To celebrate the official launch of my cookbook, Secrets of a Skinny Chef, I am giving away a free autographed copy to one of my loyal readers – plus, read about an upcoming interview this week on Martha Stewart’s Whole Living.

“What do you do with coriander?” my friend Eleanor asked when she and her husband Dante came for dinner last night. You probably know that it’s the seed of a plant, which we also call “cilantro”.

I love chili, earthy, sweet, smoked, and spicy hot – the whole range, made with ground turkey, beef or beans. I love them all. So when Hoboken Volunteers was hosting a benefit for Haiti and asked me to be a judge, I was happy to join the panel!

I’m such a fan of homemade smoothies because it’s an easy healthy breakfast that’s ready in five minutes flat. Smoothies are delicious and I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like the creamy “milkshake-like” texture of my protein-rich, fruit-to-nuts smoothies…

Snow covered windowsills and pouring rain is a great excuse to stay inside on a cold evening. Before you snuggle up on the couch, spend some time in the kitchen and make some tempting, spicy, and satisfying movie snacks that can also be enough for a meal.

Are you positively stumped when it comes to nutrition and how to make sense of it all? Visit my friend’s newly designed site, Alphabites NYC (The ABC’s of Healthy Living for Real People).

I’m addicted to chili, earthy, sweet, smoked, and burning hot. I love them all. A reader recently asked me what a peppadew is: If you haven’t tasted this sweet little hottie – you are in for a treat!

When these red bananas first caught my eye yesterday, I thought they were purple. Purple bananas? Well, there are purple beans, purple tomatoes, purple cauliflower – so why not purple bananas? That’s what led me to create a “Red Banana Coffee Shake”…

As I entered the kitchen, he filled a tall glass with a rich egg-colored custard the color of lemon cheesecake. Baking a smooth, crack-free cheesecake with thick, cakey or creamy texture isn’t as hard as you might thinkm and here are easy, fun tips the next time you want to indulge someone you admire…

Like primary colors to a painter, fat, salt and acid are the essential ingredients chefs use to flavor their masterpiece meals. Many home cooks know how to use fat (either oil or butter) and salt of course, but they skip on the acid, things like vinegar for example.

Everyone wants to eat delicious food and be healthy at the same time, right? And who wouldn't want to ditch the diets forever and start making simple, lifelong changes that keep you healthy, satisfied and in shape? I am proud to announce the launch of my first cookbook, a collection of 100 of America's favorite recipes made healthier and tastier!

Valentine's Day is a time to let loose and shower your loved ones with love and tempting treats. But just because you want to spoil them with delicious eats, it doesn't mean you have to spoil their New Year's resolution to eat better - download my free booklet to find out how...