Zucchini Lasagna

This week I made a delicious Zucchini Lasagna for dinner.  It was so easy - 15 minutes hands on! - AND just as good cold the next day.  So all in all a great dinner for a week night or for when you are crunched for time.  Although this lasagna has no red sauce, the cheese sauce has a pink tint from my secret ingredient (ground cayenne pepper to give it a little kick!).  This lasagna serves 4 and packs only 398 calories!

Zucchini Lasagna
adapted from marthastewart.com

Incredients -

• Cooking spray, for baking dish
• 8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 container (15 ounces) fat free ricotta cheese
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise, then sliced thinly crosswise
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 6 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 2 ounces shredded (1/2 cup) part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions -

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray; set aside. 

In a medium bowl, stir together cream cheese, ricotta and cayenne pepper; season with salt and pepper. In another medium bowl, combine zucchini, garlic, and oregano; season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. 

Spread 1/3 zucchini mixture in prepared baking dish; top with two lasagna noodles, then 1/3 ricotta mixture. Repeat twice with remaining zucchini mixture, noodles, and ricotta mixture, finishing with the ricotta mixture.

 Sprinkle with mozzarella. 

Cover baking dish with aluminum foil; bake until bubbly and noodles are tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove foil; bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

If you are not a big zucchini fan or just want to load in more veggies (like carrots and squash), that would be a great recipe adaption.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones

I know, I know...it sounds like I am off my resolution only a couple days after I shared it with you.  But, SURPRISE!  Each of these delicious scones packs only 200 calories and 8g of fat, not bad for breakfast.

I have been trolling around the internet in search of healthy cooking blogs that I can use for inspiration.  This recipe comes from one of my favorites, Gina's Skinny Taste, which is totally focused on delicious food that is low calorie!  So, of course, I subscribed to her blasts and got this delicious recipe in my inbox on Thursday morning (just in time for some weekend baking!).

Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones
recipe adapted from skinnytaste.com

Incredients -

• 3/4 cup cold low-fat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp chilled butter (must be cold) cut into small pieces
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• cooking spray
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 tbsp sugar

Directions -
Preheat oven to 375°. Whisk the first four ingredients in a medium bowl - set aside.  Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, in a large bowl. Cut in chilled butter with a fork, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in chocolate chips. Stir in milk mixture just until dry ingredients are moist.

Knead lightly four times with floured hands. Place dough onto baking sheet and form into an 9-inch circle, about 3/4" thick. Using a knife, cut dough into 12 wedges all the way through. 

Bush egg white over dough (don't worry about using the entire egg white) and sprinkle evenly with sugar.

Bake until golden, about 17-20 minutes.

 Enjoy with a cup of coffee at breakfast or with a cup of tea for a great afternoon snack!

Happy 2012

It is a new year, which typically means resolutions to improve ones life.  Well I am no exception... One of my resolutions for 2012 is cook more/order less taken out.  This is a two part resolution, I not only want to make more homemade food, I want this food to be healthy and low fat!  With my commitment to healthy eating, I am also recommitting myself to blogging out my adventures in the kitchen.  So, expect low fat/low calorie dinner recipes, along with some other fun recipes along the way (and of course there will still be treats, because what fun is cooking and baking without delicious indulgences!).

Happy New Year!