Fat-Free Dill Pickle Dip

I LOVE PICKLES. The salt can be killer on a diet, but as long as you're not eating 6 whole pickles a night, you can get away with this. Plus, this is a great party food (as most dips are)—you know no one else is going to bring the same thing, and you'll have something you can eat without regretting it.

8oz. pkg fat free cream cheese or neufachtel
2 T. fat free plain greek yogurt
4 dill pickles, chopped
3T. dill pickle juice
1 tsp. dried dill
salt and pepper

Let the cream cheese soften a bit. Simply mix together all of the ingredients and refrigerate overnight. Serve cold, garnished with some extra dill. Great with celery, carrots, or turnip chips.

You probably won't want to make a whole 27g meal out of this, but it’s perfect as a high-protein, low fat, low carb snack!

Tuna Salad Wraps

I’ve been on an unseasonable tex-mex kick, but hey—it tastes good and it’s healthy, so I see no reason to ignore the craving! These tuna wraps are a way-healthy spin on fish tacos. A little kick and a little crunch go a long way.

4 large leaves iceberg lettuce
1c. cabbage, thinly sliced
1 can of solid white albacore tuna
2oz. fat free shredded cheddar
1 scallion, chopped
pickled jalapenos
Frank’s hot sauce

Prep all of your ingredients, and then build these just like you would a taco—pile each leaf of iceberg lettuce with an equal amount of the ingredients, a couple jalapenos and Frank’s to taste. Recipe makes two 27g servings.

Cilantro Cabbage Salad

Cabbage is an uber-healthy vegetable to work into your diet—and even more so if you can squeeze in a few different types. They're all high in fiber, low in calories, and totally fat free. Eat it steamed, and it could lower your cholesterol. Eat it raw, and get a little dose of cancer-prevention. Here, we're going with the latter:

1/2 head of green cabbage

1/2 head of purple cabbage

cilantro
1/2c chopped walnuts

juice of 2 limes

salt and pepper

Slice the cabbage thin and chop roughly into 2" length pieces. Add the walnuts and a bunch of fresh chopped cilantro, or 2 to 3 T. of this prepared stuff, which I like to keep on hand in case of emergency. Squeeze in the juice of two limes, season with just a touch of salt and pepper and toss until all the cabbage is well coated. 

I had a big bowl of this as my vegetable, along side my entrée—in the interest of full disclosure—a piece of pizza. (Crustless at least, and the filling cabbage did keep me from digging back in for a second slice!) But if you’re gonna be awesome and healthy, enjoy this with whatever high protein option you can scrounge up: cottage cheese, a piece of fish, whatever ya got.

This salad also keeps pretty well. Cabbage is hearty and the lime juice will keep it crisp and bright for a day or two in the fridge. (Try it with a piece of cajun-seasoned fish on day two.) Enjoy!

Spinach Feta Fritatta

Breakfast is one of the easiest meals to make low fat and high protein, thanks to products like Egg Beaters and fat free cheeses. And while I love scrambled eggs, sometimes I like to just change up the final form a little bit to keep it interesting.

1 3/4c egg substitute
2oz fat free feta cheese crumbles
1 scallion, finely chopped
2 handfuls fresh baby spinach
salt and peppers

Spray your frying pan with non-stick spray; cook the spinach, covered, on medium-high, for about 2 minutes till wilted.

Add the egg beaters, sprinkle in almost all of the feta, and stir briefly. Cover and let cook all the way through. Top with the rest of the fat free feta, and your 27g breakfast for two is served!

Green Stirfry

This is super simple. All you need is:

minced garlic
1 green bell pepper, deseeded and sliced
1 eggplant, cubed
1/2 bunch of bok choy, chopped, separated into leafy portions and stem portions
3 tbsp water or veg. broth
low sodium soy sauce

Make sure you prep all your vegetables first, so they're ready to throw in. This is great for a busy night because you can always do your chopping a day or two ahead of time (well, maybe not the eggplant).

Prep your wok or skillet with a bit of non-stick spray. Heat over a medium-high flame, then toss in your minced garlic and stir constantly for about 1 minute. Toss in the stem portions and bit of water or broth. Cook, stirring constantly, for a couple of minutes, until they look like they're beginning to soften up. Add the green bell peppers, eggplant, leafy bok choy greens, a little more liquid and some soy sauce. Stir to combine, lower heat and cover for about 5 minutes. Check on this every couple of minutes, stirring to make sure nothing's sticking. If it begins to stick, just add some more liquid.

Cook until the eggplant is done all the way through, the leafy greens are wilted and the other vegetables are still a little crisp. Season to taste with more soy sauce, and serve. Goes great with scallops or chicken for your 27g!

Cajun Tilapia over Cilantro Coleslaw

Tilapia isn’t my favorite fish (as I’ve probably mentioned) but it does have its pluses: it’s low cal and low fat, doesn’t have an overpowering flavor, is a super inexpensive protein, and my favorite part—it’s quick to thaw and cook.

So if you’re in the mood for something southwestern-ish that doesn’t have to be wrapped in a high-carb taco shell, this is the ticket!

Fish:
2 tilapia filets (serves 2)
cajun seasoning
non-stick spray

Cilantro Coleslaw:
purple cabbage
green cabbage
cilantro
lime juice

You can prepare the coleslaw a day ahead of time; it’s not necessary, but it does allow the flavors to really combine well. To make the slaw, all you have to do is slice the cabbage thin and toss together with cilantro, lime juice and a little salt and pepper.

To prepare the fish, spray skillet with non-stick spray and heat over a medium-high flame. Once the pan is hot, place in the tilapia filets and season generously with cajun seasoning. You’ll want to use a cajun mix with a good amount of spice (since the coleslaw will balance the heat), but not too much salt. I love this one from Penzey’s. Cook the fish for about 2–3 minutes on each side. (Fast, right!?) When it’s done, it should have a nicely browned surface, and flake appart easily.

Serve the tilapia hot off the skillet onto a bed of the chilled cilantro coleslaw. Though you could put this combo in a tortilla shell, I don’t think you’ll miss it one bit!

Roasted Red Pepper Bisque

This isn't 27g all on it's own, of course, but the recipe is good, and it's still super low fat and low carb—so we'll roll with it.

We got a TON of peppers this fall in our CSA, so I had lots of peppers on hand, and still have a bunch in the freezer. This is a great way to put them to use! You'll need:

5 large red bell peppers or red carmen peppers
3 1/2 C vegetable broth
1/2 tsp hot Hungarian paprika
1 packet Stevia
3/4 C almond milk
1/2 C fat free grated Parmesan cheese
chili flakes

The hardest part of this recipe is roasting the red peppers, but have no fear, it's not as scary as you think. Over an open flame, like a gas stove top, place your red peppers. Watch them carefully, turning with tongs every couple of minutes, until the peppers are blackened on all sides. Remove from the flame and place them in a brown paper bag to steam for about 10 minutes—this causes the peppers to sweat, and that blackened pepper skin will come right off.

Remove the peppers from the bag, peel off the skin, and remove the stem and seeds. Give them a rough chop and cook in sauce pot with the vegetable broth for about 10 minutes. Once the peppers are soft, puree with a stick blender (or in batches using a regular blender).

Add in the paprika, stevia, and chili flakes to taste and simmer for about 5 more minutes until all the flavors meld together. Slowly, whisk in the milk and grated parmesan. Last, season to taste with some chili flakes and sea salt.

I served this with a broiled tilapia filet to add up to my 27g, and rounded it out with some steamed garlic greens on the side—now that's a balanced and virtually fat-free cold-weather meal!