Thursday, October 27, 2005

Strawberry-Topped Pavlovas with Honey Balsamic Sauce

Ingredients:

Strawberries:
3 quarts strawberries, quartered
1/3 cup granulated Splenda

Meringues:
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 large egg whites
3/4 cup granulated Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sauces:
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 (2-inch) cinnamon stick
3 tablespoons of fresh honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

2. To prepare strawberries, combine strawberries and 1/3 cup of Splenda; cover and chill.

3. To prepare meringues, cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Draw 5 (4-inch) circles on each piece of paper. Turn paper over; secure with masking tape. Place cream of tartar and egg whites in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add 3/4 cup of splenda, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form (do not underbeat). Beat in vanilla. Divide egg white mixture evenly among 10 drawn circles on baking sheets. Shape meringues into nests with 1 inch sides using the back of a spoon.

4. Bake at 250 degrees F for 1 hour, rotating baking sheets after 30 minutes. Turn oven off, and cool meringue nests in closed oven 30 minutes. Carefully remove meringue nests from paper. Cool completely.

5. To prepare sauce, combine vinegar and cinnamon stick in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil; cook until syrupy and reduced to about 1/3 cup (about 5 to 6 minutes). Remove from heat. discard cinnamon stick; stir in honey.

6. Place 1 meringue nest on each of 10 dessert plates; top each serving with about 3/4 cup strawberry mixture. Drizzle with about 2 teaspoons of sauce.

Makes 10 servings

132 calories
0.6 g Fat
26 g carbs
3 g protein

posted by annush @ 6:11 AM 0 comments

Fish Florentine

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray
1 - 10 ounce bag of fresh spinach, rinsed.
1/4 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon minced dried onion (onion flakes)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
4 - 5 ounce tilapia, halibut, or flounder fillets
(I used flounder)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat a shallow baking pan with cooking spray. In a blender or food processor, combine spinahc, milk, onion flakes and garlic powder. Puree until blended.

Spread spinach mixture in the bottom of prepared pan. Add salt and pepper to both sides of fish and arrange over spinach mixture. Bake 15-20 minutes, until fish is fork tender.

Serves 4
One serving = 1 fish fillet and 1/3 cup spinach

109 calories
2g fat
5g carbs
19 g protein

posted by annush @ 5:58 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Whole Wheat Bread!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons granulated Splenda
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup 1% milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg white

Directions :

1 In a small mixing bowl, dissolve the sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2 In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the milk, vegetable oil, whole wheat flour, 1 cup of the all-purpose flour and the salt; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.

When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

3 Grease two 8x4 inch bread pans. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into the pans. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (200 degrees C).

4 Brush the risen loafs with lightly beaten egg white. Bake at 350 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Makes 2-8x4" loaves (15 servings)

posted by annush @ 11:20 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Warm Apple Compote with Frozen yogurt

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons of packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 Gala (or Fiji) apples, peeled, cored and cut into 3/8" slices
1 cup low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon and stir until smooth. Add the apples, cover and cook, stirring ocassionally for about 8-10 minutes (until apples are tender).

Spoon the apples into dessert bowls. Top with frozen yogurt and pecans.

Makes 4 servings.
per serving: 230 calories, 9 g fat.

posted by annush @ 5:48 AM 2 comments

Mini Spinach Calzones

Ingredients:

10 ounces boiled chopped spinach
3/4 cup lite ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pound of white bread dough
2/3 cup marinara sauce and extra for dipping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the spinach, ricotta, mozarella, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8" thickness. Using a 3" round cookie cutter or glass (i used a glass) cut out dough rounds. Gather the scraps together, reroll, and cut out rounds until all the dough has been used.

Evenly divide the sauce among the rounds spooning it in the center of each. Top with the spinach mixture. Dip your finger in water and rub around the edges of the doutgh to moisten. fold the rounds in half pressing the edges together. Using a fork, firmly press the seams to seal the edges. Place on the prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the baking sheet.

Makes 28 calzones.
Per calzone: 65 calories, 2g fat

posted by annush @ 5:37 AM 0 comments

Low Fat Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
1 c. pumpkin
2 egg whites, whipped
¾ c. brown sugar
¾ c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
3 c. rolled oats
1 c. raisins
(Optional: ½ tsp. vanilla)

Directions:

Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine pumpkin and egg whites. In a separate bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, oats, and raisins. (Batter will be very dry at first.) Mix ingredients together just until moistened.

Drop cookies by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet, 2" apart. You can leave the cookies in the shape of a ball (the baked cookie will still be a ball) or flatten them out with the bottom of a glass before baking.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

posted by annush @ 5:31 AM 2 comments