Tag Archives: low-fat recipes

“Nutrish” Caramelized Banana Bread Recipe

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You’re going to love this delicious recipe I adapted from Cooking Light magazine; it’s been “chimped out” to be even more healthy and nutritious. Relying on the sweetness of super, ultra ripe bananas, I reduced the sugar by a third, cut out some of the butter in the caramelizing process, used part whole eggs/part egg white, and substituted whole-wheat flour and ground flax seed for half of the all-purpose flour. Oh, and I skipped the buttery sugar glaze. But that’s okay because this makeover banana bread recipe is delicious, moist and just sweet enough; gunking it up with icing is totally unnecessary.  Another tweak; I doubled the recipe, because in my book, when you’re baking banana bread it’s a must to  whip up at least two loaves at a time – one loaf for today, one loaf for tomorrow (it’s always better the next day).  At 145 calories per slice (compared to 190 for the original recipe), this recipe also has 1.5 grams less fat and double the dietary fiber.

“Nutrish” Caramelized Banana Bread

  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 6 medium very ripe bananas, sliced
  • 1 cup fat-free buttermilk
  • 6 tablespoons canola oil
  • ¼ cup amber or gold rum
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup egg white
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour
  • ¼ ground flax seed
  • 1 ½  teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Baking spray with flour (such as Baker’s Joy)

 

Preheat oven to 350°. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and bananas; sauté 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes (so that eggs don’t “cook” when you mix them in later.” Place banana mixture in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.

Combine buttermilk, oil, rum, whole eggs and egg whites. Combine all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, ground flax seed, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately to banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat at low speed just until combined. Split batter evenly between two 9 x 5-inch metal loaf pans coated with baking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging. Cool for 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan, and cool on wire rack.

Each loaf serves 16 (32 total servings)

 

Crustless Calabacita Quiche Recipe . . . Put Some Zing in Your Zucchini!

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Summer brings us grocery store produce aisles that are overflowing with bushels and baskets of squash including zucchini, yellow crookneck, Mexican straight-neck and sunburst squashes. I’ve heard that if you grow the stuff yourself, sometimes you can’t give it away fast enough. I think I hear my neighbor knocking now . . . yay!

Summer squash can be enjoyed steamed, sautéed, grilled and even eaten raw. It’s an awesome addition to the diet of an athlete, packed with potassium, magnesium, vitamins A and C, folate, and fiber. If you’re looking for a new way to serve up squash, try out my Crustless Calabacita Quiche Recipe. Foregoing a fat-packed crust and loaded with squash and lots of other yummy veggies, this easy recipe is a healthy option as a main or side dish or breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Don’t be confused about the word “calabacita;” in Spanish it just means little squash. You can use any summer squash with a tender rind and edible skin. South of the border, they take the term “calabacita” one step further, using it as a generalization for a popularly prepared mélange of squash, corn, green chilies and other vegetables. I hope you like my ‘quiche’ take on the traditional dish!

Crustless Calabacita Quiche Recipe

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 ½ lbs summer squash (I used zucchini), chopped into 1/3” pieces
  • ½ sweet yellow onion, finely diced
  • ¾ cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
  • ¾ cup fire-roasted green chiles (such as Hatch), seeded, peeled and diced
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¾  cup egg whites
  • 1 cup shredded reduced-fat Monterey jack cheese
  • Garnish: pico de gallo

 

Briefly heat oil in large skillet; sauté chopped squash, onion and corn over medium-high heat until tender, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in roasted green chiles, minced garlic, cumin, salt and pepper and sauté for another minute. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Add egg whites and cheese, stir together until combined.  Pour into a 1.5 quart casserole dish or into individual ramekins.

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Bake covered for approximately 30 – 40 minutes, until eggs are set and cheese is bubbling. For a golden brown top, remove cover for last 10 minutes of baking.   Serves 8.

Nutrition information (per serving): calories 82, fat 2.9g, sodium 190mg, cholesterol 3.0mg, total carb 6.1g, dietary fiber 1g, sugars 1.2g, protein 8.3g