Lisa’s been getting her bake on (mmm… bacon…) in these last few weeks before work starts again, and today she made these muffins, based off a recipe in Cooking Light. We were out of eggs, so applesauce made an appearance, and raisins and dried cranberries subbed for dried pineapple. My contribution was pulling the coconut out of the pantry.

Chris says:

I love all these treats that have been coming out of the kitchen lately.

Lisa says:

Pretty good, aren’t they?

Chris says:

I’ll say — if these muffins needed a movie title I’d suggest 3:10 to Yumma.

Lisa says:

And they’re actually good for you!

Chris says:

I’m totally taking credit for the coconut ones though.

Lisa says:

You certainly get credit for eating them.

Chris says:

Hey! Don’t give me any flak…

Lisa says:

That’s flax, actually. Told you they’re good for you!

Morning Glory Muffins
———————
Cooking spray
1 cup whole wheat flour (about 4 3/4 ounces)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
1 cup regular oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon wheat bran
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2)
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup chopped pitted dates
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons ground flaxseed (about 2 tablespoons whole)
sweetened coconut, shredded

Preheat oven to 350°. Place 18 muffin cups liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flours and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine yogurt, banana, and applesauce; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Add more applesauce if batter seems too dry. Fold in dates, walnuts, cranberries, and raisins. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly with flaxseed. Sprinkle sweetened coconut over half of the muffins. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.

18 Muffins

Lisa’s been spending her free time baking lately, and today she made a huge batch of chocolate-chip cookies that also have chopped walnuts and peanut butter. We really enjoyed the light, chewy texture of these “healthy” cookies.

Chris says:

Yum, these are good! They’re light and chewy like the soft-baked kind — I like the buckwheat.

Lisa says:

A lot of the reviews mentioned they were kind of cakey. And I changed the recipe a bit based on the flour we had on hand, the original didn’t have buckwheat.

Chris says:

Where’d you see the recipe?

Lisa says:

Cooking Light… they call them “Good-For-You” cookies… they’re healthy! Plus I added walnuts and peanut butter to it.

Chris says:

So, you made them… less healthy?

Lisa says:

Yeah, but more delicious. And it’s not like I added 13 sticks of butter or anything.

Chris says:

Is it bad that I just ate 5 of them?

Lisa says:

Someone has to eat them… hey, where’d the cat go?

Hailey says:

(Almost…) Good-For-You Chocolate-Chip Cookies
———————————————–
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup reduced-calorie stick margarine, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
2/3 cup reduced-fat semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl; stir well. Set aside. Combine margarine and sugars in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until light and fluffy. Add applesauce, vanilla, egg, egg white, and peanut butter; beat well. Add dry ingredients; beat at low speed until well-blended. Stir in chips and walnuts.

Drop dough by level teaspoons, 1 inch apart, onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until almost set. Remove from oven; let stand 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; let cool on wire racks.

Makes 5 Dozen

Tonight Lisa adapted a recipe from Cooking Light, throwing in a bunch of extra veggies to make this baked eggplant dish. It was close to a lasagna, with eggplant taking the place of the noodles. Ridiculously low in calories, which meant we polished off the entire dish.

Chris says:

Yum, is that pizza? Oh wait. Yum, lasagna!

Lisa says:

Bzzzzt… wrong… that’s eggplant.

Chris says:

Yum, eggplant!

Lisa says:

I love recipes that enable us to pig out like this.

Chris says:

Mmm-hmmph.. iphs rlly goodtoo!

Lisa says:

You really shouldn’t type with your mouth full.

Chris says:

Ha! Did that actually come across?

Lisa says:

Yeah, although I’m not sure why having food in your mouth would affect your typing like that.

Chris says:

Oh yeah. Right. Whatever. The point is that I enjoyed stuffing my face with this meal you made.

Baked Eggplant with Mushroom-Veggie-Tomato Sauce
————————————————
1 peeled eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 1 1/4 pounds)
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
1 zucchini, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1/4 tsp black pepper, divided
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce, divided
2/3 cup (about 3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat broiler.
Arrange the eggplant slices on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; broil 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.
Heat oven to 375°.
Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat; add onion and next 7 ingredients (onion through mushrooms). Cover and cook 7 minutes or until tender, stirring mixture occasionally. Increase heat to medium-high; uncover and cook for 2 minutes or until liquid evaporates.
Spread half of mushroom mixture in bottom of a 1 1/2-quart round baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange half of eggplant slices over mushroom mixture; sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Top with 1/2 cup tomato sauce and 1/3 cup mozzarella. Spread remaining mushroom mixture over mozzarella; top with remaining eggplant slices. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon pepper; top with remaining tomato sauce and breadcrumbs. Cover and bake at 375° for 1 hour. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Let stand 10 minutes.

4 Servings

Tonight Lisa made this labor-intensive lasagna based on a Cooking Light recipe, and added extra spices and mushrooms. I’m usually a bigger fan of tomato-sauce based lasagna, but this one hit the spot with its variety in textures and sheer number of sauteed vegetables.

Chris says:

Wow you’re on a roll with these Cooking Light recipes. Good picks.

Lisa says:

This one is delicious — and actually has portion sizes that are relatively generous for a “light” recipe…

Chris says:

I heart this lasagna.

Lisa says:

Me too! I still can’t believe it’s low fat.

Chris says:

I love that we have enough leftovers for like three more meals.

Lisa says:

Good thing we liked it, then!

Garden-Style Lasagna
——————–
Cooking spray
2 cups chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 cups chopped zucchini (about 8 ounces)
2 cups chopped yellow squash (about 8 ounces)
2 cups thinly sliced carrot (about 8 ounces)
2 cups chopped broccoli (about 6 ounces)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 tsp oregano
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
3 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of nutmeg
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat cottage cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
12 precooked lasagna noodles, divided

Preheat oven to 375°.
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Spoon onion mixture into a large bowl. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, mushrooms, and yellow squash; sauté 4 minutes or until tender and just beginning to brown. Add to onion mixture. Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add sliced carrot; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add chopped broccoli; sauté 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add to onion mixture. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and oregano; toss well to combine.
Place flour in a medium saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg; stir until smooth. Stir in spinach.
Combine cottage cheese and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella; stir well. Spread 1/2 cup spinach mixture in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodles over spinach mixture in dish; top with half of cottage cheese mixture (about 1 1/2 cups), half of vegetable mixture (about 2 1/2 cups), and about 1 cup spinach mixture. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Spread remaining spinach mixture over noodles; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella.
Cover and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

12 Servings

Lisa made this salad tonight as a starter for the lasagna. It’s modified from a Cooking Light recipe found online. Green beans are quickly cooked until crisp-tender and tossed with roasted red bell peppers and mushrooms in a red wine vinegar and cilantro dressing.

Chris says:

I love salads like this.

Lisa says:

Yeah it reminds me of that other green bean and mushroom salad we did a while back.

Chris says:

The green beans are so crisp! And I love, love, love roasted bells.

Lisa says:

The dressing is really vinegary, but delicious. It has half a cup of cilantro!

Chris says:

Everything should have half a cup of cilantro in it.

Lisa says:

Only half a cup?

Roasted Red Pepper and Green Bean Salad
—————————————-
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
4 cups sliced mushrooms, roasted
2 roasted red bell peppers, cut into 3-inch strips

To roast red bell peppers, brush with a little oil and place under a broiler, rotating every few minutes, until blackened on all sides. Place in a paper bag and close; the steam coming off the peppers will make the skins easily removable. To roast the mushrooms, place in a shallow dish and cook in a 350 degree oven until they give up their juices.
Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well; set aside.
Steam beans, covered, 3 minutes or until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water; drain well. Add beans and remaining ingredients to bowl; toss gently to coat. Cover and marinate in refrigerator up to 24 hours. Serve with a slotted spoon.