Kosher lite Blueberry Muffins

I've been looking for a low-fat blueberry muffin recipe that isn't chock full of artificial sweeteners. Most recipes either go overboard with healthiness, substituting wheat bran and oatmeal for normal flour, or they're loaded up with so much butter and eggs they're a gazillion calories each. This is my personal compromise. These light and fluffy low fat muffins are moist but still pleasantly sweet. They're not healthy, but they're not cholesterol-o-rific, either.

• 3/4 cup lite vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup fat free milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Mix the yogurt, milk, egg, and sugar until smooth. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix well. When the batter is smooth, gently fold in the blueberries. You don't want to overmix them or else they'll fall apart and turn the batter purple.

Either line a muffin pan with paper cups or spritz it with nonstick spray. Fill the cups 1/2 full of batter. Bake at 350F for 18 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Variations:

• If you're absolutely obsessed with low sugar as well as low fat, substitute 1 cup of Splenda for Baking (the type measured cup for cup like sugar.)
• To make this recipe parve, substitute plain soy yogurt and vanilla soymilk.
• If you really want more blueberry flavor, substitute low fat blueberry yogurt for the vanilla. If you do, be prepared for your muffins to be a lovely shade of blue.

Weight Watchers Points: 3 points per muffin. If you make them as mini-muffins, reduce the baking time to 12 - 15 minutes. The mini muffins only have 1 point each.

Kosher Lite Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

I made some minor but tasty modifications to a Weight Watchers brand recipe to end up with these oh-so-tasty mini loaves. They make an incredibly filling six point breakfast for days when you have to be out the door in a flash. Cut in half, they're a great 3 point snack. Since there is no consistency in the size of a "mini loaf," I should add my Weight Watchers scale says my loaves are about 100 grams, baked in a 3x2 inch mini loaf pan.

• 3/4 cup lite banana yogurt
• 1/2 cup fat free skim milk
• 1/2 cup uncooked quick oats
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed (black if you can stand them that long)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Mix yogurt, milk, oats, vanilla, and egg until well blended. Set aside for at least five minutes. This will give the oats a chance to absorb moisture. If you don't let it sit, you'll end up with very textured bread instead of tasty smoothness.

After five minutes, stir in the mashed bananas.

Now add all the other ingredients and mix well.

Spritz your mini-loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and fill about half way with batter. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top and a fork poked inside comes out clean.

Variations:

• To make this recipe parve (or to make it dairy free for people who are allergic to milk/lactose intollerant) substitute vanilla soy yogurt (banana flavor is better, if you can find it) and vanilla soy milk for the regular yogurt and milk. Leave out the chocolate chips (unless you have a source of good dairy free ones.)
• Instead of mini-loaves, bake the batter in the form of mini-muffins. The muffins take 15 to 18 minutes to cook and have only one point each.
• Have fun with the yogurt flavors! I used a generic Banana's Foster lite yogurt and had great results.
• If you prefer a more traditional tasting banana bread, leave out the chocolate chips, substitute vanilla for banana yogurt, and add 1 tsp cinnamon.

Kosher Vegan White Beans and Corn

I've never been fond of black-eyed peas, but I absolutely love most white beans. This is my (much lighter) take on a colorful southern dish.

• 1 cup Habichuelas Blancas (small white beans), soaked overnight (you can find canned ones in some Mexican groceries)
• 1 cup (two large ears) fresh corn, cooked
• 3 cups water
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic (or two cloves, chopped)
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp basil
• juice of 1 lime

Bring water to a boil. Add beans, cover, and reduce to low. Simmer until the beans are tender, about 45 minutes. If you haven't already boiled the corn, this is a good time to do so. You'll have some time to kill.

When the beans are nearly ready (no more than 15 minutes left to go), put a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Saute the chopped onion until translucent (longer if you like). Add the bell pepper, cooked corn, tomato, and garlic. Saute until tender-crisp, about 4-5 minutes.

When the peas are fully cooked (all water absorbed, tender when tasted), add the corn mixture and all remaining ingredients. Stir until well blended. Serve hot.

Variations:

• If using canned beans, cook the corn mixture as per directions. Drain the beans and add them directly to the frying pan, along with the vinegar, garlic, lime juice, and spices. Mix well and serve hot.
• You can make this even more colorful by adding half a green bell pepper to the corn mix.

Kosher for Passover Parve Deviled Eggs

These aren't lite by any stretch of the imagination, but they're very tasty and can be served with meat or dairy meals, or just eaten as an enjoyably fatty snack.

• 12 hard boiled eggs
• 1/3 cup Kosher for Passover mayonnaise, such as Manischewitz
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika

Shell the eggs. Cut them in half lengthwise and remove the yolks. Mix the yolks, mayonnaise, lemon juice, cumin, pepper, and salt in a bowl. Mash until an even texture. Spoon the mash back into the egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika.

I don't dare figure up the Weight Watcher points. Assume it's a lot. A whole lot.

Kosher Vegan Vegetable Medley

This is so simple I don't even think it deserves the title "recipe." My husband disagrees. In fact, he disagrees so fervently he has promised, if I'll post it, he'll make dinner without me sitting in the other room and eyeballing everything for him. I can't turn down an offer like that. In case you've never tried, fresh vegetables with a dash of olive oil cook up beautifully in the microwave. The olive oil keeps them from drying out and the microwave cooking leaves them beautifully crisp.

• 2 cups mixed veggies (I use green beans, sliced carrots, red peppers, asparagus & sliced onions)
• 1 tbsp basil flavored olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic (the refridgerated kind that comes in a jar, or you can mince yourself)
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Mix the olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large, microwave safe bowl. Add the veggies and toss well until the veggies are coated. This may take a couple minutes. A tablespoon really will coat them all - you don't want them to drip.

Microwave on high for 3 - 4 minutes (we have a weak, cheap 600 watt microwave. A more powerful machine will need less time.) Mix well again, recoating veggies with oil. Serve hot.

Yes, it really is that easy.

Use whatever vegetables you prefer. Like broccoli? Go for it. Hate onions? Leave them out. All you need to do is make sure your vegetables cook at the same speed. That means if you add carrots or squash, slice it into thin pieces.

Other good oil-and-herb mixes include 1 tbsp garlic olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp of your favourite Jamacian, Cajun, or Moroccan spice blend. I've also used 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp steak rub (especially good on asparagus) or fish rub (good with carrots and green beans.) Sadly, curries and Indian spice blends do not work well.

Kosher Bread Pudding

I love bread pudding, but it's almost always dairy. I whipped up this parve version at home recently and absolutely loved it. The soy chai adds a nice punch of flavor.

• 3 cups Italian bread, cubed
• 2 cups soy chai
• 4 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 tbsp lite olive oil
• 2 shots bourbon or whiskey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt

Mix everything but the bread until smooth, then mix in the bread. Pour mixture into a nonstick baking pan and let sit for at least 10 minutes so bread can soak up the mixture. Bake for 1 hour at 350. For an espically moist bread pudding, place your baking dish into a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with water until the water reaches about half way to the top of your baking dish. Put the whole caboodle in the oven, treating it like a giant creme brulee.

Since this is parve, there won't be a whiskey sauce. You can make one with veggie margarine, but it's just not as good, so why pretend? Instead of topping a good bread pudding with a merely adequate whiskey sauce, try combining 1 shot bourbon with 3 shot glasses of packed brown sugar (or a larger 3:1 ratio if you want more coating) so the sugar is soaking wet. Sprinkle wet sugar on top of your baked bread pudding and either heat dramatically with a creme brulee torch or just broil within 4 inches or less of the broiler for a few minutes, until the sugars start to carmalize. It'll make an incredibly tasty topping.

Variations:

• Slice 1/2 cup granny smith apple. Pour 1/2 bread mix into pan, layer half the apples. Add 1/4 mix in, layer remaining apples, then top with final 1/4 mix. Bake normally.
• Slice 1 medium banana. Mix in with the bread and liquid then bake normally.

Kosher Lite White Chicken Chilli

This is a lite take on the heavy southwest inspired soups which are usually served with a ton of shreaded cheese and fried tortilla strips. In this version, the lack of cheese not only keeps it kosher, but also strips away a ton of calories. If you love cheesy soups, try adding a quarter cup shreaded soy cheese before serving.

• 12 oz cooked chicken breast, diced small
• 6 cups veggie broth or low fat, low sodium chicken broth
• 3 fifteen oz cans Great Northern Beans
• 2 four and a half oz cans diced green chilli peppers, undrained
• 1 can "Fiesta" corn
• 2 medium yellow onions, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp minced bottled garlic
• 1.5 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 6 cloves
• 1 bay leaf

Bring oil to medium-high heat. Add diced yellow onions, cloves, and garlic, then cook until onions are translucent. Add broth and stir well. Add all other ingredients, mixing well. Bring to a boil, then partially cover and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for at least 30 minutes, preferably for about an hour. Serve hot.

There are 30 Weight Watchers points in the entire pot. That adds up to 3 points per 2 cup bowl of soup - not as lite as the Confetti Soup, but incredibly filling.