Light Pumpkin Pie Recipe

In honor of Turkey Day here is a slightly healthier Pumpkin Pie recipe......

Pumpkin is a great source of beta-carotene and has fiber too! It has some sugar in it but less than other recipes.....


Best Light Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients:

16 ginger snap cookies
16 oz can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup egg whites or egg white substitute
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups evaporated skim milk
2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup Splenda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F (325F if fan/convection.
Grind ginger snaps in a food processor or in a plasic bag with a rolling pin to fine crumbs.
Spray a glass pie plate with cooking spray and pat crumbs into the bottom of the pan.
Mix the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and pour into the crust.
Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean (about 45 mins).

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Slice into 8 wedges and serve with low fat cool whip.

BTW.....this comes in at 151 calories per slice and nearly 3 grams of fiber. 1.6 grams of fat. Compare that to regular pumpkin pie (250 calories, 1 gram fiber, 24 grams of fat).

Enjoy!

Chicken with pomegranate and walnut sauce - easy!

This sweet and sour chicken recipe is courtesy of my friend Layla who made it for me a while back and it was excellent!
Unfortunately, I couldn't find pomegranate molasses near me, so I purchased 100% pomegranate juice and boiled it down to give a sticky syrupy sauce.

The picture is not mine, but one I found online. My camera battery died...so apologies....BTW, mine looked much nicer than the one pictured! (such modesty!)

Here's the recipe:-

Chicken with pomegranate and walnut sauce

Serves 4

4 chicken breasts (cut into 1" wide strips)
3 cups unsweetenend 100% pomegranate juice
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
2-3 packets Splenda


Rapidly boil the juice in a small pan until reduced to about 1.5 cups.
Meanwhile, gently poach the chicken in just enough water to cover until almost cooked.
Skim off any foam that forms.
Add the walnuts to the pan with the chicken and continue to cook for
about 5 minutes.
Add the reduced pomegranate juice to make the quantity of sauce you need/want.
Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

Serve with Crispy rice (thanks Layla!)

If you have leftover steamed rice (or cook it then use it) you can add a tsp or 2 of oil to a good non-stick high sided saucepan (not a skillet) and then add the rice to the hot oil. Reduce the heat and cover with a tea-towel wrapped lid (to absorb the steam) for about 10 minutes.
Place a dish or plate over the pan and invert it to serve...crispy side up!

Quick & Easy Mushroom Soup

After a long and smoke filled drive home last night due to the fires that are raging around SoCal I really didn't feel up to a lot of cooking but was starving (as usual)!

Decided to make a quick Mushroom Soup....it's incredibly easy and very yummy!

Quick Mushroom Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 oz mushrooms chopped finely (white, cremini - doesn't matter)
2 tbsps flour
2 tbsps light margarine or canola oil
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock (low sodium)
1 cup fat free half and half or 1% milk (use the half & half for a richer soup)
squeeze of lemon juice
chopped parsley, croutons for garnish

Throw all the ingredients except the lemon juice and parsley into a saucepan. Bring to a slow boil stirring continuously. Then simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. Add lemon juice, salt & pepper to taste.

Serve garnished with parsley and croutons.

Yum!

Healthy mac n cheese...

Last Friday was a bit gloomy in the weather department so I decided to make macaroni and cheese for dinner. Of course, my recipe is slightly healthy (but yummy) but you can add extra cheese if you feel it's a bit too low in saturated fat! It's important to use extra sharp cheddar cheese for this dish so you can use less cheese.

Here's the recipe: (Serves 3-4)

1/2 box Barilla Plus Pasta (elbows)....I like this one, it has fiber and omega 3's.
2 cups 1% milk
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 tsp dried mustard powder or ready made hot mustard
sprinkle freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper (white pepper if possible)
1 slice stale bread made into crumbs (whole wheat or white)
sliced tomatoes or cooked sliced zucchini (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Cook the pasta for 1 minute less than stated on the box (about 8 minutes).
Drain and set aside.
Heat the milk (minus 1/4 cup) in a saucepan until bubbles form.
Mix the cornstarch with the reserved milk to make a slurry then add to the warmed milk. Stir constantly until thickened.
Then add the mustard or mustard powder, grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste to the sauce. Stir to evenly distribute.
Add half the grated cheese to the sauce.
Tip the cooked pasta into the sauce and stir to evenly coat the pasta with sauce, then pour into a shallow oven proof dish.
Whizz the bread in a food processor or blender to make crumbs then mix with the remainder of the cheese and some extra nutmeg and pepper.

To make this extra healthy cook sliced zucchini until golden brown in frying pan with some cooking spray then arrange on top of the mac and cheese before adding the breadcrumb mixture. The tomatoes can be used raw (just pat them with a paper towel to remove extra moisture) in the same way.
Once the breadcrumb mixture is on top of the pasta and sauce place in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until the top is golden brown and the cheese melted.

Serve with a green salad on the side.

Finally! Pictures of NKB from my own kitchen.

Well, here it is! This was my first batch of No Knead Bread (NKB) and it was great! Had a crispy crust, a chewy texture inside, and a yeasty flavor! Excellent!
I have made it about 3 times since and I currently have a batch fermenting away on the countertop in the kitchen.
I cannot recommend that you try this recipe enough....best bread ever and all it takes is flour, water, yeast, and a bit of forward planning!
Thanks for the recipe Mark Bittman!

No Knead Bread

I found this recipe on the Steamy Kitchen blog. It was first printed in the New York Times a while ago but it sounds easy and the bread looks much more European style than the bakery bread I see around me. Another plus is that it doesn't cost a small fortune either!

This recipe takes a bit of time so try and get it started the night before you plan to eat it.

The photo is from the Steamy Kitchen blog but I am going to try it this weekend (if the temperature in SoCal drops below 100 F) and will post my pictures when I have them.






Here's the recipe:

No Knead Bread
adapted from Mark Bittman of NY Times who got it from Sullivan Street Bakery

Yield: one 1½ lb loaf
3 cups bread flour (or 1/2 cup whole wheat and 2 1/2 bread flour...extra fiber!)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
3/4 tablespoon kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt)
1 1/2 cups warm water
Covered pot (five-quart or larger cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic, enamel…something that can go into a 450F oven.) I have a Le Creuset dutch oven that should work well.

1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.

2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terrycloth) with flour. Set dough seam side down on top of towel. Fold towel over the dough. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you’ve got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.

3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Holding towel, dump wobbly dough into pot. Doesn’t matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes.

Best way to eat it? Smear a warm slice with some good butter (Kerrygold and Lurpac are both found in your grocery stores, usually on top shelf)

See....even Dietitians eat carbs! Especially when they taste this good!

Feel free to post pictures of your beautiful bread too!

Healthy burgers! Not an oxymoron...

Is there such a thing? Well, if you read general fast food restaurant nutritional analyses then the answer is a resounding "no"!
Most small hamburgers run around 400 to 500 calories and 15-40 grams of fat, most of it of the heart-clogging saturated kind and that's without the obligatory slice of processed cheese!

Well, fret no more because there is hope for finding a healthy burger and it exists in two forms:-

1. Buy a healthy frozen variety: turkey patties, Boca, Morningstar Farms, chicken and lime burgers from Trader Joe's.

2. Make your own from the leanest meat you can cope with. Even I have to admit (shock, horror!) that a small amount of fat is needed to keep the burgers moist but you can buy lean meat and moisten with a small amount of canola oil to make it more heart healthy. You can buy ready ground meat or purchase and grind it yourself if you have a grinder or a food processor that is up to the job. Meats can be beef, lamb, pork, chicken, or turkey or even veal, buffalo or bison.

If making burgers I always like to serve them on a whole wheat bun (around 200 calories but most have 5-9 grams of fiber of the 25-35 grams we should be eating daily) and add lots of veggies...spinach or lettuce, sliced onions and tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, and sometimes even shredded carrots or cabbage.

Burger ideas

Mix your ground meat of choice with the following:

A handful of flavorings....try mint with lamb, oregano or thyme with beef, cilantro and lime juice with chicken, cranberry sauce/cranberries with turkey, pesto and/or pine nuts with chicken, curry powder or paste and cumin with beef, lamb or ground poultry...the list is endless!

Then you can also add some extras such as:-

Roasted red peppers (fresh or jarred) cut into small dice.
Cubes of feta cheese.
Cooked onions.
Sauteed mushrooms.
Dried fruits.
Smoked chipotle chillis in adobo sauce.


Bind the meat with a beaten egg and some breadcrumbs if you like, season with salt and pepper and shape into patties using moistened hands. I like to refrigerate my meat for about 20 minutes before cooking to prevent the burgers from falling apart on the grill.
Grill until cooked to your liking (165 F for poultry) then toast the buns and serve with as many veggies as possible and some complimentary condiments....mustard, mayo (light), ketchup, thousand island (light), blue cheese dressing (light), cranberry sauce, hot sauce, peanut sauce, barbeque sauce etc......

Here's my latest creation....a chicken burger on a toasted whole wheat bun with lots of lettuce and tomato and some heart healthy fat from avocado. I made spicy lime mayo by mixing a small amount (1/4 tsp) of adobo sauce from the canned chipotle chillis with about a tsp of lime juice and a couple of blobs of light mayo....it came out nice and spicy!




If anyone out there in cyberspace has any other weird and wonderful burger ideas feel free to post them......I'm working on a Thai one with peanut sauce...watch this space!