Thursday Recipes

Enjoy!

GRANNY SMITH'S APPLE CRISP

Yield: 8 servings

Serving size: 3/4 cup crisp

Online: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/1123.shtml

Ingredients

1 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon orange zest

1/4 cup orange juice

5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 cup uncooked old-fashioned oats

2 tablespoons Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup crisp rice cereal

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with vegetable cooking spray. Set aside.

Make Filling: whisk together Splenda Granulated Sweetener, cinnamon, orange zest and orange juice in a large bowl; add apples and toss to coat. Transfer mixture to prepared pan; set aside.

Make Topping: stir together oats, Splenda Granulated Sweetener, and cinnamon in a medium bowl; cut butter in with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture is crumbly. Stir in cereal and walnuts. Spoon topping over apples.

Bake 45 minutes or until topping is lightly browned. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 160; Calories from Fat: 80; Protein: 3 g; Fat: 8 g; Sodium: 45 mg; Cholesterol: 10 mg; Saturated Fat: 2.5 g; Dietary Fiber: 4 g; Sugars: 10 g; Carbohydrates: 21 g

LOW-CARB SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

This recipe from Diabetic Connect starts off, “You can avoid traditional sweet potato recipes that are closer to dessert than to a side dish. This wonderful recipe will remind you of when you were young, but keep your blood sugars in check.” Makes approximately 18 servings of 1/2 cup.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

8 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1/3 cup orange juice

1/4 cup half & half

1 egg white

3 TBS coconut oil

2 TBS Splenda brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup chopped pecans

zest of 1 orange

Directions

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a medium sized casserole dish and set aside.

When potatoes are done, strain them and pour into a large bowl.

Add the orange juice and half & half and whip with a hand mixer.

Add the egg white, coconut oil and sugar, and beat until well mixed.

Add the vanilla, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and blend.

Pour into prepared casserole dish and top with pecans and orange zest.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve.

MEXICAN RICE SOUP

This comes from the September 2008 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 84. It begins, “This light soup (traditionally made with chicken and chicken broth) gets its body from diced avocado, which is served with tortilla strips and added at the table, along with lime wedges and freshly chopped cilantro and green onions. The heat of the soup warms the avocado and tortilla strips without turning them to mush.” Serves 6.

To view this online, click here.

Broth

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped (3/4 cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)

3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

1 Tbs. grated lime zest

1 tsp. dried oregano

Soup

1/4 cup short-grain rice

2 small tomatoes, seeded and diced (1 cup)

1/3 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

1 8-inch flour tortilla

1 avocado, diced (1 cup)

2 green onions, thinly sliced (1/4 cup)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

6 lime wedges

Hot sauce for garnish, optional

To make Broth: Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until softened. Stir in garlic, and sauté 1 minute more. Add vegetable broth, lime zest, oregano, and 3 cups water; cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 10 minutes. Strain Broth, discard solids, and return to saucepan.

To make Soup: Add rice to Broth. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, or until rice is soft. Stir in tomatoes and corn, and season with salt and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Spray flour tortilla with cooking spray, and cut into thin strips. Arrange strips on baking sheet, and bake 5 to 7 minutes, or until tortilla is crisp.

Ladle Soup into serving bowls. Garnish with avocado, tortilla strips, green onions, cilantro, lime wedges, and hot sauce, if using.

nutritional information Per Serving: Calories: 131; Protein: 2 g; Total Fat: 7 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 16 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 321 mg; Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 3 g; Vegan

PITA QUESADILLAS WITH CILANTRO HUMMUS

This comes from the April 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 24. It begins, “There’s no need for cheese when you use cilantro-laced hummus to hold pita quesadillas together. Serve with salsa.” Serves 8 in 30 minutes or less.

To view this online, click here.

Hummus

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 15-oz. can, rinsed and drained)

2 Tbs. lime juice

2 Tbs. olive oil

Quesadillas

4 7-inch whole-wheat pitas, split crosswise

4 jarred roasted red bell peppers, drained and sliced into strips

1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves

Preheat oven to 350°F. To make Hummus: Process cilantro and garlic in food processor until chopped. Add chickpeas, lime juice, oil, and 1/4 cup water; purée 3 minutes, or until creamy.

To make Quesadillas: Place 4 pita halves on baking sheet. Spread each with 1/2 cup Hummus. Top with peppers, spinach, and remaining pita halves. Bake 10 minutes, or until crisp. Cut into triangles, and serve.

nutritional information Per 1/2 quesadilla: Calories: 193; Protein: 7 g; Total Fat: 5 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 32 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 393 mg; Fiber: 6 g; Sugar: 4 g; Vegan

BLACKBERRY CRISP WITH MAPLE-PECAN TOPPING

This comes from the September 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 60. It begins, “Tangy blackberries have a great affinity for pecans and maple, but you could certainly make this crisp with blueberries or a combination of berries. Leftovers are delicious for breakfast!” Serves 8.

To view this online, click here.

5 Tbs. maple syrup, divided

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

6 cups fresh blackberries (1 3/4 lb.)

3 Tbs. sugar

16 Tbs. all-purpose flour, divided

1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. salt, divided

2/3 cup rolled oats

2/3 cup chopped toasted pecans

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 Tbs. canola oil

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat deep baking dish with cooking spray.

Whisk together 2 Tbs. maple syrup and vinegar in bowl. Place blackberries in large bowl, and drizzle maple mixture over them. Add sugar, 3 Tbs. flour, and 1/8 tsp. salt to berries; toss to combine. Transfer to prepared baking dish.

Combine remaining 13 Tbs. flour, oats, pecans, brown sugar, and remaining 1/4 tsp. salt in separate bowl. Drizzle oil and remaining 3 Tbs. maple syrup over dry ingredients. Use fingers to combine thoroughly until small clumps form. Arrange topping clumps over berries.

Bake 30 to 45 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned and berry juices are bubbling just around edges of crisp.

nutritional information Per 1-cup serving: Calories: 319; Protein: 5 g; Total Fat: 12 g; Saturated Fat: less than 1 g; Carbohydrates: 50 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 115 mg; Fiber: 7 g; Sugar: 27 g; Vegan

VEGETARIAN LASAGNA

I’d been making lasagna for years, using a favorite cookbook. One time, my oldest son took the same recipe, and replaced the meat with eggplant. His came out tasting better than when I made it.

I tried recreating the eggplant version, but it never quite came out the same. So, I ended up changing the recipe drastically, changing ingredients and amounts. The funny thing is that, while I use one or two packages of tofu crumbles instead of meat, it tastes enough like meat to fool several non-vegetarians. One person, after eating this, even looked at me aghast, asking, “What are you, some kind of vegetarian?” Never heard from him again.

Tomato sauce:

2 – 3 onions, chopped

3 – 5 cloves garlic, minced

28 oz. can tomatoes

2 – 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

2 – 6 oz. cans tomato paste

2 T oil

1 T oregano

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. dill

1 tsp. anise

1 or 2 – 10 oz. package tofu crumbles

Brown onions & garlic in oil. Add remaining ingredients, stir well, simmer for 1 hour. While sauce is cooking, in a separate pot, cook 16 oz. lasagna noodles & make cheese layer.

Cheese layer:

2 C sour cream

2 C cottage cheese

2 eggs

4 C mozzarella, grated

2 C cheddar cheese, grated

1 C Parmesan cheese

Mix ingredients together in large bowl.

Assemble:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In 9” X 13” pan, place half the cooked lasagna noodles length-wise. Top with half the cheese mixture, then half the tomato sauce. Repeat. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before cutting, as it tends to be a little runny when it first comes out of the oven. Serve with a salad and a loaf of hot Italian bread. Very yummy.