So I was walking down Cross Point Road last Sunday morning thinking about this week’s column. I took my phone out of my back pocket to start dictating. It had been left with a text window open from my friend Ryan Leighton. In the reply text the words “zombie farm” had appeared. I'm not kidding you. I hit “send” knowing Ryan would appreciate it.

We’ll get some mileage out of that one — over manhattans — which I’ve taught him to like. I’ve taught Sarah Morley to like them too — much to the chagrin of her husband, Andrew.

Pretty much everything I've written about lately has been scrumptious but fattening: Lemon cake with lemon and raspberry mascarpone filling and whipped cream, chocolate biscuits, creamed asparagus on toast, lemon posset, rhubarb custard pie and sour cream rhubarb cake — with whipped cream :-)

That stuff has left a lasting impression on my waist.

“Hey sweetheart.” (That was me talking to my little dog, Elliot. It showed up in the dictation.)

So I’ve been complaining to my friend Adele Bielli about the fat around my midsection, where she has none. She’s been coaching me on what, and what not, to eat, if I ever want a waist again. It’s not easy being friends with Adele. Her husband, Jeff Savastano, says it’s not easy being married to her either. We both mean it in a good way.

Last Saturday Adele and I had McDonald's cheeseburgers and fries on our way to a hair salon in Brunswick. I had decided it was time to grow up and get a real haircut and color rather than doing it myself in the bathroom. We split a small order of fries. There might have been, like, 20 fries in there, and I ate, like, 15 of them.

Okay we’ve covered decadent desserts, cheeseburgers and fries, my little dog, my lack of a waist, manhattans, and a zombie farm.

So now I'm going to suggest some healthy alternatives (to the cheeseburgers and fries and decadent desserts – not to my little dog or a zombie farm).

Roasted, sautéed, braised and grilled veggies. Relax. I know you all know how to roast a vegetable, but sometimes it takes a suggestion and a gentle nudge to remind you to do it.

I’ve been trying to avoid starches at dinner lately. Of course, I cheat, but dinners mainly consist of meat, poultry or fish and a roasted or sautéed veggie. It’s okay to eat a plateful of that stuff.

Roasting and sautéeing vegetables is a way to retain the vitamins and minerals, and add sweetness. Anyone who has cooked vegetables this way knows how much sweeter they are than when steamed — or god forbid — boiled. Not to mention the golden brown crunchiness around the edges. Sweet, golden brown tinged, salted vegetables. Hello — who needs a potato? Unless it’s a yellow one, sliced and roasted with olive oil till golden brown. Yellow potatoes, like Yukon Golds, are generally sweeter than their white cousins.

Focus. Okay, I roast summer squash, zucchini, cauliflower, eggplant, carrots, onions, romaine lettuce and potatoes — white and sweet. You can roast any vegetables you want to. Just cut them up into strips, cubes, slices, or stars (kidding), throw them onto a baking sheet, or in a big cast iron pan, dribble some oil (I use olive) over them, stir around to coat, sprinkle with some pink Himalayan :-) salt, and throw in the oven at a high temp, like 450. Harder, denser veggies will take longer than softer ones, so just keep checking for doneness. Just don’t check so often that there’s none left for dinner :-)

I’ll steam some veggies, like green beans and broccoli, for a few minutes before roasting so they're not too dry or hard.

I sautée radicchio, endive, Brussels sprouts, arugula and cauliflower, among other veggies. Brussels sprouts and cauliflower are sautéed, stirring, over a low temperature, in olive oil. The radicchio is cut into quarters and sautéed in some olive oil until browned on one side. If you’ve never sautéed radicchio, just do it.

You can braise pretty much any vegetable you want to too. Braising is just a fancy word for adding a little liquid (water, chicken stock, wine, whiskey, whatever) after sautéeing, to deglaze. Deglazing is a fancy word for creating a yummy coating consisting of the brown chunks stuck to the pan that are loosened and dissolved by the liquid.

Of course now that the sun has finally appeared, we can grill vegetables too. I have a great grilling pan, with holes to let the smoky flavor rise into the veggies.

And you know — roasted, sautéed, braised and grilled vegetables are so good, and so sweet, you don’t need any accompanying herbs, spices or other additions to add flavor. Sometimes simplicity is best.

Well, off to Dunton’s Doghouse with fellow reporters Morgan and Bill. I’m thinking cheeseburger and fries. Don’t tell Adele.

Next week — some particularly toothsome salads, including an arugula, blue cheese and slivered almond one, one made with roasted lettuce, a strawberry rhubarb salad, and one with dried cranberries, pears and feta cheese. Feel free to email a favorite salad of yours to suzithayer@boothbayregister.com.

See ya next week.

P.S. – if you see a strange woman walking my little dog around town, that’ll be me. My hair is short and dark brown now.