Sunday, February 21, 2010

Recipe Redux


Some of you may recall my post from a few weeks ago detailing the scrumptious Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cherry Cookies.  If you missed it, here is the post.  I loved everything about those cookies - the chewy insides, the crunchy outsides, the toasted pecans, the dark, bittersweet chunks of chocolate, and especially the plump dried cherries.  Then I came across a similar recipe in Cooking Light, but with only 94 calories per cookie!  Can you believe that?  Only 94 calories and all the same luscious ingredients as in the original cookie and without sacrificing any deliciousness? I couldn't. So I immediately set about to make a batch (the things I won't do for you people!). The lighter recipe adds in some whole wheat flour and eliminates the pecans, but all else is pretty much the same.  So after some very careful and serious testing (and tasting), I am here to tell you that, with this recipe, you can have one terrific cookie at a very low cal/low fat level. Just think of it as my little mid-winter gift to you.  Enjoy!


Print recipe

Sunday, February 7, 2010

My Sweet Clementine

Don't you just love those sweet, adorable, little Clementines? I have been eating 2-3 each day as a mid-afternoon snack, or sometimes after dinner (not exactly the equivalent of a post-dinner dessert, but definitely alot healthier).


According to Produce Pete (everybody's favorite authority on fruits & veggies), the clementine is actually a mandarin orange, imported from Spain and Morocco.  They are a cross between a sweet orange and a Chinese mandarin and they are only in season from October to February so we are almost at the end of prime clementine season.


After awhile, eating them just out of the peel gets a little boring.  And I thought it would be great to be able to use them in a more formalized dessert fashion.  Well, apparently, I wasn't the first one to think about this (imagine that) because there are quite a few recipes out there for clementine desserts.  But I wanted something easy and something with all the ingredients already at hand.  I found a great recipe at Cooking Light and I want to pass it along so you can take advantage of the last few weeks of clementine availability.  This is a terrific dessert that you can dress up by using martini glasses, or just use small, individual bowls (I used some vineyard wine glasses that were handy).  And, because it's low in calories, it will come in especially handy tomorrow (after we've eaten all those Super Bowl snacks today!).  Enjoy!


Printable recipe