Power Indian-Style Pesto, Chickpeas and Rice

Palak Paneer: despite the intimidating name, it's really just spinach and cheese cooked with spices.  It's delicious and it's definitely my favorite Indian dish.  I have a habit of buying too much spinach when it goes on sale, so learning to make this dish myself has definitely saved me from tossing many a bag of soon-to-expire spinach.  When I caught a 77-cent spinach sale at Fareway last week, I came up with this recipe to replace my real palak paneer recipe, since paneer is definitely not a power food.  It reminded me more of a pesto only with Indian spices replacing the Italian ones.  At first I wasn't sure if it would really be that appealing without the big chunks of cheese, but it really is the spices that make this dish.  The chickpeas add a nice texture contrast that distracted me from the absence of the cheese.  I highly recommend using re-hydrated dried chickpeas, as the canned ones add a lot of salt and are more mushy.  This is quite possibly the healthiest dish I'll ever make!

Power Indian-Style Pesto, Chickpeas and Rice
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 8-oz bag fresh, washed spinach
2 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1 t ground turmeric
3/4 cup unflavored Greek yogurt
3/4 cup dried chickpeas, boiled 45 minutes

Spray a large frying pan with cooking spray and place over medium high heat.  When pan is hot, place chopped onions in pan and cook and stir until translucent, about 1-2 minutes.  Add spinach, cumin, coriander, and turmeric.  Stir-fry until spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes.  Add yogurt and stir until well combined.  Serve over brown rice and top with chickpeas.

Power Banana Ricotta-Stuffed French Toast

Another weekend, another craving for a decadent brunch.  This recipe is unbelievably good considering it is almost all power foods and a very lightened version of your typical stuffed french toast recipe.  I did fry the bananas in a little butter because I just couldn't live without the flavor at that particular moment, but the butter could easily be replaced.  If you don't want to use butter, use cooking spray to grease your frying pan and maybe add a a teaspoon of applesauce just to help create a more sauce-like texture for the bananas.

The egg/milk mixture makes enough to coat two English muffins, so consider this if making more than one.

Power Banana Ricotta-Stuffed French Toast

2 t vanilla, divided

1/3 cup fat free ricotta cheese, room temperature

1 egg
1/4 cup skim milk
1 light English muffin, split
1/2 T butter
1 banana, sliced
1/4 t cinnamon


In a small bowl, combine ricotta and 1 t vanilla. Set aside.

Beat egg and milk together in a small bowl until thoroughly combined.  Spray a medium frying pan with cooking spray and place over medium heat on stove.  Dip each half of English muffin in the egg mixture and turn to evenly coat all surfaces of the muffin.  Place coated English muffin halves in frying pan.  Fry until golden brown on both sides, about 3-5 minutes per side.

Melt butter in skillet over medium high heat.  Add bananas and cinnamon.  Stir-fry until bananas are hot and mushy, about 4 minutes.  Add 1 t vanilla and stir until vanilla is incorporated into banana mixture. Remove from heat.

On a plate, place bottom half of English muffin.  Top with the ricotta.  Top ricotta with top half of English muffin, then with banana mixture.

Power Breakfast Egg Bake

I start work at 7 am and I'm not a morning person. Since I spend my 12-hour shift running from one patient to the next, skipping breakfast or eating something that isn't nutritious and filling is absolutely not an option. I usually take breakfast to work with me and eat it during report, meaning my workday breakfasts have to be convenient, portable, and provide me with enough energy to sustain me throughout my long morning. Currently, this egg bake is the breakfast that is meeting my needs. I make one every week, cut it into single serving pieces and put them in small containers that I can toss in my bag and microwave at work. It also freezes well so you can make more than one weeks' worth at a time if you want. It takes about 5 minutes to mix up the ingredients and pop them in the oven, and then you've got a whole week's worth of healthy breakfasts.

This recipe is adapted from a Weight Watchers quiche recipe from their New Complete Cookbook. I got rid of the crust completely, as it's a lot of work and calories I don't need. I change up the cheese, herbs and vegetables based on what I have in the house. Today's recipe has broccoli, cheddar cheese and paprika (would have liked to add chives but didn't have any), but I also frequently use feta and spinach with oregano or parmesan and cauliflower with tarragon.

Power Breakfast Egg Bake

5 large eggs

1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese

1/2 cup skim milk

1 cup cheese

1/2 T dried herbs

salt and pepper to taste

1.5 cups vegetables

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9-inch pie dish with cooking spray. Break eggs into a bowl and lightly beat. Stir in cottage cheese and milk until well incorporated. Add cheese, herbs, salt and pepper to egg mixture and blend well. Spread vegetables in a single layer in pie dish and pour egg mixture over the top of the vegetables. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until center is solid and edges are golden brown. Makes 5 servings.

Power Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate is one of my favorite winter treats, so when I joined Weight Watchers I knew I would need to come up with a diet-friendly version. This recipe uses enough cocoa powder to create a decadent chocolate flavor, but is sugar free. I have been drinking this almost every night.

Power Hot Chocolate

1.5 cups skim milk

1.5 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1-2 t Torani sugar free vanilla syrup (to taste)*

Peppermint candy cane (for garnish), optional

Place all ingredients except candy cane in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until mixture is hot and cocoa powder is fully incorporated. If desired, garnish with a candy cane and allow it to melt into the cocoa to make peppermint cocoa.

*If you don't have syrup, you can use a packet of Splenda and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Ricotta Corn Power Cakes with Fruit Fries

I love to treat myself to pancakes once in a while, but those really aren't feasible on my power food plan right now. I devised this recipe from power foods in hopes of creating a passable substitute for my old brunch-time treat, and I must say these are BETTER than regular pancakes! The ricotta cheese gave them a creamy, fluffy texture I've never experienced in a pancake, and the cornmeal gave them a crispy edge that can usually only be achieved by frying in butter. The fruit fries topping was the perfect substitute to sugary maple syrup. I used apples for my fruit topping today, but pears, bananas, peaches, or plums would all be good too.

Ricotta Corn Power Cakes

1 cup corn meal

1 packet Splenda

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup skim milk (more if thinner pancakes are desired)

1 t vanilla

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Add ricotta, egg, milk, and vanilla and stir just until blended. Spray frying pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high burner. Drop batter onto frying pan in 1/4 cup increments, leaving several inches between each cake. Cook about 4 minutes on each side, until cakes are golden brown.

Fruit Fries

1.5 cups fresh fruit, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 T olive oil

1 t honey (this is not a power food, so you could use Splenda in it's place)

1/2 t cinnamon

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add fresh fruit, honey and cinnamon and stir until combined. Continue to cook mixture until fruit softens, stirring occasionally. Cooking time will vary depending on the the type of fruit used. Apples took about 6 minutes.

Power Chocolate-Covered Cherry Smoothie

'Tis the season for glitzy, eye-catching retail candy displays. You all know, the kind that make you want to buy enough candy to kill an army of elves in one sitting. Everyone has their one holiday candy they can't resist, and for me it's chocolate-covered cherries. I'm not talking about some preciously expensive, fancy things from the Godiva store that I can only afford to purchase and savor one at a time. I mean the kind available for $1 a box at the Menards checkout counter. The kind that NEVER go bad, ever, thanks to a million preservatives. The kind with 70 calories per piece. The kind I buy and promptly devour at least once every December.

This smoothie is kind of an homage to my favorite candy. It's got all the necessary elements: cherries, chocolate, cream, and a rich vanilla sweetness that seem to be satisfying my candy needs for the short term. It's made of all power foods except the cocoa powder, which only adds 15 calories and probably saves me from eating about a million calories in chocolate later in the day so I don't worry about it too much. Any type of berries could be substituted here, but cherries will always be my favorite.

Power Chocolate-Covered Cherry Smoothie

1 cup frozen sweet cherries

1/2 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup skim milk (may need more)

1.5 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t vanilla

1 packet Splenda (or more to taste)

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Add more milk if mixture is too thick to blend.

Power Nacho Dip and Chips

Over the past few months, I've gotten into some eating habits I'm not too happy about. I decided to go cold turkey and cut the junk out of my diet by sticking almost entirely to foods from the Weight Watchers Power Foods list. These foods are all very nutritious and filling, but sticking to eating them all the time could get boring without some creativity. So far I'm having lots of fun coming up with recipes using only foods from the list. From now on, any post on this blog with "Power" in the title is a power foods only recipe.

This nacho dip recipe is great because it really does feel like junk food, but it's not at all. I was quite pleased with my "junky" dinner tonight. There are many ways to vary this recipe: topping with lettuce and tomato, swapping the refried beans for black beans, adding nonfat plain Greek yogurt to the top (I use this in place of sour cream, tastes about the same but much healthier), or even adding a cream cheese/taco seasoning layer were all possibilities. I stuck with what I had on hand, but I will definitely be trying variations of this one.

As for the chips, I have been making different versions of these since I was a kid. Fresh-baked tortilla chips, even fat free ones, are so much better than the ones from the bag that you won't miss the extra calories. I have seasoned these a million different ways: taco seasoning, seasoned salt, ranch dip mix, garlic and parmesan cheese, etc. These are the perfect treat when you're craving junk food but know you shouldn't have it.

Power Nacho Dip

1/4 cup refried beans

1/4 cup salsa

1/4 cup fat free cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a small (6 inch or so) baking dish with cooking spray. Spread refried beans evenly in the bottom of the dish. Top with an even layer of the salsa and then top with the cheese. Bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with chips and fresh vegetables for dipping.

Power Chips

1 Flatout light Original flatbread wrap (Any type of tortilla/wrap will work)

cooking spray

garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray top of entire wrap with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with garlic salt. Using kitchen scissors, cut wrap into 16 equally-sized squares and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes or until browned and crispy.