this book to cook better food for my family.

And me too. Because sometimes recipes aren’t for everyone. This one? Totally not for my kids. And that’s okay.

This week’s recipe for the group was Chipotle-Glazed Squash Skewers. The recipe sounded amazing as is, and I am sure it would make a killer appetizer or side dish. But when I read the combination of flavors, it made me think of lunch. When the kids are in school and I am working, I love having something easy and not-kid-friendly to eat … this was totally that. So I scrapped the skewers, added sweet potatoes and more honey and served this over brown rice and raw kale. Hello.

It’s been a while since I last cooked with smoky, spicy chipotle peppers, powerful little peppers that add a punch to dishes. In this recipe, the chipotles, combined with honey and garlic, turn the sugary butternut squash and sweet potatoes into creamy sweet heat missiles. The nutty brown rice and earthy, firm raw kale make it a total party of textures and flavors.

And yes, I made this one pretty spicy. I love fiery flavors, and love it even more when it’s a sweet fire. Unfortunately, my kids and husband aren’t fans of the heat that chipotle peppers add so this dish really is perfect for my lunch — solo. Oh well, more for me. That’s why it’s perfect for me to enjoy alone for lunch …

You can check out the original recipe at 20something Cupcakes and be sure to check out the Food Matters Project to see how other bloggers interpreted this dish.

Spicy Honey Chipotle Squash and Sweet Potatoes over Brown Rice
serves 4
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s Chipotle-Glazed Squash Skewers

 1 1/4 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 – 1 lb sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
2 chipotle chilis, finely chopped
2 tbsp adobo sauce (from the chilis)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp honey
salt and pepper, to taste
4 cups cooked brown rice
1 cup bite size pieces of raw kale

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with non stick aluminum foil.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the butternut squash and sweet potatoes.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, chipotle chilis, adobo sauce, garlic, honey, salt and pepper. Pour over the butternut squash and sweet potatoes and toss well to combine. Pour onto the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, stirring 2-3 times, until tender.

Arrange one cup of brown rice on each of four plates. Top with 1/4 cup kale each and 1/4 of the glazed squash and sweet potatoes. Enjoy!

When Will saw me starting to steam broccoli for this dish, he couldn’t help but let out a little cheer. It’s his very favorite vegetable — and has been since he was a toddler. Even though he’s loved it for much of his six years, I am always caught off guard by his excitement. When I was a child broccoli wasn’t high on my list. Unless it was drowned in cheese sauce, of course, but that kind of defeats the purpose. No?

But even though his enthusiasm for broccoli surprises me, I try really hard never to let my preferences color Will’s or Paige’s. I never ever want them to not try something — or worse, to dislike something — because I’m not as excited by it. I’d much rather they make their own decisions about foods — and they do.

These days though, I do like broccoli too. But I especially like it when it’s tossed with a delicious sauce like in this Baked Ginger Sesame Chicken and Broccoli. It’s a sweet-salty-savory dish with Asian inspiration. The marinated chicken soaks in all the flavors of the marinade, and then the steamed broccoli is enhanced by a quick toss with some reserved marinade, which really ties it all together.

This dish starts with an easy homemade ginger sesame sauce/marinate. You whisk the four simple ingredients together and reserve a little. Then the rest is used to marinate the chicken. You can grate your own ginger for this, or use some of this frozen crushed ginger. Either works great.

Marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Longer is better though. Then you bake it — it takes about 14 minutes in the oven, total.

Then you serve it over rice with the broccoli. It’s easy — and fairly fast to make. We like it as a simple school night dinner, but it works any night.

Time to switch gears … I just don’t have a good transition for this one. Let’s just pretend I do. Please?

On to Eat. Live. Be. … Earlier this week, I sent Cate a quick message asking her what this week’s theme was for Eat. Live. Be. Reboot. I was so relieved when she said online. I knew just what I would be talking about.

See, when Eat. Live. Be. was in full swing earlier this year, I gave myself a big boost by joining Weight Watchers Online. It was just what I needed right when I needed it — the accountability, the structure, the reality-view of what I was eating. But then summer came and tracking became a nuisance. Toward the end of summer, I canceled my subscription. Throughout that whole time, I kept my weight off — despite not tracking.

It’s amazing how quickly you can get off track though. For me, it started with my asthma acting up. I wasn’t exercising. I ate more. And then, I had to take a very necessary medication to fix my asthma problem — that causes two serious side effects in me: a huge, unstoppable appetite and sleeplessness. Then the holidays came and before I knew it, I had drifted far from my healthy habits.

When I made the commitment to reboot my efforts though, I knew I needed that kick in the pants to really get moving and back on track fast. Guess where I turned? Weight Watchers Online again. I like that the program is flexible enough to accommodate my unusual lifestyle — which includes testing at least a half-dozen recipes each week — but structured enough to create a boundary for me when it comes to eating. I really need boundaries. I have high hopes.

Be sure to check in on the Eat. Live. Be. For a Better 2011 Facebook page to see what all the ELB’ers are up to this week, and where they are finding inspiration and motivation online.

Baked Ginger Sesame Chicken and Broccoli
serves 4, plus leftovers

1 1/2 lb raw chicken breast tender pieces
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp grated ginger
4 cups broccoli florets
sesame seeds (optional)
white rice, cooked

Rinse the chicken under cool water and then place in a large bowl to marinate.

Whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil and ginger. Reserve 2 tablespoons of marinade and then pour the remainder over the chicken. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes to marinate.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet, discarding any used marinade. Bake for 7 minutes then flip and cook for another 7 minutes, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, steam the broccoli until tender (about 10 minutes). Once it’s cooked, remove to a medium mixing bowl and toss to coat with the reserved sauce/marinade.

Serve the chicken and broccoli over rice.

After Hurricane Irene knocked out our power for days, I had to restock almost everything in our fridge and freezers. It was somewhere between a colossal pain and a tremendous relief to start fresh like that. I hated losing everything, but being able to start from the basics again was nice. Anyway, when it came to restocking, one of the first things on the restock list (after nonfat milk, an assortment of cheeses and butter, of course) was bacon.

Now, while I think the bacon trend has seen its day, bacon is still a great thing to keep around. It adds tremendous flavor to braised cabbage and elevates an otherwise ordinary grilled cheese sandwich. And bacon with Brussels sprouts? OMG good. So, I always keep bacon in the freezer, slicing off a little whenever I need it. It’s so easy and then it’s always on hand.

I’m telling ya. It’s worth it.

In this fried rice? It’s amazing. The bits of bacon, egg and kale are fabulous together in the rice. And since the kale is actually cooked in the bacon fat, the flavor of bacon really permeates throughout the dish.

If you haven’t made fried rice before, I assure you that it’s easy. If you have all your ingredients prepped, it takes a whopping 15 minutes or so to cook this homemade recipe. And, yes, your ingredients should be prepped and ready to go before cooking.

This is a perfect side dish for Baked Sticky Orange Chicken Drumsticks.

Oh, and one more thing … This is also really amazing with a good swirl of Sriracha stirred in.

Bacon and Kale Fried Rice
serves 4

4 slices bacon, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch kale, ribs discarded and leaves minced
1 cup Jasmine rice, prepared
1 tsp sesame oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

Heat a large skillet (or a wok) over medium heat on the stove. Add the bacon and cook until browned. Remove the bacon from the skillet to a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon.

Add the garlic and the kale to the skillet. Cook for 5-7 minutes until the kale is wilted. Add the rice and toss well to combine. Add the sesame oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss well.

Push the rice mixture to one side of the skillet and add the eggs. Cook, without disturbing, for 2-3 minutes, until mostly firm. Break apart with your spatula and cook for 1-2 minutes more, until no longer liquidy. Stir together with the rice mixture. Scrape the bottom of the pan well.

Remove from heat and stir in the bacon. Drizzle with soy sauce. Stir well to combine.

Serve immediately.

When I went into the kitchen this afternoon, Paige came running in, dragging a chair behind her. “Mommy, I want to help.” I was there to clean, and told her so. “Then I’ll watch.”

And she did, waiting patiently until the counters were wiped clean and the dishes in the sink were washed or transferred to the dishwasher. She knew what was coming when I was done: cooking.

Paige and Will both revel in helping me in the kitchen. Even if it’s as simple as washing basil at the sink or transferring chopped veggies to a bowl, they’re happy to be involved in any way. And as a result, they know the difference between kale and lettuce, eggplant and pepper, and so many other foods.

It’s a good thing too. Whereas some foods do give me pause, the kids are unaffected. Eggplant in this dish? Yum. Mushrooms? Paige’s favorite. Peppers? Oooh. This rice dish could have been a hard-sell, but it wasn’t.

Will and I really enjoyed the flavors and textures of this Tomato Basil Veggie Rice. Really, anything with the vibrant combination of tomatoes and fresh basil is a favorite for me, but this rice also had that richness that you want with fall and winter foods. Paige wasn’t as into it though … but that’s okay. She ate quite a bit anyway.

This is a one pot dish that takes a little more than 30 minutes to whip up (most of it is hands off time), which makes it totally weeknight friendly. The rice cooks in a bath of vegetable stock and the juices from a can of diced tomato, rendering tender grains with a hint of sweet gravy. It’s a complex, contrasting story of flavors and textures: sweet and savory, meaty without meat, substantial without heaviness. The bits of diced tomato are a shock of sweet next to the meaty mushrooms and eggplant bits.

We eat this as a side dish with chicken, but the recipe could be a meal in of itself too.

http://community.educationworld.com/content/lesson-plans
serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small eggplant, peeled and diced
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes
1 sweet bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup rice (I use jasmine)
1 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup basil leaves, finely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Add the eggplant and the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes until tender and lightly browned.

Stir in the diced tomatoes (with the liquid), bell peppers and rice. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the vegetable stock. Cover. reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes.

Stir in the basil, salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let sit for five minutes.

Serve.

If I had to describe this rice in just five words, they’d be creamy, bright, fresh, tender and satisfying. It’s unexpected – a very green rice, dotted with red tomatoes – but absolutely delicious. It’s a soothing mix of flavors and textures.

Avocado-Basil Rice with Tomatoes combines the flavors of mild guacamole with tender, warm rice. It’s a perfect side dish for spicy foods and bloody steaks. I came up with this one afternoon while sitting on the beach, contemplating dinner. We were having steak with a chipotle honey sauce, and I wanted something that could stand up to those flavors. This was totally it.

What made this even better for me was that it took about 10 minutes to make. I used Trader Joe’s frozen Jasmine Rice, and did everything else from scratch. Easy peasy.When dinner is late to hit the table (it was) and you don’t feel like spending a long time in the kitchen (I didn’t), then a dish like this is a blessing.

Avocado-Basil Rice with Tomatoes
serves 8

2 ripe Hass avocados, pitted and peeled
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
1 medium tomato, diced
4 cups cooked white rice

In a large mixing bowl, mash the avocado with the prongs of a fork. Stir in the lemon juice, basil, garlic, salt and pepper and tomato.

Pour the hot white rice into the bowl and stir well to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Serve immediately.

This morning, I found out that a friend of mine has cancer. No, wait, that’s Cancer, with a capital ‘C.’ I’ve been processing this all day and am still at a loss for words. I am praying for her health. But my friend’s story isn’t mine to tell.

Learning that this wonderful, kind, sweet woman has cancer hit me like a ton of bricks. Cancer doesn’t care how good or nice you are. It just attacks, a cruel and invasive enemy.

This got me thinking … What can we do so that we set ourselves up to avoid this monstrous disease? How can we give ourselves a fighting chance against cancer?

We can’t prevent it. But what we can do is take steps to give ourselves the best chance of avoiding it. How? Eat well. Live well. Be fit.

For diet, there’s something called The Anti-Cancer Diet, which stresses lots of fruits and veggies, healthy oils and fats and more plant-based food than meat. It sounds similar to the Mediterranean Diet and Clean Eating. It’s important to think about what you are eating and make deliberate, informed choices.

See also Eat. Live. Be. For a Better 2011.

Then there is exercise — regular exercise. As if by a strange coincidence, the kids and I started jogging this week, and I am considering running a 5K. But whether you jog or hit the gym or Zumba like crazy, doing something to raise your heart rate and keep your body fit helps.

So, with The Anti-Cancer Diet in mind, Paige and I made this for lunch today. This recipe draws on healthy, anti-cancer foods like cauliflower, sweet potatoes and garbanzo beans. The filling combination of sweet and savory is perfect over rice. If you want to up the health ante, use brown rice.

What’s your favorite anti-cancer food?

Roasted Cauliflower, Sweet Potatoes and Garbanzo Beans
serves 4

1 medium cauliflower, cut into 1″ florets
1 4-5″ long sweet potatoes, cut into a 3/4″ dice
1 15.5 oz can garbanzo beans
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cauliflower, sweet potatoes, garbanzo beans, olive oil, ginger, tumeric and cinnamon. Toss well to mix, taking care to distribute the spices all over.

Slide the tray into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Stir well. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until the veggies are cooked through and lightly browned at the edges.

Serve over rice.

Remember how I was meal planning for a while? It worked so well, and being organized (and planned) made the evenings go really smoothly.

Unfortunately, I really haven’t done that in a long time. In fact, my meal planning calendar still lists a week in October. As a result, dinner has become a great big hectic feat — I hate that. It’s awful when you see 5 p.m. fast approaching with nothing defrosted and no idea what to make. Clearly, I need to start doing that again.

When I took out pork chops for dinner last night, I knew I needed to have a plan long before dinnertime arrived. Otherwise, I would be freaking out, and trying to figure out how to turn them into something tasty.

I rarely make pork of any kind, so I turned to my vast collection of cookbooks. I don’t often cook from cookbooks, but when I do it’s because I need to make something that will most likely work. Since I am relatively inexperienced with pork, this stir-fry recipe allowed me to experiment with a new way of making chops … and it turned out great. I will definitely use this cooking method again (and this recipe too).

Making this Quick Pork and Peanut Stir-Fry was so easy. I traded out chicken broth for vegetable stock that I had in the fridge. I also used a low-sodium soy sauce and halved the amount of ginger in the recipe. The result was an intensely flavored dish that everyone polished off fast. I loved the sweet-ish sauce with the crunch of the peanuts and onioniness of the scallions (aka green onions).

The trick to making this quickly is to have all the ingredients ready to go when you start cooking. It takes maybe 15 minutes to make, max, so you won’t be waiting long to enjoy it.

What’s your favorite stir-fry?

Quick Pork and Peanut Stir-Fry
serves 4
Adapted from All You Eat Well, Save Big Cookbook

1/4 cup low-sodium vegetable stock
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp light olive oil
1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
5 scallions, chopped with the white parts and the green parts separated
1 lb boneless pork chops, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts, chopped (plus extra for sprinkling)

Whisk together the vegetable stock, soy sauce, rice vinegar and cornstarch. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat (closer to medium than high). Add the white part of the scallions and the ginger and cook for one minute, stirring once or twice.

Add the pork to the skillet and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no pink is visible.

Pour the sauce into the skillet and add the peanuts. Stir well to combine. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the sauce is thickened and coats everything. Add a little extra vegetable stock, if necessary, to give the sauce your desired consistency.

Serve over rice.

Disclosure: I don’t know if I actually need to disclose this or not, but this cookbook was a gift from someone at the publisher. I wasn’t asked to review it (as it was a gift), but I liked this recipe so much that I wanted to write about it. I wasn’t asked to write about this at all. I chose to.

The first time I set foot on Barnard College’s campus, I fell instantly in love. At the time, I was living near Lincoln Center, amid the hustle-bustle of the city. I loved that area, and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. But when I emerged from the subway at 116th Street, it was like walking into a different world — a village within the city. Something just clicked for me.

I was still in the city, still close to everything, but the pace of life in Morningside Heights was a little slower … a little more suburban. And as I learned more about the school itself, I decided it was perfect. Just perfect.

Three months later, I moved into a dorm at Barnard. It was the spring semester, and although I was so excited to be there, I was also nervous and a little shy about everything. Thank goodness for good roommates. I lived with four people — three girls and a guy — and they were all so inviting and nice. Even when I wasn’t sure how to befriend them, they dragged me out and included me.

Two of those roommates are still among my closest friends, more than 10 years later.

Those same wonderful roommates also introduced me to the amazing world of Korean cuisine. If I close my eyes, I can take myself back to that first encounter. I was a little scared (new food! eek!) and a little apprehensive. But I asked my friends what I should try and took their advice.

The only problem with this whole thing? I loved that dish so much that I have never had anything else Korean. That first dish turned out to be an amazing, life-altering flavor experience. It was Bi Bim Bap (or bibimbap), a rice dish, sometimes served in a hot stone pot. Warm veggies, often sauteed and lightly seasoned, top the rice and then there is a fried egg on top of it all. Sometimes it’s served with beef too. Then you add some red chili paste. Oh, it’s divine.

At the restaurant we used to go to near the Barnard and Columbia campus, they would bring out these steaming hot stone pots, and we’d stir them vigorously, adding copious amounts of the red chili paste. It was a thrilling flavor experience. Every bite, from the tender beginnings to the crispy rice at the bottom of the bowl, was fabulous.

Unfortunately, I don’t often get back to that restaurant (or any other Korean restaurant), since I live and work in Connecticut, where there is a definitive lack of Korean cuisine. Yes, there are a few restaurants in New Haven and Hartford, but none are close enough to my house to warrant a trip.

Fortunately, I am all about adapting favorite dishes to be more accessible, and this one was perfect for that.

I’ve traded the hot stone pot (really, folks, that’s awesome at the restaurant, but not so much at home) for a more sensible bowl. The veggies are narrowed to just a few and served mostly raw. The egg is poached, instead of fried, since I find poached eggs easier to make. But the resulting dish? Absolutely divine. In fact, when I served it to Will and Paige (minus the Sriracha), they loved it. And Will begged for me to make some for his lunch the next day for school.

So, how do you make this Bi Bim Bap wanna-be dish ultra simple? It’s all in the prep.

• Make the rice first. I use a rice cooker, and it takes about an hour.
• Once the rice is nearly done, julienne-cut the veggies. This can be done really fast if you use a food processor fitted with a julienne blade or a mandolin fitted with a julienne blade.
• Use frozen chopped spinach. Simply heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and add two crushed cloves of garlic. Stir in the spinach, cover and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring twice.
• Have all the veggies cooked and ready when you slide the eggs into the water for poaching.

Korean-Inspired Rice Bowl
serves 4

4 cups cooked white rice
2-3 carrots, peeled and julienned
1 yellow bell pepper, julienned
1 cup chopped spinach, sauteed with two cloves garlic
4 large eggs, poached
Sriracha, to taste

Divide the rice evenly among four bowls. Top with carrots, yellow pepper, sauteed spinach and one poached egg each. Drizzle with Sriracha (if desired), and stir vigorously to combine.

Serve immediately.

Making food for the family isn’t always about the cooking aspect. Sometimes it’s about the comfort factor or just being family favorites. Sometimes it’s about getting the right flavor that everyone will love with minimum fuss. Such is the case with this, which should be filed under the category of ridiculously easy. Really.

This rice bowl all started with a ripe avocado. It was perfect. Creamy. Easy to peel and chop. The kids and I eat a lot of avocados. We love ‘em. So, they top our sandwiches, tacos, nachos and more. They get sliced with eggs and mashed to be served with chicken or chips.

Once I started reasoning it out, it came together fast: perfectly cooked rice, chopped precooked chicken, fresh red bell peppers … and the creamy avocado. It’s a variety of textures, colors and flavors. It’s a layered dish, seasoned only with salt — or spicy salt.

Sometimes all you need is naturally flavorful food, paired well together.

What do you think? Does a dish need a lot of seasoning to be delicious? Or can natural flavors be perfect?

Chicken, Avocado and Red Pepper Rice Bowl
serves 4

4 cups cooked white rice
1 lb grilled chicken, diced (I used Trader Joe’s frozen Just Chicken)
1 red pepper, diced
1 Hass avocado, diced
sea salt or spicy sea salt

Scoop one cup of rice into each of four bowls. Top with diced chicken, diced red pepper and diced avocado. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt or spicy sea salt. Serve.

It’s been pretty warm during the day over the last few days. Still, I am holding vigilantly to my vow of no air conditioning this summer. And really, when it comes down to it and you just accept that this is what summer feels like, it’s not that bad. Really. I am used to it.

So, despite the heat I just couldn’t resist making one more risotto dish. The creaminess! The fresh herbs! The sweet, tender peas (because fresh English peas are the only peas to eat … seriously)! It was worth every second of slaving over a hot stove.

A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do …

English Pea Risotto
serves 4

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
4 cups chicken broth or stock
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
1 cup shelled and cooked fresh English peas

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for one minute, stirring frequently. Stir in the rice and let toast for one minute. Pour in the wine and stir. Allow the wine to fully absorb into the rice.

Meanwhile, heat the chicken broth in a pan to warm over low heat. Once the wine is absorbed into the rice, begin adding it to the rice mixture one ladle at a time. Allow the broth to be fully absorbed into the rice after each edition (you’ll hear a sizzle when its all absorbed). Be patient. Part of making risotto is waiting for it … and it’s totally worth the wait. All in all, this will take about 25 minutes.

Once all of the broth has been added and absorbed, stir in salt and pepper, the thyme, parsely, cheese and peas. Remove from heat and serve immediately.