Life

Eating healthy doesn't mean giving up taste or ease of preparation — we recently challenged a group of local folks to come up with recipes that would use ingredients from a variety of food groups and fit in with a healthy lifestyle. In a our in-house taste tests, we came up with these top dishes.

Daphne's five-food-groups macaroni salad

1 (16 oz.) package tricolor pasta

1 cup low fat creamy salad dressing

1/2 (1 oz.) package ranch dressing mix

1 (12 oz.) can tuna, drained and flaked

1/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 medium apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1/3 cup raisins

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente. Drain, and cool. In a large bowl, mix the cooled pasta, creamy salad dressing and ranch dressing. Mix tuna, cheddar cheese, apple, carrot and raisins. Chill one hour in the refrigerator before serving.

— Daphne Eldridge, from allfoods.com. Daphne Eldridge is a bookstore manager for Miami University Middletown.

Carolyn's garden

3/4 pounds boneless chicken strips and/or shrimp

2 cups chopped celery with tops

1 small apple (large chunks with skin)

1 bag frozen stir fry veggies or whatever vegetables you have on hand

2 large handfuls of fresh herbs (purple basil, oregano, Italian parsley, etc)

Cook meat in large skillet or wok with extra virgin olive oil. Add vegetables, light soy sauce to taste and add herbs right before done cooking. Serve with long-grain brown rice, cook time approximately 50 minutes.

— Carolyn Keiffer, a botany professor at Miami University Middletown.

Lillian's low-fat

1 bag no yolks noodles

1/2 green pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 yellow pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced

9 oz. pack of turkey, diced

12 oz. fat-free ranch dressing

1/4 cup 2 percent milk

Bacon bits (optional)

2 percent mozzarella

cheese (optional)

Boil noodles for 10-12 minutes; don't overcook. Drain and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together noodles, peppers, turkey and ranch dressing. Add milk sparingly for consistency. Place in casserole dish, add slice of each pepper for garnish. Top off with bacon bits and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

— Lillian Carey, a local stay-at-home mom.

Leslie's taco casserole

1 lb. ground turkey

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic

1 package taco seasoning

8 oz. taco sauce

1 cup fat-free sour cream

1 cup fat-free cottage cheese

1 cup low-fat tortilla chips, crushed

1 cup low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray cooking spray on the bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish, set aside. In a skillet, cook turkey, onion, peppers and garlic until tender. Add taco seasoning and taco sauce, set aside. In another bowl, mix sour cream and cottage cheese, set aside. Place half of crushed tortilla chips in the bottom of the casserole dish. Add meat mixture on top of the chips, then cover meat with sour cream mixture. Sprinkle cheese over remaining crushed tortilla chips. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, until cheese has melted.

— Leslie Moore, a licensed practical nurse