The Culinary Review - Consumer Guide to Home Cooking Spring With Valentine's Day past us, we like to dream of spring and all the crisp produce that becomes available in the stores and markets. Light vegetable dishes with fresh herbs seems like what we need after a dark season. Recipes such as Ina Garten's Broccolini and Balsamic Vinaigrette or Giada De Laurentiis Spaghetti with Asparagus, Smoked Mozzarella and Prosciutto deliver flavor and utilize fresh vegetables which become so much more reasonably priced once in season. Warming Dishes But the days are not yet fully bright and warm, so a couple of warming dishes still hit the spot. Soups are one of our favorite kinds of meals. Not only is soup often quite easy to make - it can also be friendly towards your wallet. Our Classic Carrot Soup with Ginger and Orange is not only low in  calories, but costs just under $1 per serving, and our Smooth Garbanzo Bean Soup even beats that price with around $0.55 cents per serving and will satisfy even the pickiest eater... If you're in the mood for a more extravagant, rich dish to brighten the long winter days, then Rachael Ray provides several high-calorie, high-cost comfort recipes such as Red & Green Lasagna, Italian Chicken Chili With Pancetta Croutons and Big Beef Meatballs with Bucatini. These dishes will cost you about $5 per serving with a calorie content over 1000 per serving - that is indeed high, but sometimes that's exactly what you crave on a rainy day. Lamb & Easter Easter is approaching as well and we're on the lookout for prices of lamb and ham. Lamb can be especially expensive, but you can save a lot of money by choosing the right cut and the right cooking method. For example, lamb chops from the shoulder will only set you back about $4.50 per pound, whereas lamb chops from the loin run closer to $11 per pound. For a rich, and somewhat different meal, maybe Rachael Ray's Black Cherry and Black Pepper Lamb Chops with Sweet Pea Risotto would provide an exciting option or why not Martha Stewart's Shepherd's Pie... For more information, check out our cooking school on How to Cook and Handle Raw Meat and How To Chop (Grind) Your Own Meat.
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