This Apple Strudel recipe based on a recipe from Self Magazine is delicious.  The recipe is actually originally from the Cal-a-Vie spa in California.  I made this for a Dinner Club the other night, and it was a major hit – both in presentation and taste.  People accused me of buying it at a pastry shop, and no one believed it was only 192 calories/slice.  It is easy to make, and low in calories and fat.  Great for the upcoming fall apple season; a healthy alternative to apple pie.

Below is the recipe as written, however here are my cooking notes:

·    Slice the phyllo BEFORE baking it.  It is impossible to slice afterwards.  When slicing, use a serrated knife, and kind of hold the roll in place with one hand (maybe squeezing it together slightly), while carefully slicing it with the other hand.

·    Mine was golden brown and definitely done after only 21 minutes in my oven, then it took 40 minutes in different oven.  Just watch the oven, and take it out when it starts to brown a little.  You aren’t really going to hurt this recipe by opening the oven once or twice.

·   After baking I transferred the whole thing to a platter with a wide spatula (in 2 parts) and put fresh raspberries around it and put the caramel-looking sauce on the side.  

·    I just used graham cracker crumbs from the box.

·    Definitely make the sauce as instructed with the fat free yogurt.

Apple Strudel

Servings: Makes 8-10 servings.

Ingredients

6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup dried cranberries or cherries
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
6 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1/2 cup amaretti cookie or graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (thawed)
12 oz nonfat plain greek yogurt (optional, add 1 tsp vanilla to yogurt or use vanilla yogurt)

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F. In a 12-inch nonstick pan over medium heat, cook apples with dried fruit, sugar and cinnamon until tender, about 10 minutes. Let cool, reserving liquid for optional sauce. Layer 2 phyllo sheets on top of each other. Coat top of phyllo layer with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1/3 of cookie crumbs. Layer 2 more sheets of phyllo on top, coat with cooking spray, then crumbs; repeat once more. Spread apple mixture on top; roll up from the shorter end. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place strudel on sheet and bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool. Cut into 8 pieces. Place a slice on each plate; top with berries. Optional sauce: Mix yogurt with reserved liquid and drizzle over slices.

Nutritional Information (from original recipe – I replaced some of the ingredients, so the fat and calories are actually lower than this.)

Nutritional analysis per serving 192 calories, 1 g fat (0.3 g saturated fat), 57 g carbohydrates, 1.7 g protein, 2.7 g fiber

Healthy Easy Quiche

This quiche has a shredded potato crust instead of buttery pastry, and it doesn’t use any cream or egg yolks.  It is a great way to use leftovers, and is very inexpensive to make.  It is so easy, always turns out great, and is good for you. 

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups shredded raw potatoes (could use packaged potatoes like “Simply Potatoes” to save time)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided (or regular pepper)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided (or regular salt)
• Cooking spray
• 2-3 Cups of your choice of cooked quiche filling (i.e. 2-3 cups once it is cooked… it takes a few cups of mushrooms to make a cup of cooked mushrooms, for example. Make sure everything you want to put in the quiche is cooked before you add it to the egg, because it really won’t cook any more in the oven. Also, drain your filling if it contains a lot of liquid so the quiche doesn’t get watery. I usually just cook my filling until the liquid evaporates.). Here is what I typically use:
  • 8 oz. thinly sliced mushrooms
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 4 oz. frozen chopped spinach
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme or any spice you like)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 3/4 cups egg whites; from about 15 eggs (or you can use an egg substitute like Egg Beaters)
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) reduced fat cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Combine potatoes, 2 teaspoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Press potatoes into the bottom and up sides of a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 10-15 minutes until edges start to turn brown.
3. Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onion to pan; sauté for 6 minutes or until tender. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, spinach, thyme, and garlic; cook until spinach wilts. Cool slightly; stir in egg and cheese.
4. Pour egg mixture over potato crust. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes; cut into 6 wedges.

Yield:  6 servings.  About 160 calories per serving.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cubed seeded peeled cucumber (about one cucumber)
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free sour cream (or fat free yogurt, esp. strained or Greek yogurt if you have it)
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions (I didn’t have any, so I left this out)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (or 2 teaspoons dried dill)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (I didn’t have any of this either)
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish (or ½ teaspoon regular horseradish)
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided (can use regular salt or sea salt)
• 1 (3-pound) salmon fillet, about 3/4 inch thick (I only grilled 1 pound of salmon)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• Dill sprigs (optional)

Preparation

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt; stir well. Cover and chill 30 minutes. (I had to chill 2 hours)

2. Prepare grill.

3. Sprinkle fish with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Place fish, skin side up, on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes. Rotate fish one quarter-turn (45 degrees) for diamond-shaped crosshatches. Grill 3 minutes. Turn fish over; grill 4 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. (I don’t do any of this rigamarole with the grilling to get the crosshatches… I just grill salmon skin side down on a piece of foil for 15-20 minutes depending upon thickness.)

4. Serve with sauce and dill sprigs, if desired.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 6 ounces salmon and 1/3 cup sauce)

Nutritional Information:  CALORIES 340(33% from fat); FAT 12.4g (sat 1.9g,mono 4.1g,poly 4.9g); IRON 1.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 117mg; CALCIUM 149mg; CARBOHYDRATE 10.9g; SODIUM 374mg; PROTEIN 42.7g; FIBER 0.3g

Bill Jamison and Cheryl Alters Jamison , Cooking Light, JULY 2008

This post is a follow-up to My Favorite Kitchen Gadgets.  Here are my favorite kitchen investments, and their best uses.  We received most of this stuff as wedding gifts, as we probably wouldn’t have purchased them otherwise.

Immersion Blender ($50)

Best Use: Daily Smoothies and the easiest cleanup ever!

Cuisinart Coffee Maker ($130)

Best Use: Delicious coffee – freshly ground… or not!

Zojirushi Rice Cooker ($75-300)

Best Use: Cooking Long Grain Brown Rice to Perfection (which is hard to cook otherwise).  This isn’t the exact model I have, but all of this brand is good.

All-Clad Pots & Pans ($100-300 each)

Best Use: Every Day Cooking!  These things are indestructible.  They will last a life time.  These are the pots and pans you see on every single cooking show on television, and in every professional kitchen, and in every cooking magazine.  There is a reason for this!

All-Clad Roaster ($200-300)

Best Use: The large one is perfect for Thanksgiving turkeys.  The small one is perfect for every day roasting.

Food Processor ($200)

Best Uses: Perfect Hummus.  Perfect Pesto.  You can use this machine for virtually any cutting, but I use it mostly these days to make perfect hummus.  I can’t make my chocolate mousse cake or carrot cake without it though!

Background:

Creole Jambalaya comes from the French Quarter of New Orleans.  It was created in an attempt to make paella in the New World, where saffron was not readily available due to import costs. (Saffron is still really expensive today, but you can substitute Tumeric… although this recipe calls for neither.)  Anyway after the civil war tomatoes became the substitute for saffron.  As time went on, French influence was strong in New Orleans, and spices from the Caribbean changed this New World paella into the unique dish known as Jambalaya.  Creole Jambalaya includes tomatoes, whereas Cajun Jambalaya does not.

This recipe was developed from a basic recipe that I found in the instruction manual of my slow cooker.  It is such a simple, delicious healthy recipe, that I end up making it all the time.  It has a kick, but isn’t too spicy by any means.  If you like it spicy, add more tabasco sauce and cayenne.  This recipe is always a crowd pleaser!

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can/jar (14 oz.) whole tomatoes
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 2 cups (or 1 14 oz. can) broth – beef, chicken or vegetable
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 ½ teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 3 cups cooked long grain brown rice (or any cooked rice)

To Prepare:

Add all ingredients except rice and shrimp to slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours (or high for 4 hours).  Add shrimp during last 15 minutes of cooking.  Stir in rice when you are ready to serve.  Makes 4-6 Servings.

Fresh Yakutat Wild Alaskan Salmon was on sale today at Whole Foods for $12/lb (that is a good price considering Copper River Salmon was priced back up to $22/lb). 

We bought the Yakutat, made it for dinner and it was DELICIOUS!!  I’m pretty picky about the salmon we buy, because our 3 and 1 year olds love it.  I never buy farmed.  I’m willing to try frozen.  And I’m never willing to pay more than $12/lb.  So it is a special treat to find wild fresh salmon at that price – especially when it is so good. 

You can find pretty much everything you need to know about Yakutat Wild Salmon on this web site.  http://yakutatwild.com/

NOTE — The Environmental Defense Fund has lots of good information on their web site about making healhty choices about all kinds of fish.  My friend actually brings along their little cheat sheet from the web site, whenever we go out for sushi.

I have been looking for a great healthy zucchini bread recipe, since we have a ton of zucchini right now.  This one is really good.  I read once that if you use less fat in a bread recipe, it doesn’t stay moist and fresh as long.  So if you make this healthy recipe that contains very little fat (only 3 Tbsp oil and 1 egg compared to over a cup of oil and 3+ eggs in some recipes), make sure you eat it (or freeze it) the same day you make it.

• Vegetable Oil Spray
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cups all-purpose white flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 3 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups packed shredded unpeeled zucchini (from 1/2 pound zucchini)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly coat a 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray.
2. Spread the nuts in a metal pie plate (or foil) and toast, stirring once, until golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
3. In medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and clobes.  Whisk to combine.
4. Use an electric mixer to beat the egg with brown sugar in a large bowl until smooth.  Beat in the milk and oil.  With the mixer on low speed, add the shredded zucchini and the flour mixture, beating just until no specs of flour are visible.  Stir in the nuts.
5. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top.  Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes.
6. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, turn onto a rack and cool completely.  Use immediately or refrigerate up to 24 hours.  This bread can also be frozen up to 2 weeks.  For best results, freeze whole loaf intact.

Makes 14 slices.  PER SLICE: 120 calories, 5g total fat, 1g sat fat.

Based on a recipe from the American Medical Association Family Health Cookbook.  I changed the recipe to add whold grains to it.