Chocolate Mexican Soycream

I just discovered a delicious and reduced-guilt ice cream treat. Trader Joes sells Soy Dream (ice cream made from soy milk) in a variety of flavors. I love the cherry with chocolate chips but the fat content was still too high (7g fat per serving). But when I looked at the chocolate soycream I was floored by the reduced fat - just 3g for a 1/2 cup serving!

Ice cream is very difficult to exude discipline because the serving size is so small. One half cup is equivalent to about two golf balls. I serve all my ice cream in small ramekins to keep myself in check. And with only 3g fat per serving I can allow myself more yummy toppings.

Another fabulous TJ's product that allows me reduced guilt sundaes is Organic Midnight Moo Chocolate Syrup. I am not a big fan of fat free chocolate because it normally tastes like kaka, but some how TJ's has come up with a fat-free recipe that is actually appetizing. I use the syrup for homemade mochas, milk shakes and ice cream topping.

Another thing I love about Trader Joe's is the massive bags of nuts you can get for relatively cheap. At regular grocery stores I have to buy 1/2 cup or 2 cup, which are normally used in one setting. However, TJ's offers pounds of nuts in a variety of options e.g. roasted, dry, salted, reduced salt, etc. I use them for my granola, desserts, meal toppings and even as snacks. And per pound you are getting a much better deal with TJ's than other grocery stores. Although nuts are naturally rich in protein they do carry a lot of unsaturated fat so be sparing.

Chocolate Mexican Soycream Dessert

1/2 cup chocolate Soy Dream

Organic Midnight Moo Chocolate Syrup

1 tbsp dry hazelnuts, slightly crushed

1 tbsp sweetened coconut

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Other Mexican ice cream combinations include coffee or dulce de leche ice cream and peanuts or nut brittle.

CSA Dinner Frittata

Oh yum! One of the best things about being a cook is when you can take leftovers or raw ingredients and make a world-win creation. We are coming off a four-day holiday and are about to leave for our week vacation, so I was intent on making dinner with only what we had. When I came home to find that my thawed shrimp had gone bad I was already out of ideas.

However, my last CSA pick-up was a new batch of vegetables including heirloom tomatoes, fingerling potatoes and leeks. And of course kale. So after a few searches on recipe search lists I came up with a pretty delicious frittata that is hearty enough for dinner, but yummy enough to eat any meal of the day.

CSA Dinner Frittata

1-1.5 lb fingerling potatoes, cleaned and cut to one inch pieces

2 heirloom tomatoes (mr. stripey, german queens or similar size), chopped

1 pound kale (about three handfuls), chopped

1-2 bullion cubs, beef or vegetable

1 tbsp olive oil

3 baby leeks or green onions, sliced

garlic, minced

crushed red pepper

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

6 eggs

1/4 -1/3 c. grated smoked Gouda or other smoky cheese

coarse salt and pepper

1/4 c. grated Parmesan

hot sauce, such as Louisianna

Set a pot of water to boil. Cut potatoes half longways and then into thirds, eliminating rough or discolored pieces. I never peal my potatoes unless they are pretty old - the skin is very nutritious. Boil potatoes 10-15 minutes or until slightly soft - they should not be 'mashed potato' soft.

Meanwhile sauté olive oil with garlic and leek/onion over medium heat. My CSA leeks are scallion-sized and I think the taste is more conducive to this recipe, but I have never found leeks that petite in grocery stores so use what you can find. Once the garlic is brown add crushed red pepper. I use more than most but 0.5 tsp should be enough heat for anyone. I highly recommend using heirloom tomatoes because the 'meat' of the tomato is more savory and there is less need to seed the tomato. When chopping your tomato avoid white and hard parts.

When potatoes are done, fish them out with a slotted spoon and add them to the skillet with the tomatoes and lemon juice and cover. Add the bullion cubes (I added two for more flavor but it depend on how much water you still have in your pot) to boiling water. Once cubes are dissolved, add chopped kale. You should have one part potato, one part tomato and two parts kale. Boil kale about 3-4 minutes or until tender. Stir potato mix occasionally to avoid sticking.

Preheat oven 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix potato mixture and kale. Add coarse salt and pepper. Let mixture cool. In a smaller bowl beat smoky cheese, eggs and coarse salt and pepper. In a greased deep dish pie pan spoon vegetables until evenly distributed. I actually had a lot of leftover vegies but there is an incentive to make another frittata. Pour egg mixture over the vegetables and slightly blend together. Top frittata with parm cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until egg is set. I broiled the frittata for about 4 minutes to get a good brown on top. Let cool slightly before serving. Serve with hot sauce. My sister sent me an African care package with a hot sauce that is so flavorful and spicy. It is a new favorite in my house, but a decent domestic alternative is Louisiana. I am not a Tabasco fan but it will suffice.

It took a lot of will power not to eat the whole thing last night - it was so good. I also used the leftovers for breakfast so this is an all around meal. I was also able to use so many leftovers. I tagged this recipe cheap because I literally didn't have to buy anything. The used leftover cheese, took out the rest of my eggs and my vegetables from my CSA. This meal is also a high score on the vegetable list as well.

Patriotic (and low-fat) Cheesecake

Happy 4th of July! Holidays are a great time for families and showing off your culinary skills. I am a huge meal planner around holidays, and it also gives me an extra "cheat day" on my farm food diet.

Cheesecake is one of the most dreaded desserts to avoid when trying to cut weight. Regular cheesecake can pack as much as 18g of fat and 40% of your daily saturated fat. BUT IT'S SO GOOD! I was able to find and combine two cheesecake recipes that use ricotta cheese and low-fat cream cheese to cut a lot of the cheese fat out of this irresistible dessert. So you can double your guilty day for a holiday dessert that is low-fat, festive and very tasty.

I combined Martha Stewart's Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake with Cooking Light's Ricotta Cheesecake. Either recipe is excellent on it's own, but my version tries to keep more of the texture of cheesecake without including all the cream cheese calories.

I first made this dessert for my husband for being sweet and going out of his way to help me. I am not a huge cheesecake fan, but this combination is excellent. It was one of the few times we finished a dessert before throwing it out. There is a little bit of room to play with the proportions, so be sure and check the links to the recipes if you want more or less firmness, fat or ricotta.

Patriotic Cheesecake:

Crust:

6-8 graham crackers (one pack)
1/3 cup raw almonds (optional)

1/4 cup sugar (optional)
4 tbsp butter, melted

Filling:

1/2 cup organic sugar

12 oz (1.5 bars) reduced-fat cream cheese
1/2 pint (8 oz) low-fat ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
salt, pinch
1 tsp fresh lemon zest

Topping:

1/2 cup organic sugar

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

4 plums, pitted and cubed

1 pint blueberries

Do not use store-bought graham crust - the cheesecake will fall apart. Graham cracker crust is incredibly simple to make if you have a food processor. If you have heart-healthy raw almonds, only use 6 grahams and crush together in processor. If you don't have almonds, use the whole pack of grahams. All graham crust calls for 1/4 cup sugar. I have always forgotten to add it and the crust is still divine. So don't add the sugar unless you think it needs it. I know 4 tbsp butter is a bit much for a low-fat recipe, but you really need the moisture to hold the crust together. Pour the butter into the processor while it is crushing the grahams. Pack the buttery crumbs into a 9 inch pie dish. Use a greased spatula to spread the crumbs evenly. Bake the crust for 8 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

A few tips here: This is obviously a lower-fat dessert and not exactly screaming healthy, but I try where I can to make this less bad-for-me. I have become hung up on organic sugar lately. I do like Sugar in the Raw, but it doesn't always do best in baking. It is GREAT in cookies, but not other baked goods, so stick with fine, organic sugar. The price is not much different esp since it takes me a while to go through a 5lb bag of sugar. Also, when zesting your lemon, be sure to save a tablespoon of the juice for the topping. It's best to roll the lemon on the counter and press your palm into the lemon to break up the juices before cutting it.

Be sure to clean and dry your food processor completely before moving onto the filling. Make sure your cream cheese and ricotta are at room temperature, which will help with blending. Blend together cheeses and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla, zest and salt. You might have a fancy food processor, but I do not (got it from Visa reward points), so be sure and scrape the bottom of the bowl with a spatula to make sure all the cream cheese isn't caked on the bottom. Once mixture is well blended, pour the batter into the cooled pie dish. Place pie on a cookie sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool completely.

As cake cools, combine plums, 1/2 cup sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Heat on medium until at a rapid simmer. Reduce heat to simmer and stir until fruit starts to turn to jam. Remove from heat and stir in blueberries. Once cake is cool, spread fruit mixture over cake and refrigerate at least two hours.