Move aside quiche there a a new super food in town and men love it.

Real men like Napoleon Bonaparte and (yep) Sippity Sup! And we're not the only super-dudes in love with this peppery green bite. It’s said that Hippocrates, the father of medicine, built an entire hospital next to a patch of the stuff because he recognized early on the health benefits it could provide to his patients. Gruff Greek soldiers ate watercress to increase their masculine vigor. Even Roman Emperors said it enabled them to make “bold decisions”. I can vouch for that. I ate Creamy Watercress Soup with Sage and decided to write this super-charged tribute.

In Victorian times elegant ladies jumped on the watercress bandwagon too. It could be purchased in parks and street corners, gathered into posey-style bundles. These daintly little nosegays could be nibbled upon, like an ice cream cone while strolling.

And what a nibble watercress seems to be. It's said to have more vitamin C than oranges, more calcium than milk, more folate than bananas, and more iron than spinach.

But its real attribute is that manly men like it. The Romans even believed it could prevent baldness. Now I ask you what man wouldn't eat watercress with that kind of information available to him? Still, even if you have a full head of hair (or are in fact a lady) eating watercress still has delicious benefits. Most notably it has a peppery crunch that elivens this vibrantly colored creamy soup made with leeks, and potatoes called potage au cresson. My version is a simple (but manly) take on the classic. GREG

I very carefully chose orecchiette for this Pasta with Creamy Broccolini & Rapini Sauce. Because pasta is not one size fits all.

One of the most appealing aspects of a big plate of pasta is the pasta itself. We all know that pasta comes in all shapes and sizes. From big fat rings of calamarata (so named for its resemblence to calamari) to the tiny little rice-like grains in orzo.

Orecchiette has an ingenious shape that is formed by pressing your thumb into a marble sized ball of dough. This creates a rough impression of a tiny vessel perfectly suited to capture sauce. Making it an ideal choice for similarly textured chunky sauces or the very uniform textures like this creamy broccolini and rapini sauce.

While there are no hard and fast rules for pairing a pasta shape with a pasta sauce there is a common sense methodology. Starting with don't mix pasta shapes in one pot of water. While it might seems sensible to use up two half boxes of pasta during one meal. I want to encourage you to resist. Now I like using all the food in the house as much as the next cook– and spaghetti and spaghettini may seem like harmless companions. But (Hello!!) they each have different cooking times. See what I mean? Aren't you glad you have me to thank for saving you from a crisis?

Pie oh my! I have made it to the end of savory pie week. This Scallop Pot Pie is number seven and she's (he's??) a beaut!

What (I can hear you asking) have I learned about pie this week? Well, I learned seven days of pie leads to an expanded waistline. I also learned that I'd rather have pie than a skinny butt.

And I got a little closer to discovering the secret allure of pie. But it's not its flaky, buttery crust (or at least not completely) that keeps people's pie plates poised for the next bite. There is something else about pie that I had not really considered when I started the week long marathon.

It may seem counter-intuitive, partly because I am food blogger and I spend a lot of time cooking and trying to convince you that you should cook too. So maybe what I am about to say won't make a lot of sense.

But if I start with the phrase pot pie. Maybe you'll pay attention long enough that I can make my point.

Sometimes the less effort you invest in cooking the better.  Savory pies are often nothing more than one-pan wonders. Pot pie is especially comforting as a meal all unto itself.