We’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from Chef Michael O’Boyle of ChickenFriedGourmet.com (alas, now closed).

When we looked at his cannelloni, we thought: inside-out spaghetti and meatballs could become a fun family favorite.

Instead of stuffing ground meat into cannelloni in the classic way, turn your meatball recipe into mini meatballs and pack them into the cannelloni tubes.
 
 
RECIPE #1: INSIDE OUT SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS RECIPE

Ingredients

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F (175° C).

2. MAKE the meatballs and shape them into miniature balls that will fit into the cannelloni tubes. Bake for 15 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through (160°F)—mini meatballs will cook more quickly than conventional ones. Remove from oven and let cool until meat can be comfortably handled. Meanwhile…

3. BRING a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; add the cannelloni and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and set aside until meatballs are ready.

4. STUFF each cannelloni with 4 meatballs (or as many as fit) and place in a 9″ x 13″ inch baking dish. Pour tomato sauce over cannelloni and bake 20 minutes, or until sauce begins to bubble.

5. If you’d like a mozzarella top, ADD the slices in the final 10 minutes so it doesn’t overly brown. Otherwise, grate ribbons of Parmesan over the cannelloni when ready to serve (we use a Microplane ribbon grater, although you can use a conventional grater.

6. GARNISH with the optional basil chiffonade.
 
 
RECIPE #2: QUICK TOMATO SAUCE RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the tomatoes and can juice in a food processor; process until smooth. Set aside.

2. HEAT the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

3. ADD the garlic and onion; sauté until soft. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper; sauté 5 to 10 minutes or until sauce thickens. Add fresh basil leaves and cook for 1 minute longer.
 
 

Apple slices and chopped walnuts in a green salad. Photo courtesy Equinox Maple Flakes.

America needs more fruit in its green salads. Except for Asian chicken salads that toss in mandarin segments, we tend to keep a strict separation of fruits and vegetables.

One of THE NIBBLE’s consulting chefs, Eric Dantis, always added some julienned apple or pear to our green salads. His trick was to pickle the vegetables for an hour to add extra layers of sweet and tart:

 
You can also add your favorite nuts to the salad.
What dressing should you use on a green salad with fruit?

A vinaigrette is the best option. It can be conventional or sweet.

Wendy’s uses a raspberry vinaigrette dressing made from real raspberries, açaí juice, shallots and balsamic vinegar. You can add a spoonful of raspberry purée to your vinaigrette, or use raspberry vinegar or raspberry balsamic vinegar.

 
Use canned pineapple or dried fruits when you don’t have fresh ones.

In addition to flavor, there’s the nutrition: Berries are high in antioxidants and nuts deliver protein and heart-healthy oil.

Wendy’s Berry Almond Chicken Salad. Photo courtesy Wendy’s.

“So am I,” said another guest. “Me too,” chimed a third. “And cheese was my favorite food.”

We can develop lactose intolerance at an early age: After being weaned, roughly 70% of the world’s children begin to lose the ability to make lactase, the enzyme which breaks down lactose in the intestine. This lack of lactase causes lactose intolerance. Much of it is undiagnosed, brushed off as a generic stomach ache.

Today’s tip is for anyone who may have noticed some type of digestive upset after eating cheese.

Most cheeses are 98% lactose free, but the 2% that remains can cause severe digestive problems.

There’s good news here, though: Most aged, hard cheeses are naturally lactose free, including the popular and versatile Cheddar. You might not be able to enjoy fresh goat cheese, Brie and mozzarella without side effects. But don’t lament what you can’t have: Rejoice in what you can have.

That list starts with Cheddar. In the cheese-making process, the whey, where most of the lactose resides, is drained from the curd in the milk. With hard, aged cheeses like Cheddar, the remaining 2% of the lactose is consumed in the aging process.

Since most people don’t realize this, Cabot Cheese, a Cheddar specialist, has been labeling one of its products as “Lactose Free.” That’s like labeling olive oil “Cholesterol Free,” but it’s part of the education process for the majority of people, who just don’t know.

Other cheeses to try: Colby, Swiss, Parmesan or other hard grating cheeses such as Asiago, Grana Padano and Pecorino Romano.

Note, however, that people who have zero lactase activity (are completely lactose intolerant) may not be able to eat any kind of dairy product unless it has undergone an extra step in production: a specific enzymatic process that predigests all the lactose into galactose and glucose. Green Valley makes excellent lactose-free yogurt and sour cream. More products like this are coming onto the market, but be prepared to pay a bit more for the extra time and effort required.

Do you like cottage cheese? It can range from 0 to 4 grams of lactose per half cup. You can contact the producer to see where a particular brand ranks; or you can try different brands to see which you tolerate.

Like American cheese on your burger? Switch to Cheddar or Swiss: A 1.5-ounce slice of processed American cheese can contain up to 6 grams of lactose!

LACTOSE IS HIDING IN YOUR FAVORITE FOODS

While you might expect to find milk derivatives in processed foods such as blue cheese dressing, cocoa mixes, cream soups and frostings, you may find them in unexpected places.

It’s used in breads, candies, cold cuts, cookies, dry cereals, frozen breaded fish and chicken, hot dogs and—surprise—packets of sugar substitutes, where it is used to bulk up the packets. The spoonable versions—what you’d sprinkle on cereal—have even more of it.

Beyond giveaways such as buttermilk, cream, half and half and milk, words to look for and avoid:

 
Read the labels carefully.

Here’s a collection of lactose education materials from the National Dairy Council.

Find more of our favorite cheeses—including lactose-free cheeses—in our Cheese Section.
  

Fruit drinks, doubly spiced. Photo courtesy
Prometheus Springs.

There’s a big market of people who love spicy foods. They’ll love these terrific, refreshing, spicy drinks, which make great cocktail mixers as well.

We love every one of the six flavors:

 
In addition to the spices in each fruit, capsaicin—the heat component of hot chiles—is added for double sizzle.

But the drinks are “mainstream hot.” We prefer mild salsa, for example, and found the heat levels to be just fine.

Check out the full review, and perhaps send some Prometheus Springs to a spicy-hot loving friend.

Or, use them to add sizzle to your Labor Day bash.
 
Find more of our favorite beverages: reviews and recipes.
  

But there are other foods in softer packaging—bags of bread, produce bags and such. For these types of foods—anything in bag that you’d twist close—the Fish Clip is the better bag.

The jaws of the fish open wide, then cinch tight and lock in place. It accommodates a broad variety of package necks, including the smallest (like the bread bag) to the largest cereal bag.

The clips are magnetic so they can tread water on the fridge until needed. Or, use them for non-food purposes—on filing cabinets, to neaten cable cords—a more colorful substitute for velcro ties.

Think of them as small gifts and stocking stuffers. You can buy them online at Amazon.com.