Winter Salad

Salad can be boring.

Yeah, I said it. Do you disagree?

This salad that I adapted from Williams Sonoma Bride and Groom Cookbook is NOT boring. It's delicious. I made the "full fat" version for New Years Eve (hey, I indulge occasionally!), but this week for lunches for my husband and I, I opted to make a lower fat, more figure friendly version. You know, the type of recipe that will help you look the way you want to look on the beach...let's say in a month...in Aruba? Oh wait...that's what I was thinking. I digress....

This salad includes sliced Belgian Endives, Spring mix lettuce (typically includes Radicchio, Baby Spinach, other Baby greens, and Arugala), pecans, fuji apples, and a light Roquefort dressing that pairs quite nicely with the mixed greens. But, I will say...Roqeufort can be a "smelly" cheese. If your opposed to this, you could go with a milder blue, like Danish Blue.

The what's in it:

1. 2 cups of spring mix salad blend
2. 2 Belgian Endives, outer, wilted leaves removed; sliced.
3. 1/4 cup of shelled pecans
4. 2 fuji apples, chopped into bite sized pieces.
5. 2 ounces Roquefort cheese
6. 6 tbsp fat free half and half
7. 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
8. Kosher salt and pepper

The how to:

In a small bowl, whisk the half and half and cider vinegar together.

Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste

Crumble in the cheese. Whisk a little bit.

In a salad bowl, combine the first four ingredients (endive, greens, pecans, apples).

When ready to serve, drizzle the dressing over the salad mix.

This will serve 4 appetizer portions, or 2 for lunch.

The facts:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 salad

Amount per Serving

Calories 173

Calories from Fat 88

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 9.8g

15%

Saturated Fat 3.3g

16%

Cholesterol 15.0mg

5%

Sodium

17%

Total Carbohydrate 16.5g

5%

Dietary Fiber 3.4g

13%

Sugars 10.1g

Protein 5.4g

10%

Kugelhopf...Say what now?

So, I was going to just name this post Blueberry Coffee Cake, but, well, what's the fun in that, really?

So Kugelhopf is a German/Austrian word for a big cake, simply stated. It's a ring shape, similar to a Babka, but it's not rolled into the bundt pan like a Babka is. Oh how I love saying the word Babka. Anyways, I digress.

This is a coffee cake like your grandmother used to make, but I've made it less fattening and tasting just as delicious.

I've thrown in some whole wheat flour in addition to all purpose flour, made sure I cut out some of that shortening with applesauce, and add some nutrient rich blueberries.

With that said, enjoy my lovely friends.

The ingredients:

For the batter (swinnnnng battah battah...Fun fact, did you know Red Sox spring training starts March 3? That's a month away! Hoorah!):

1. 1C sifted whole wheat flour
2. 2C sifted all purpose flour
3. 2tsp baking powder
4. 1tsp baking soda
5. 1/8tsp kosher salt
6. 8Tbsp I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light
7. 4Tbsp All Natural Applesauce
8. 1.5C Granulated Sugar
9. About 2tsp orange zest; usually one orange
10. 1/4C Egg Beater
11. 2 Large Brown Eggs
12. 1C Low Fat Sour Cream
13. 1C Blueberries- Fresh preferably

For the Filling:

1. 1/2C packed Dark Brown Sugar
2. 1/3C All Purpose Flour (or Whole Wheat)
3. 2tsp Orange Zest (another orange)
4. 4Tbsp I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light
5. 2-3tsp ground cinnamon

Now, go preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, sift together the first 5 batter ingredients.

In a stand mixture (if you have one, use it), cream ingredients 6-9.

Add the egg beaters, mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, not adding the next until the previous is well mixed.

Now, alternate the flour mix and sour cream into the batter in the mixer. Mixture should be very creamy.

So, at this point, take about 2/3 of the batter and place in your well-lubricated-via-cooking spray Bundt pan.

Sprinkle your blueberries over the batter.

In another bowl, mix together the ingredients for the filling. Mixture should appear "spreadable." Dollop the filling on top of the blueberries.

Mix in a few more blueberries to the remaining 1/3 batter.

Spread this on top of the filling.

Next, place in the oven for 50 or so minutes.

You got yourself a mighty fine Kugelhopf, people.

Ess gezunterhait, or Eat in good health!

The facts, from livestrong.com:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 slice, serves about 14.

Amount per Serving

Calories 200

Calories from Fat 21

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 3.4g

5%

Saturated Fat 1.1g

5%

Cholesterol 33.6mg

11%

Sodium

59%

Total Carbohydrate 41.2g

13%

Dietary Fiber 1.7g

6%

Sugars 31.6g

Protein 3.4g

6%

Low Fat Buffalo Chicken Dip

A friend of mine brought this type of dip over to my house for a party and had people raving.

The next day, I simply HAD to figure out what was in it.

After some playing around, talking to some coworkers, I determined the magical ingredients. And then nearly spit up my coffee when I determined how much fat was in the full fat version (You'll see the comparison below)

In my version, you will save close to 200 calories and over 20, yes 20, grams of fat.

But, you may be wondering, isn't the flavor compromised when you cut out so much of the "good" stuff? Hell no is my short answer. This dip has so much flavor from the cayenne pepper sauce and the blue cheese, you do not need to worry about lack of flavor.

Caveat: This is VERY high in sodium due to the cheeses and pepper sauce; so if you are watching your sodium- please know I warned you, and this may not be the best dip for you!! You could, however, have a carafe of water next to you...because this is a spicy dip!

So make my version. You're waistline will thank you.

Oh, and did I mention this dip is freaking amazing?

You need these things:

• 1/2 cup Frank's RedHot Cayenne Pepper Sauce
• 1 cup Fat Free Cream Cheese
• 14 oz (the big one) Canned Chicken Breast
• 1/2 cup Light Ranch Dressing, the stuff with about 40 calories per serving (Wishbone is the brand I used)
• 1/4 cup Kraft Fat Free Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/8 cup Stella Reduced Fat Crumbled Blue Cheese

This is also the easiest recipe, did I mention that?

Place hot sauce, cream cheese, chicken, and ranch dressing and place in a frying pan (or whatever pot or pan as it really doesn't matter!) over medium heat. The cream cheese will need to be pushed around a little to melt. When mixture looks like it's combining nicely and bubbling a bit, add the shredded cheddar and the blue cheese.

You're going to want to either keep this on low heat til ready to serve, OR place in a slow cooker to keep warm. Serve this with carrots, celery, and baked tostitos and you got yourself a superbowl snack (yes, I still will be watching even though my beloved team will not be playing this year).

So, the facts- based on serving 6 people 1/2 cup servings (as always, everything is approximate).

The full fat version:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Amount per Serving

Calories 340

Calories from Fat 241

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 26.4g

40%

Saturated Fat 12.7g

63%

Cholesterol 89.6mg

29%

Sodium

38%

Total Carbohydrate 4.3g

1%

Dietary Fiber 0.0g

0%

Sugars 3.5g

Protein 20.4g

40%

Est. Percent of Calories from:

Fat

70%

Carbs

5%

Protein

23%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.

My low fat version:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Amount per Serving

Calories 158

Calories from Fat 17

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 2.9g

4%

Saturated Fat 0.3g

1%

Cholesterol 21.3mg

7%

Sodium

73%

Total Carbohydrate 6.4g

2%

Dietary Fiber 0.1g

0%

Sugars 2.6g

Protein 21.7g

43%

Est. Percent of Calories from:

Fat

10%

Carbs

16%

Protein

55%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.