We would like to make a case for recasting the American dinner plate in a way that makes more sense for people and the planet, and more accurately nourishes modern life. Rather than focusing on meat or protein as the expensive center of the plate at our restaurant and at home, we strive for balance. We may serve an interesting grain dish, like a toasted rice pilaf, with two or three freshly cooked vegetables and a salad garnished with leftover meat, for protein. This way of eating encourages greater variety, which, we are convinced, is better health-wise. It also is better for the environment and small farmers, since it keeps more things growing. A couple of ounces of meat or seafood a day is plenty—except for a couple of times a year, when we go for that giant rib-eye. When it comes to the food police, we fall into the Julia Child camp: Anything and everything is good in moderation; no food is an outlaw.

Check out the following recipes from Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken’s book:
1. Fresh Salsa
2. Wilted Spinach Salad with Pickled Shallots
3. Brazilian Marinated Steaks with Chile Lime Sauce
4. Baked Fideo
5. Zarzuela de Mariscos

Click here for more of Susan’s recipes, and here to purchase her book, Cooking with Two Hot Tamales.

Excerpted from COOKING WITH TOO HOT TAMALES by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger with Helene Siegel, copyright © 1997 by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, reprinted with permission from William Morrow