This consistently turns out an awesome risotto textured dish yet takes so little time to make ! Be sure to use Arborio rice or it just won’t turn out tasting like risotto.
Quick Risotto
4 servings
179 calories per serving
1/3 c chopped shallots
1 T butter
2/3 c Arborio rice
2 c water
1 t chicken bouillon powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 c frozen peas
¼ c grated parmesan cheese
Heat butter and cook shallots until tender. Add rice and cook and stir 2 minutes. Stir in water, flavoring, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in peas and let stand covered 5 minutes. If not a creamy texture, add in some water. Finally stir in parmesan cheese.
These were sure a hit ! Whenever you cook bananas, you bring out the flavor 10 times and this recipe is no exception. The toast makes a perfect vessel to make this a finger food. Try putting some Redi-Wip on top. Next time I may even add a little nutella to the toast – that would make it even better.
Rum Glazed Banana Tarts
4 servings
266 calories per serving
4 large slices wheat bread, crusts removed
2 T butter
2 T light brown sugar
2 T rum
3-4 ripe bananas cut in half and then sliced thinly into long slices
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Flatten bread with a rolling pin to 1/8 inch thick and place on a baking sheet. Melt butter and brush both sides of bread with half the butter and bake until lightly browned, about 4 minutes per side. Reheat the leftover butter and add sugar and bring to a boil then remove from heat and add in rum. Place banana slices on bread overlapping them a little and bake 5 minutes then remove from heat and brush with rum mix.
At 118 calories per cookie, these are a bit high cal, but they are so rich and so delicious that 2 definitely satisfy your sweets craving. A large portion of the calories is due to the walnuts in the recipe, but these are GREAT calories full of MUFA. So don’t feel too bad 😉 Serve with a nice Low Fat Latte for a great dessert.
Chocolate Drizzle Cookies
30 servings
118 calories per serving
5 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1 c sugar
1 large egg
1 t vanilla
1 oz. bittersweet baking chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/3 c flour
1/3 c walnuts, finely chopped
30 walnut halves
Chocolate Glaze (see below)
Beat butter on high 2 minutes or until smooth. Add sugar and beat until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and then stir in melted chocolate. Finally stir in flour and chopped nuts then cover and chill 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and shape dough into 30 balls about 1 inch big and place on cookie sheets. Press a walnut half into each and bake 10-12 minutes and then cool completely. When cool, drizzle chocolate glaze on cookies and let sit until glaze is set.
Glaze:
Melt 1 oz. sweet baking chocolate and 1 T butter then add ¼ t vanilla, 1 c powdered sugar and 2 T skim milk.
The fish was so simply done – the ginger butter was really the show stealer here. It made plain, ordinary fish into a delightful meal. I think it would be equally good on shrimp or chicken – and it makes cooking such a snap !
Tilapia with Ginger Butter
4 servings
202 calories per serving
1 ½ T chopped cilantro
1 ½ T butter, room temperature (you can use any butter substitute here that you wish)
1 t minced jalapeno pepper
½ t grated lime rind
¼ t grated ginger root
Salt to taste
4 6 oz. tilapia fillets
Pam
Mix cilantro, butter, pepper, lime, ginger and ¼ t salt. Chill until butter is firm.
Heat a skillet and spray with Pam. Salt and pepper both side of the fillets and sauté 3 minutes per side or until done. Plate and add butter pats to the top of each fillet.
Delicious ! Tilapia is one of my most favorite dinner dishes – it’s low cal and light but tasty and so versatile. In this piccata dish, the fillets sauté up perfectly and the sauce is great.
Tilapia Piccata with Spinach
4 servings
322 calories per serving
2 c brown minute rice
Salt and pepper to taste
4 6 oz. tilapia fillets
2 T flour
2 t oil
1/3 c dry white wine
2 T lemon juice
2 T butter
4 c baby spinach
Cook rice according to package instructions, then sprinkle with salt and pepper and keep warm.
Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper then dredge in flour and cook in hot oil 2 minutes each side or until done. Add wine and lemon to pan and cook a minute longer then add butter and stir until it melts. Remove fish (and any sauce) from pan and then add spinach and saute until wilted, about 1 minute. Put rice on plates and top with spinach, fish and sauce.
The ginger in this recipe is a nice unexpected flavor that makes it just perfect. This works just as well with regular bread and with a quick dip rather than chilling over night.
2 eggs
2 egg whites
¾ c skim milk
1 T sugar
1 T molasses
¼ t ground ginger
¼ t ground allspice
1/8 t salt
6 slices French bread (3/4 inch thick)
2 t butter
Mix eggs, whites, milk, sugar, molasses, ginger, allspice and salt. Place bread in a 13×9 baking sheet and out the egg mix over it and refrigerate overnight. Heat butter on a griddle and cool bread 3 minutes each side.
It doesn’t get much simpler and this is one of those recipes that is really versatile – use any canned fruit or even some apples and you get a great warm, homey dessert in no time.
Fruit Crisp
6 servings
280 calories per serving
2 15 oz. cans peaches in juice, drained
5 graham crackers, coarsely crushed (1 c)
1/3 c flour
3 T brown sugar
½ t cinnamon
¼ c cold margarine or butter, cut up into pieces
2 c low fat vanilla yogurt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spread peaches in a 8 inch square baking dish. Mix crumbs, flour, sugar, cinnamon and then using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mix is the consistency of coarse crumbs then sprinkle them over the peaches and bake 25-30 minutes then cool slightly and serve with yogurt.
I bet this gets your kids eating their green beans ! And maybe even asking for more 🙂 Cheese, sauce, stuffing – what’s not to like?!?!
Cheesy Green Bean Casserole
14 servings
157 calories per serving
2 16 oz. packages frozen French cut green beans, thawed
1 can low fat cream of mushroom soup
8 oz. Velveeta, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 1/2 c hot water
1/4 c butter
8 oz. stuffing mix (I like Stove Top)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix beans and soup and place in a baking dish then top with cheese. Mix water and butter and melt butter all the way. Stir into stuffing and then spoon that over the casserole. Bake 40 minutes.
I have been searching for a recipe that would turn out my Grandma’s babka, but, alas, I cannot find one that compares. After years of Grandma’s being passed around, something is surely missing as it just does not turn out the right product. This one is close – it has most of the right ingredients and it turns out a really nice tasting babka that is quite traditional (like many of the Polish delis sell), but it is not my Grandma’s babka. Hers was much flatter and less dense – it was drier and airier. It was more a cross between a cake and a bread (she even cooked it in a 9×13 pan rather than a bundt or in bread pans) whereas this one is more the traditional heavier bread. So if you’re looking for a traditional babka recipe, this is a great one to try.
If anyone out there knows of how to get the babka tasting more like I remember, please let me know !!
Polish Babka
20 servings
239 calories per serving
6 c flour
1 t salt
1 package of yeast
½ c warm water
¾ c sugar
1 ½ c skim milk
1 stick unsalted butter
¾ c golden raisins
2 eggs, beaten
1 egg yolk
2 T water
Pam
Soak raisins in some warm water to plump them up a little then drain before adding to dough. Heat milk in a saucepan then add the butter and cook on low until the butter is melted. Pour into a mixing bowl and add sugar and salt and cool for 20 minutes. Mix the yeast and ½ c water and let sit 5 minutes then add it to the milk and sugar mix. Add in the 2 beaten eggs and then gradually add the flour and mix. Then knead the dough ½ hour by hand or 10-12 minutes in a mixer with a dough hook attachment. Add the raisins during the last couple minutes of kneading.
Cover the bowl with a towel and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour. Then punch down, re-cover and let it rise another hour.
Then take dough and place in a 13×9 pan (or in 2 bread pans). Mix the egg yolk and 2 T water and brush onto the top of the bread dough. Spray foil with Pam and cover pan and let rise again until doubled – again, about an hour.
Then uncover and bake at 350 degrees for ½ hour for a 9×13 pan or 45 minutes for a large pan or bread pans. It’s done when you tape on it and it makes a hollow sound. Let cool and then cut into slices.
I admit it – I’m a snacker. That can be my downfall…I eat great, healthy meals, but the snacks get me. So I try to keep a bunch of healthier alternatives around so that when I can’t resist the urge, at least I am not totally killing my calorie count. My newest favorite is a popcorn ‘chip’ called PopCorners. These are FABULOUS !!
Popcorners
A 1.1 ounce bag is only 140 calories! The serving size is more than enough and the all natural product tastes great. It’s popcorn without all the messy little leftover kernel pieces that only get in my teeth and bother me anyhow 😉 And one of my favorite parts – – they come in different flavors. I LOVE things that have different flavors 🙂
Today I’m eating the slightly sweet Kettle version. Yesterday was Butter. The day before was Sea Salt. And tomorrow I have to try the White Cheddar – based on all the others being so good, I am sure the cheese will please.
Try some – if you can’t find them locally, you can order online. Healthy, all natural, low cal and awesome…Popcorners. (I may sound like an endorsement, but I have no affiliation with the product ! I just love it.)
