Selfy Snacks

The holiday pot luck/entertaining season is upon us, and our waistlines.  You can't control what everyone else brings (looking at you, hot spinach artichoke dip made with cheese and mayo and a million other calorie laden delicious things), but you can certainly bring something you know you can eat without consuming enough calories to sustain a village for a month.  Self sent out an email to their subscribers featuring plenty of holiday tipples and treats that will probably wow your friends and family, while still allowing you to button your pants.
Thank God leggings and big oversized tunics are in this season.

Because I know avocados are ac/dcs of the fruit and vegetable world (going well both sweet and savory; I actually made an avocado pie for my first Iron Chef battle - and WON), I am totally into the idea of incorporating fruit into my guac.  The mangoes and pomegranate seeds make it both gorgeous, and even more Mexican than it was before (imho).
113 calories per serving (with 10 chips), 6.9 g fat (1 g saturated), 3.9 g fiber, 14 g carbs, 1.7 g protein  - not counting the millions of calories in chips, of course; try it on fish tacos or with baked flour tortilla chips instead; maybe even with a little sprinkling of cinnamon sugar!

Having made some variation on prosciutto wrapped dates or figs for ages, I was happy to see them considered "healthy" AND to see them combined with my greatest love - goat cheese - even if I know that having 10 of them sort of negates that.
187 calories per 2 dates, 3 g fat (1.9 g saturated), 36 g carbs, 3.3 g fiber, 6 g protein

I actually want this shrimp dish for dinner; I love the sour/sweet tang of Tamarind and I think with some steamed or stir fried veggies and brown rice?  Nom.  As an app at a party, it doesn't get much easier - salt and pepper on the shrimp, grill them on both sides for a couple of minutes and serve with a dipping sauce?  Easy peasy tamarind squeezy.  For the sauce:  
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
1/4 cup tamarind paste (found in Asian markets) 
1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon fish sauce 
1 to 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes 
1 tablespoon sugar 
156 calories per serving, 3.8 g fat (0.6 g saturated), 5.9 g carbs, 0.2 g fiber, 23.5 g protein

These are just gorgeous.  And adorable.  And I'm already planning a Dr. Seuss themed party where my eggs are green with basil or pesto perhaps, and I think you know where I'm going. Vegetable oil cooking spray 
4 slices prosciutto, fat trimmed, halved 
2 egg whites 
1 whole egg 
3 tablespoons nonfat plain Greek yogurt 
1 tablespoon chopped black olives 
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
27 calories per serving, 1.1 g fat (0.3 g saturated), 0.4 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 3.6 g protein

Heat oven to 400°. Coat a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Press 1 piece prosciutto into each of 8 cups. Whisk egg whites and whole egg until smooth. Whisk in yogurt, olives, rosemary, salt and pepper. Divide mixture among cups. Bake, uncovered, until quiches are cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Garnish with rosemary.

27 calories per serving, 1.1 g fat (0.3 g saturated), 0.4 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 3.6 g protein

I love crispy potatoes, and I love sweet potatoes, so hooray!   
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled 
2 1/2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about 1 cup) 
2 egg whites 
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary 
3/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper 
Parchment paper




Heat oven to 425˚. Finely grate sweet potatoes into a bowl. Squeeze grated sweet potatoes in batches to release as much moisture as possible and place in another bowl; fluff with a fork. Stir in cheese, egg whites, rosemary and pepper. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spoon 1 rounded tbsp batter onto cookie sheet and flatten into a thin, 2- to 2 1/2-inch round. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving 1 inch between rounds. Bake until edges and underside are crisp and browned, 13 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool slightly and remove from parchment. Serve warm with Rosemary-Balsamic Cream.

144 calories per 3 crisps with cream, 5.2 g fat (3.2 g saturated), 17 g carbs, 1.8 g fiber, 6 g protein

Rosemary Balsamic Cream  
1 teaspoon canola oil 
4 shallots, finely chopped 
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream 
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook shallots until translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add vinegar, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a high simmer. Cook until 2/3 of liquid has evaporated and shallots are very dark, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat. Combine sour cream, rosemary and 2 tsp water in a bowl. Spoon balsamic-shallot sauce into center of sour cream and swirl with a toothpick. Serve with crisps.

It's not all food my friends - no no, it's also drinks!  And this one sounds delightful, while being equally at home in the winter, or in warmer weather.  I think I might simplify it a bit though (do I really want five spice powder on the rim of my glass?).  
Make a ginger simple syrup with equal parts of sugar and water, plus 1/2 cup of chopped fresh ginger.
Then, easy enough - one star anise, a piece of candied ginger, and a tablespoon or so of syrup, all topped with your favorite sparkler.  Gorgeous, gingery, fizzy and sweet.  Perfect for your next celebratory sushi dinner.
150 calories per cocktail, 0 g fat, 23 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein


Surely you knew I wouldn't ignore their stab at summertime sangria, which uses white wine, pulpless oj, triple sec, apricot brandy, sprite, apples and grapes (and CUCUMBER?!  erm. . .)

285 calories per serving, 0.2 g fat (0.1 g saturated), 35 g carbs, 1.5 g fiber, 1 g protein

I think I might do all of my recipes like this from now on. . .

Balsamic Onion Dip

 I admit - not the best photo in the world.

 For whatever reason, I got a hankering for onion dip something fierce the other day (I probably saw it on a menu somewhere).  Guess I really should go back to Phase I of South Beach to kick those cravings, but in the meantime, I decided to just try making my own, so it could be healthier.  How hard could it be right?  Well, version 1 turned out okay - yummy and definitely edible, just not as rich as I was hoping for.  I have some ideas for tweaks - onion powder, Worcestershire, etc.  I even did a little bit of reconnaissance after the fact to see if I had missed some key component that everyone else knew about and hadn't told me.  It doesn't appear so since Alton Brown's recipe looked even blander than mine (and mayo, ew).  However, I really liked the idea over here about adding tofu to the mix for more protein.  (Especially as I sit here making a meal out of baby carrots dunked in it.)  I still want to stick to the balsamic vinegar since that's a flavor profile I love, especially with onion, especially since I fell in love with these sea salt & balsamic vinegar chips in Australia (OMG SO GOOD).  I see that Kettle sells this flavor in the UK, and now I'm praying I can buy them online and have them shipped.
Maybe these ones by Boulder Canyon would be good. . . ANYWAY.  Dip.

I set my sweetie to work with the mandolin and got to caramelizing, but if you're going to chuck these in the food processor as I did, you may not need to worry about slicing quite so thinly.  Also, you can get creative with the base.  Try strained Greek Yogurt for a bit more tang, or maybe cream cheese for a cream cheese spread, or a combo of sour cream and mayo like a traditional dip.  Serve with your favorite dippables - when being healthy I go with veggies of course, but whole wheat baked pita crisps would be great as well.  If you're not a waistline watcher, just go with chips, yum!

Balsamic Onion Dip
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt to taste (I used about 1 1/2 tsp)
freshly ground pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp)
1 16 oz container of lowfat (or non fat) sour cream

Heat up a tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium - high heat.  Caramelize the onions* in batches so you don't overcrowd your pan (I did four separate batches for this amount of onions in the pan size I had, though you could probably get away with three).  If you don't listen to me now and you chuck them all in at once you'll end up just sweating and steaming your onions and they'll go all flaccid and weird, and not caramelized at all.  We do not want this.
Once the onions are nicely caramelized, stir in the balsamic vinegar and turn off the heat.  Allow to cool, and put in the food processor for a smoother dip, with the onions more evenly dispersed, or leave whole if you want folks to hit a nice chunk of yummy onion.

As I mentioned, I think I'll tweak this a bit by adding more vinegar, and maybe some Worcestershire sauce and a bit of onion powder, maybe a kick more salt.

*It should probably be noted that I am not an official onion caramelizer.  It rarely takes me more than 10-12 minutes to "caramelize" my onions, so please don't feel like you have to let them cook for 20-40 minutes as suggested by some recipes.  If you do, they'll be incredible, of course, but I don't find it necessary to let them go that long for most of my impatient purposes.

Balsamic Glazed Squash

I was reading the readers' letters in Food Network Mag and someone mentioned that this was their new go to side dish, and well, I love balsamic and squash is SB friendly and there you have it.

Toss 1 large acorn squash (cut into wedges) in a baking dish with 3 tablespoons each melted butter and balsamic vinegar, 2 sliced shallots, 6 chopped sage leaves, 1 tablespoon honey, a pinch of ground coriander, and salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup water and roast at 450 degrees F, 20 minutes; flip, sprinkle with 1/4 cup hazelnuts and roast 20 more minutes.

Kick Ass Steak Sandwich

A great use for leftover steak, or you can always make steak specifically for it. If you're of the veg persuasion, portobello mushrooms are a fab sub for the steak and just as tasty. I'd score the top of my mushie and drizzle it with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and grill it up.

Roasted peppers
Sliced french bread
Steak - cooked to your preference, grilled, pan seared, broiled, etc.
Pesto butter:
2 tbsp pesto
1 tbsp softened I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (I had some leftover garlic bread butter that I used, which is ICBINB, minced garlic, and grated parmesan/romano cheese)
Mix pesto and butter together to make a spread for bread.
Balsamic Onions:
One onion, sliced into 1/4" slices
Cook until soft in olive oil, then add 2-3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and remove from heat, stirring until vinegar is absorbed by the onions.

Spread pesto butter on one half of the bread. Top with peppers, steak, balsamic onions, and top with the second piece of bread. So, freaking, good.

Heirloom Tomatoes

How could I forget these little beauties? A little balsamic & olive oil, pepper and kosher salt. The color on this photo does not do them justice - they were gorgeous little tie dyed slices of amazing.

Filet Mignon with Balsamic Syrup and Goat Cheese

Man I love coming over to my dad and stepmother's house for dinner. Not only do I get fed a kick ass dinner (tonight was grilled chicken with roasted nectarines and buerre blanc), but I even go home with new delicious recipes to try. How on God's green earth I ever missed this one I don't even know. This can easily be made SB by subbing out Splenda for the sugar, and hell, maybe this is another one where you can skip it altogether (cooking balsamic down tends to make it really sweet); you can also use lowfat goat cheese, though it's such a small amount that it wouldn't be the end of the world if you used regular. Unless you use the amount I typically use. Then it's bad no matter what.

Filet Mignon with Balsamic Syrup and Goat Cheese
1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
6 (5 to 6-ounce) filet mignon steaks (each about 1-inch thick)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces soft fresh goat cheese

Boil the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/3 cup, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. Melt the butter in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper. Cook the steaks to desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer the steaks to a baking sheet. Crumble the cheese over the steaks and broil just until the cheese melts, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with pepper.

Transfer the steaks to plates. Drizzle the balsamic sauce around the steaks and serve.