Haven't decided which Thanksgiving recipes you'll be trying out this year? Whether you're counting your calories, trying to avoid a binge or just stick to your normal healthy eating habits, we've pulled together a list of light, low-fat and vegetarian recipes for you to try out this holiday season.

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Got a favorite Thanksgiving recipe you want made-over? Nutritionist Tanya Zuckerbrot will revamp your favorite meal with a healthy twist. Plus, check out her low-fat pumpkin pie recipe.

Photo: Saskei, Flickr

As summer winds down, so does one of my favorite things about the sunny season -- freshly-grown veggies. Sweet, juicy and succulent, you'd be hard pressed to find produce as tasty as this in December, particularly in the part of the world where I live. So let's appreciate them while we can, OK?

The Washington Post recently did just that by celebrating a summertime favorite, fresh corn on the cob. Corn has a bit of a bad reputation, but as it happens, it has some essential nutrients like vitamin B5, vitamin C and folate. An ear of corn is about 100 calories (though obviously that number goes up when you pile on the butter) and -- having both soluble and insoluble fiber-- it acts as a sort of "snow plow" on your digestive system by helping to clean out some of the bad stuff in there. And here's another corn tip: Cooking it increases the antioxidant value, so make sure you eat yours hot.

Of course, corn isn't the only summer veggie that should be making an appearance on your plate this season.

Here's a little tidbit I learned while perusing the September 2008 issue of National Geographic -- an article titled Shopping By The Numbers talks about a a food rating system called the Overall Nutritional Quality Index. Developed by researchers at Yale University and coming soon to a grocery store near you, the qualification system will rate foods on a scale of one to 100 -- one being the least nutritious and 100 being the most nutritious.

In NG's list of common foods, only four items scored 100 -- blueberries, oranges, green beans and broccoli. Here are some other ratings:

• Banana - 91
• Non-fat milk - 91
• Oatmeal - 88
• Raw almonds - 82
• Pasta - 50
• Vanilla yogurt - 43
• Skinless chicken breasts - 39
• Bagel - 23
• Hot Dog - 5
• Soda - 1
  
  

Interesting, huh? See if you can get your hands on the issue for the full list.

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It's not often that you hear kids begging for Broccoli, but that's exactly what happened at a school in Las Vegas, when a group of kids organized a letter writing campaign, imploring their lunch lady to stop serving green beans at lunch time. Tired of eating them every day, the kids asked for broccoli, carrots or corn instead to add some variety to their noon-time veggies. And it worked -- the lunch people have listened and promised to add some variety to her menu.

When asked what they wished would be served at lunch, the answers varied from steak to chicken cordon bleu to chocolate-filled panda cookies. Awwww.

I agree with them -- the same veggies every day is boring. What do you think?

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