Refrigerator Pickles

So, I know I'm straying a bit from the high-protein thing here, but it can be really tough to get in your fat-free veggies when you're dieting. No one wants to eat salad for every meal, and sometimes you just want a snack—even if you are trying to avoid chips and ice cream. So try this on for size:

1 large cucumber
white vinegar
coarse ground sea salt
fresh ground pepper
fresh dill
a couple cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with a knife to release the flavor

Peel the cucumber and slice thin (about 1/8" to 1/4" thick). Layer the cucumber slices in a jar along with the garlic cloves, fresh dill, salt and pepper. Once filled to the top, fill the jar half way with vinegar and the rest of the way with water, until covered. Close the jar very tightly and refrigerate for at least a day or two before enjoying. These will keep for several weeks, thanks to the vinegar and salt—but they must be refrigerated.  Enjoy!

Eggplant Caponata

Eggplant is in season, and my CSA buddy is mildly allergic—which is a bummer for her, but means more for me. And it just so happens that I freaking LOVE eggplant caponata and have been wanting to try my own version not loaded with olive oil and  salt!

I use the name "caponata" loosely here, and because we're watching carb intake, I kept it a little chunkier than usual and ate it straight up (instead of on a cracker or bread). But you could top it on fish, chicken or even add fat free feta for protein.

Oh—also, this is a little bit of a cheat because it does have tomatoes, which are high in sugar (natural, "healthy" sugars, but sugars none the less). So don't make this a staple, but if you've got tomatoes to use up, this is a good route.

1 eggplant, chopped
1 can tomatoes
2 T. capers
1 small red onion, chopped
1 purple bell pepper, seeded and chopped
vegetable broth
2 T. apple cider vinegar

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and throw in the onions. Cook for a minute or two, then add in the eggplant and bell pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes more until the veggies are almost completely done through; feel free to add in a little water or vegetable broth if things start to stick to the pan. Add in the tomatoes, capers and vinegar and cook together until the flavors have combined well.

You can eat this immediately, or jar it and keep it in the fridge for a few days. So good!

Stuffed Hungarian Peppers

What? Somebody said you can't have cheesy deliciousness on a low fat diet?

Well, sister, somebody lied to you. Check it out:

Hot Hungarian peppers
1 small container fat free ricotta
8oz fat free cream cheese
1 packet fat free shredded mozzarella
1/4c grated parmesan cheese
8oz shredded fat free cheddar
fresh chives, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. dried parsley
1 T. dried oregano
1 tsp. anchovy paste
1 tsp. no-chicken boiullon
Salt and pepper to taste

If you can prepare ahead, combine all of your stuffing ingredients and let sit in the fridge overnight so the flavors can combine.

Preheat your oven to 425°. Wearing gloves, prepare your peppers to be stuffed: slice each pepper down the middle and cut out the stem. Remove the seeds; I recommend tasting a tiny bit of the peppers to see how hot they are. If not too hot and you want to add more kick, combine some of the seeds in with your cheese mixture.

Stuff the peppers full and pop in the over for 20 minutes. Once the peppers begin to sink and the cheese looks like it's started to melt, place under your broiler for a minute or two to brown. Remove and serve immediately. Great as low fat appetizer for dinner with friends, or once in a while, not so bad as a solo meal! 2 peppers should be about 27g.

Vinegar Kale and Beet Greens

This recipe features three of the best lessons I've learned from my family regarding food:

Lesson 1: Making complicated dishes is the easiest way to accidentally add calories, sugars and other unhealthy extras to your meals. So keep it simple. (from my nutrition-savvy brother)

Lesson 2: Add vinegar. It's delicious. That's a straight-up fact. (from my momma)

Lesson 3: Don't waste anything. Ever. (again, from my momma, handed down from her momma)

All you need is:
Beet greens
Kale
White or apple cider vinegar
Salt

Chop up the kale and beet greens, stalks, leaves and all. Throw into a pan with a little water and cover, stirring occasionally until they begin to soften. Add in salt and a couple tablespoons of vinegar and let cook for another minute or two, until the stems in the mix have begun to soften, but the greens are still bright. Remove from heat and serve—makes a great side with any piece of grilled or broiled fish for your protein. Bon appetit!

Scallion Dip with Cucumbers

The past couple of bags from my farm share have been chock full of scallions, and I haven't been great about using them up. I happen to love scallions, and it occurred to me that they might be incredibly good as the primary ingredient in a dip. So think of this as the healthy version of full-fat-heart-attack-french-onion-dip. I also had several cucumbers on hand from last week's bag, hence this tasty, simple combo:

1 1/4c Fage fat free plain Greek Yogurt
1 large young green onion
1 cucumber
fresh ground sea salt and pepper

Slice the green onion thin. Combine the yogurt, green onion, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Peel the cucumber—I like to do it the way my mom alwas did, leaving slivers of the skin for color—then slice the cucumber into hearty slices to handle the dip. That's it! Enjoy your quick and easy 27g.

Warm Greens and Young Onions with Scallion Cottage Cheese

These two dishes don't have to be served together by any means, it just happens to be what I felt like eating. But both are surprisingly delicious. (Maybe one of these days I'll stop being so shocked at how tasty health food can be!)

Warm Greens and Young Onions
2 large young onions (just the bulb part of a scallion)
1 T. butter
1 large bunch/3 small bunches swiss chard
1 T. rice vinegar
sea salt & pepper

Slice the onions thin and set aside. Rinse the swiss chard very well (don't worry about drying) and chop roughly, using both the leafy greens and the stems. Toss the swiss chard into a heated pan with 1/2T. butter and a splash of rice vinegar and cover until cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.

Next, sautée the sliced onions in the same pan with the remaining butter and some fresh ground salt and pepper. Stir regularly until the onions are warmed through and becoming transparent.

Top the cooked swiss chard with the warm onions and serve.

Note: I don't usually cook with added fats, but here, the butter has a big impact. Plus, after eating a very low fat diet for a while, even just a little butter goes a long way for your taste buds.



Scallion Cottage Cheese
3/4c 1% cottage cheese
1 large young onion (just the green part of a scallion)
sea salt & pepper

This is really SO good (and a cinch). If you're one of those people who think you hate cottage cheese, or have never been able to get past the texture, this recipe might turn you around. It made me fall in love all over again. In fact, I just might eat this every day this week! 

Just slice the scallion very thin and mix into the cottage cheese. Top with a good bit of coarse ground salt and pepper and stir together. 

The greens with onions are packed with vitamins, and the cottage cheese is full of lean protein—27g of it. I hope you love both!

Beet, Green Onion and Goat Cheese Salad

This is one of the best recipes I've had lately, all thanks to two wonderful things: my CSA newsletter, where I got the delicious recipe. (Nope, can't claim to have come up with this one on my own!) And a new discovery at Wegmans, reduced fat goat cheese by Coach Farm. With less than half the fat of regular, this goat cheese is not quite as good as full fat when you taste it alone, but top it on a salad or anything else, and you won't even know the difference. This takes a bit of time to prepare because of the fresh beets.

Ingredients:
2–3 medium beets
1 T. olive oil (optional—I skipped it)
2 T. apple cider vinegar
2 green onions, sliced thin
3 oz. goat cheese

Remove any greens from the beets, scrub them clean and boil for about 20 minutes, until they are fork tender. Allow them to cool. Once cooled, peel off the skins and cut into wedges.

Toss together the beets, vinegar, green onions and olive oil (if you're using it), then crumble the goat cheese on top and serve. Enjoy!