Recipe: Holiday Redux: Skinny Sweet Potato Casserole

Garnish your sweet potato casserole or other Thanksgiving dishes with pomegranate seeds for a pop of color, a dose of antioxidants and a juicy crunch.

INGREDIENTS:

Yield: 12 servings (1/2 cup per serving)

Ingredients:

·         6 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed

·         ½ cup of almond milk

·         3 egg whites

·         ½ Tablespoon of cinnamon

·         ¼ cup of pure maple syrup

·         1 pomegranate, seeded

·         Optional: chopped walnuts (or nut of your choice)

DIRECTIONS:

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 ºF. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread out the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes. Place baked sweet potatoes, almond milk, egg whites, cinnamon, and maple syrup into a blender. Blend sweet potato mixture until a smooth consistency. Pour the sweet potatoes mixture into a 9”x9” pan and spread out to the pan’s edges. Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with pomegranate seeds and optional chopped nuts. Bake sweet potato casserole for 50 minutes. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:

Food weight: 1.0, Calories: 101 kcal, Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Carbohydrate: 23 g, Dietary Fiber: 3 g, Protein: 2g, Sodium 42 mg

Q: What is one of the most popular Thanksgiving dinner side dishes?

Answer: Green Bean Casserole!

Green bean casserole has become a staple at most everyone’s traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, the traditional version tends to be loaded with bad fat, salt and calories and is often far from a light and healthy dish. Why not lighten up this Thanksgiving classic and save your calories for the yummier desserts or sweet potato casserole? Substituting reduced fat and light versions of sour cream, heavy cream, and cream cheese or 0% Greek yogurt will still give you a great taste but for a fraction of the calories.

HOLIDAY RECIPE REDUX: Green Bean Casserole

There is no need to buy breadcrumbs! Make your own high fiber breadcrumbs by blending Fiber One Original Cereal or a piece of whole grain bread\ in a food processor/blender until a breadcrumb consistency.

Yield: 8 servings (1 cup per serving) 

INGREDIENTS:

Ingredients

·         2 lb green beans, steamed

·         1 onion, sliced

·         1 tsp of olive oil

·         1 cup of light sour cream

·         1 tsp of garlic powder

·         ¼ cup of asiago shredded cheese.  

·         ½ cup Fiber One Original cereal 

DIRECTIONS:

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 º F. Grease a 13’’ x 9’’ glass or aluminum pan with olive oil. Spread out the steamed green beans in the pan. In a small saucepan, heat 1 tsp of olive oil and sauté the sliced onions until they are slightly brown. Spread out the onions on top of the green beans. In a small pot, heat the light sour cream, asiago cheese, and garlic powder for 3-5 minutes until the mixture gets thin. Pour the sour cream mixture over the green beans and onions. In a food processor or blender, mix the fiber one cereal until a breadcrumb consistency. Sprinkle the casserole with the breadcrumbs. Place pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:

Food weight: 1.0, Calories: 89 kcal, Fat 3g, Cholesterol: 9 mg, Carbohydrate: 15g, Dietary Fiber: 6g, Protein: 4g, Sodium: 41 mg

Low Carbohydrate Pasta

Spaghetti squash is a great substitute for pasta, not only to reduce the calories and carbohydrates of a pasta meal, but also you will be adding a vegetable to your dish.

How to cook spaghetti squash?

Pre-heat oven to 350º F. Cut the spaghetti squash in half  (either cook the squash with the seeds or scoop them out). In a baking pan, place the squash halves with the flesh facing down and add 1/4 inch of water in the pan. Bake for 45-60 minutes. Remove the spaghetti squash from the oven, flip halves over and let them cool for 10 minutes. Grab a fork and fork out the spaghetti!

Spaghetti Squash vs. Spaghetti Pasta Noodles

1 cup of spaghetti pasta noodles, cooked= Calories: 220 kcal, Carbohydrate: 43 g

1 cup of cooked Spaghetti Squash, cooked = Calories: 42 kcal Carbohydrate: 10 g

Experiment with spaghetti squash by making this week’s featured recipe, Pesto Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp Scampi and Edamame.

* spaghetti squash is gluten free for those that have a gluten intolerance

Recipe: Pesto Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp Scampi and Edamame

A Low Carbohydrate Pasta Night!

INGREDIENTS:

Yield: 12 servings (1 serving = 1 cup)

Ingredients:

1 medium spaghetti squash

2 cups of edamame, shelled 

Shrimp Scampi:

·       1 lb of raw shrimp, peeled

·       1 Tablespoon of olive oil

·       4 garlic cloves, minced

·       2 shallots, minced

·       ½ cup of low sodium chicken broth

·       ½ cup of dry white wine

·       ¼ cup of lemon juice

·       ¼ tsp of black pepper

Heart Healthy Walnut Pesto:

·       2 oz of fresh basil leaves

·       1/2 of walnut halves

·       1/8 cup of olive oil

·       3 garlic cloves

DIRECTIONS:

Spaghetti Squash Prep:

Pre-heat oven to 350º F. Cut the spaghetti squash in half (either cook the squash with the seeds or scoop them out). In a baking pan, place the squash halves with the flesh facing down and add 1/4 inch of water in the pan. Bake for 45-60 minutes. Remove the spaghetti squash from the oven, flip halves over and let them cool for 10 minutes. Grab a fork and fork out the spaghetti!

Shrimp Scampi and Edamame Prep:

In a saucepan, add the olive oil, garlic, and shallots and cook on medium heat until the shallots are translucent. Add the remaining shrimp scampi ingredients and edamame to the saucepan. Cook the shrimp scampi and edamame mixture until the shrimp are white and light pink in color.

Heart Healthy Walnut Pesto Prep:

Place all pesto ingredients into a food processor and blend pesto until a spreadable consistency.

Assemble Your Pasta Dish:

Mix together the spaghetti squash, shrimp scampi, edamame, and pesto and serve immediately.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:

Food weight: 2.0, Calories: 186 kcal, Fat: 9 g, Cholesterol: 57 mg, Carbohydrate: 13 g, Dietary Fiber: 4 g, Protein: 13 g, Sodium: 229 mg

Try a Healthier Caramel Apple!

Say goodbye to hard, sticky and super-sugary caramel apples and hello to a sweet and delicious healthy faux-caramel apple.

Even though apples are a staple “super” fruit we eat all year around, caramel apples are considered a Fall sweet treat. One of the down sides of eating caramel apples is that the caramel tends to get stuck in our teeth. To solve this problem, you can make a healthier caramel by replacing brown sugar and butter with dates and tahini (ground sesame seeds), as feature in this week’s recipe, Natural Caramel Apples. You will be consuming natural caramel-like ingredients to make your faux caramel apple good for your entire body, in addition to preventing cavities!

Recipe: Natural Caramel Apples

Continue to keep the doctor away by spicing up your apple a day! 

INGREDIENTS:

Yield: 4 (1 small apple)

Ingredients:

·    2 cup pitted dates

·    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·    2 Tablespoons of tahini

·    1/8 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk

·    4 small apples

·    Optional: 1 cup of a variety of nuts, chopped (hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.)

DIRECTIONS:

Warm the dates in the microwave for 2 minutes (remember to use a microwave safe bowl). Put the warm dates in a food processor and add the vanilla extract, tahini, and almond milk to the dates. Process the caramel-like mixture for able about 30 seconds until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency that you can spread on an apple (To make a smoother consistency caramel, add 1 tbsp of almond milk at a time). Use a spatula to spread the caramel around the apple. Optional: roll the apple in chopped nuts (press the remaining nuts onto your apple).

Your caramel apple is complete! Refrigerate until ready to eat OR if you want the caramel to get harder. If there is leftover caramel, save it for a caramel dip! 

Nutrition Information Per Serving (without nuts):

Food weight: 2.0, Calories: 202 kcal, Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 0 mg. Carbohydrate: 43 g, Dietary Fiber: 5 g, Protein: 3 g, Sodium: 9 mg