Tag Archives: egg beaters

Frittata Pizza Dippers

Frittata fans, boy have I got something for you.

For those of you who aren’t avid frittata followers, a frittata is kind of like  a giant omelet stuffed with all kinds of good stuff. There in lies the problem with frittatas: their behemoth size. If you’re making one for your family or a some guests, they’re awesome. But what if you’re just cooking for two or for yourself? What if you don’t want to wait forever while it bakes in the oven? How does one get their frittata fix then?

Simple. You make mini frittatas so portion control is is easy as cake. Eat as many or as few as you want. AND you make those eggy babies in a Babycakes maker, not only to achieve their adorable miniature size, but also so they cook up in a mere eight minutes. That’s some easy and eggcellent cooking (sorry, I had to).

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Healthy Cookie: Ricotta & Basil Stuffed Omelet (125 Calories!)

Today, we must discuss these two words: cheese-stuffed. You can never go wrong with a cheese-stuffed food. Um, hello: Stuffed shells, calzones, grilled cheese sandwiches, ravioli & tortellini, mozzarella sticks, and need I say, stuffed crust pizza? When you stuff something with cheese, you essentially stuff it with awesomeness. The addition of cheese elevates almost any dish.

This omelet is no exception. Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the amount of cheese oozing out of the center of this egg:

Yeah. And that omelet, my little cookies, is one-hundred-and-twenty-five-freakin-calories. It’s so substantial and full of creamy cheesy goodness that you’re not going to believe it. Well, feel free to calculate the cals yourself if you don’t believe me. As I told you before when discussing my 205-calorie Cheesy Breakfast Pizza, I don’t joke around about this stuff!

So if you’re looking for a satisfying breakfast/dinner/brunch that will fill you up with happiness rather than guilt, this omelet’s for you. With a fresh basil flavor complimented by a nice saltiness and a kick from the red pepper flakes, this cheese-stuffed egg is not only good for you; it’s just plain good.

A few tips before you get cooking:

  1. If you want, you can make a full-fat, full-calories version of this and not only would it be AMAZING, but it would still be pretty good for you and relatively low-cal. Replace the fat-free ricotta with regular ricotta, add a tablespoon of shredded mozzarella to the filling, and use regular eggs if you want. It’s that simple.
  2. Pesky must-have-meat eaters in your life? Serve with sausage, prosciutto, or chicken.
  3. Yeah…I was a bad girl again. I used basil paste instead of fresh. DON’T DO THAT. Fresh tastes so much better. See, I thought we had fresh basil, but my sneaky mother throws things out when I’m not looking…(hence why it’s garnished with fresh parsley instead of basil).

Ricotta & Basil Stuffed Omelet

Recipe by Colleen Bierstine

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters)
  • 1/4 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 tsp. fresh basil, finely chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped or 1 tsp. minced garlic
  • 2 tsp. fresh grated parmesan cheese
  • dash of onion powder
  • red pepper flakes, to taste (a little goes a LONG way)
  • kosher salt, to taste
  • pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Bring a small round pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray to medium-low heat. Pour egg substitute into pan and allow eggs to form to the shape of pan. When the edges start to firm up and the bottom is browned to your liking, carefully flip the egg.
  2. Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, mix the ricotta, basil, garlic, parmesan, onion powder, red pepper flakes, kosher salt, and pepper with a spoon or rubber spatula until well-combined.
  3. Once you’ve flipped the egg and both sides are cooked, evenly spread the ricotta mixture directly onto the cooked egg in the pan. The mixture will become easier to spread as it heats.
  4. Turn off the heat but keep pan on warm burner. With a spatula, carefully fold the omelet in half, sandwiching the cheese in between (like a taco). When the cheese is melted to your liking and the egg is fully cooked, use a spatula to transfer the omelet to a plate.
  5. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper and garnish with more fresh basil or parsley if desired.

Yay cheese!

Healthy Cookie: Pizza-Stuffed Eggplant

Healthy food is a touchy subject. Some people have a huge vendetta against healthy eating (*cough* my parents *cough*). Other people just don’t like the way healthy stuff tastes. It is extremely difficult to make healthy meals that satisfy equally as well as a big, cheesy pizza or a juicy burger. Difficult it is, but not impossible. You just have to know what you’re doing.

Pizza-Stuffed Eggplant is a miracle dish. It’s carnivore & vegetarian-friendly. You will eat it. You will love it. You will never know your portion was LESS THAN 200 CALORIES. You’re thinking that sentence was a paradox. It’s impossible to be delicious, healthy, and low-cal. Well, it’s not, so get that idea out of your head right now. I hate to be blunt, but we’ve got to fix this misconception.

Pizza-Stuffed Eggplant is so delicious, just as good as, say, a slab of lasagna or a twice-baked potato.

This dish starts out with one lonely little eggplant. He’s got a lot of potential, but he’s under dressed and understated. He needs somebody to polish him up and take him to the next level. So what do you do?

You slice the eggplant down the middle and scoop out all of his stuffing. Sound a little drastic? Don’t worry. We’re breaking him down to build him back up. Next, you take all of the eggplant’s inner workings, chop it up, and mix it with the tasty tidbits you’re likely to find on a pizza: parmesan cheese, green & red peppers, tomato sauce, onions, garlic, and sausage. Well, okay…there’s a bit of a disclaimer on the sausage part. It’s not sausage per say; it’s Morning Star Beef-Style crumbles. They’re made from soy. No, they’re not meat. I know, the whole “beef-style crumbles” thing doesn’t sound very appealing. Let me tell you something.

My father is the world’s biggest carnivore (figures he would spawn a vegetarian, right?). He hunts, he eats what he hunts, and there’s a…um…charming deer head hanging in our living room. He has got to have meat in every meal or he’s just not happy.

So, I decided to be a little coy and served him this pizzafied eggplant while “forgetting” to mention that there was not any real meat in the dish.

My dad loved it. He ate a whole half an eggplant himself, remarking, “You can cook for me anytime!” When I told him there was vegetarian “meat” in it, he had no idea. This dish completely satisfied the world’s most stubborn meat-eater. My mother raved about the eggplant too, even though she can also be a bit picky when it comes to these things. So never fear meat-lovers and friends of meat-lovers. This dish is bound to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters.

In a nutshell (or should I say an eggplant shell?), this recipe is perfection. It’s hearty, filling, pizzafied, completely delicious, AND you don’t have to feel a bit of guilt over eating it. So enjoy, my friends. It doesn’t get better than this.

A few tips before you get cooking:

  1. This dish takes time. There’s a lot of prep work and a total of 45 min baking time, so give yourself plenty of time to cook.
  2. Like I always say, get your ingredients out and veggies chopped beforehand!
  3. There was originally Fiber One cereal in this recipe. I left it out because I thought it was unnecessary. Fiber One really just doesn’t taste good, even when you try to camouflage it in dishes like this. Plus, you only need a small amount so that box will end up going to waste. Not many people sit down to a bowl of plain Fiber One for breakfast (and if you do, god bless you).
  4. Have several bowls at the ready for putting your ingredients in as your prep them.

Supremely Stuffed Pizza-fied Eggplant

Adapted from Hungry Girl

PER SERVING (1 large piece, 1/4th of recipe): 170 calories, 3g fat, 608mg sodium, 26g carbs, 9.75g fiber, 9.5g sugars, 14.5g protein — PointsPlus® value 4*

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red and green bell peppers
1 cup frozen ground-beef-style soy crumbles (like the kind by Boca or Morningstar Farms), slightly thawed
1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. reduced-fat Parmesan-style grated topping
2 tsp. chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes
2 sticks light string cheese, pulled into strings

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice about 1 inch off the top (stem side) of the eggplant. Halve the eggplant lengthwise.

Carefully cut along the inside of each half, about 1/2 inch from the skin. Scoop out the insides with a spoon, and chop them into small pieces.

Place the hollow eggplant shells, cut-side up, on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray; set aside.

Bring a large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Add chopped eggplant, onion, and peppers. Stirring often, cook for 7 – 8 minutes, until soft. Transfer to a bowl and let cool slightly.

Once cooled, add all other ingredients except crushed tomatoes and string cheese to the veggie bowl. Mix thoroughly. Equally divide between the eggplant shells, lightly packing down until even.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Then remove but keep the oven on.

Spoon 1/4 cup crushed tomatoes evenly over the top of each stuffed eggplant shell, and lay string cheese pieces over the crushed tomatoes. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted. Let cool slightly and then cut each piece in half. Now enjoy!

I have to ask  you a favor. Please don’t skip over this recipe because you don’t like “healthy foods” or “vegetarian foods.” This dish really is neither (well technically it is, but who needs labels?). I promise, if you make this, it’s going to rock your world. Doors will open. Birds will sing. Sun will shine. At the very least, you’ll have one happy tummy.