Baked Crab Rangoon

I know I am supposed to start out with how amazing these are and that they are the best things I’ve ever eaten, but I can’t. The only reason not to call these ‘as good as a restaurant’ is that they lack that huge crunch that deep fried rangoons have. Having said that, you should know that I am all in for the flavor and these babies deliver! Plus, there is a whole lot less fat and calories than deep fried rangoon with full fat cheese. There are still some crispy bits of won ton, but that creamy filling gets me every time. This filling is, in my opinion, spot on.

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package won ton wrappers (you will have maybe 8 or 10 leftover, but you need to buy the full package or you will run short)

2 (8 ounce) packages light cream cheese, softened

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon soy sauce

2 green onions, diced very fine

1 (8 ounce) package crab flavored surimi (packaged ‘fake crab’ that you can find near the seafood), diced very fine

Water

Cooking Spray

Directions: Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and pop it in the oven while it pre-heats. This helps the bottoms of the rangoons to get crispy.

Meanwhile, prep by filling a small cup with water-you will want this to dip your finger into for sealing the rangoons. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the cream cheese, garlic, soy sauce, green onions and finely chopped surimi.

Lay out a sheet of wax paper and lay out 6 won ton wrappers at a time. Keep the remaining wrappers covered with a damp paper towel-they dry out fast. Put a teaspoon or so of the crab filling in the middle of each wrapper and dip your finger into the water. Using that dampened finger, dot just a bit of water around all edges of the first wrapper. Go light on the water-less is better. And just do one wrapper at a time-this makes for less time for the wrapper and water combo to turn into glue..

To fold, fold two corners together to make a triangle. Then, dot a single spot of water on the fullest part of the Rangoon and fold the two outside tips over the top. Of course, you could make any shape you want, but I like folding them up so there is less wrapper without filling. Remove these 6 to the side of your wax paper sheet and prep 6 more. Note: this makes about 40 rangoons, so you will need to repeat these steps.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and spray with cooking spray. Place 12 rangoons at a time on the sheet and spray the rangoons themselves with cooking spray. Repeat for the remaining rangoons.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on how dark you want them to be. Let cool for 5 minutes. Serve with whatever sauce you want-I really like sweet and sour sauce with a bit of hot Chinese mustard.

Baked Grecian Style Lentil Falafels

I had some leftover, cooked brown lentils and wanted to use them. I also love any kind of veggie patty—Boca, Gardein, chickpea based falafel, black bean burgers- I love them all. I also love Greek seasoning, so I thought I would put all of those things together and I have to say, I really do love these warm little bites. They are slightly crisp on the outside (but not too much because I didn’t want to fry. You totally can, though). They are also very soft and tender on the inside with so much flavor!

Ingredients (makes about 16 patties):

2 cups cooked lentils, any kind

1/3 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves

2 Tablespoons egg substitute (or 1 egg, or mix 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed with 2 Tablespoons warm water and let sit in the fridge for 15 minutes)

1/3 cup fresh parsley

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

¼ cup flour, any kind (I’m using garbanzo bean flour)

1-2 teaspoons Greek seasoning

Sauce:

1/3 cup hummus

1 Tablespoon warm water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Put the lentils, onion, garlic, egg substitute, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse until combined. Add the flour and pulse until it forms a dough and starts to pull away from the sides of the processor bowl. Check the taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Scoop about ¼ cup balls onto the baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes.

Make the sauce by just stirring the hummus, water and lemon juice together.

Serve the falafels with sauce, tomatoes, cucumber, fresh onion slices, pita bread, whatever.

Garlic Dill Rye Crisps

If you are looking for something a little different for expected (or unexpected) guests or a light meal, make a batch of these little gems to put out with some cheese, sausage, pickles, veggies, sour cream or smoked salmon.

Ingredients:

1 loaf thinly sliced ‘party’ rye bread (16 ounces)

Cooking spray

1 Tablespoon garlic salt

2 teaspoons dried dill

1 teaspoon celery seed

½ teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with foil or parchment and spray with cooking spray.

Lay the rye bread slices closely together on the baking sheets. Spray with cooking spray and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic salt, dill, celery seed and black pepper. Lightly sprinkle half of this mixture over the rye bread. Bake for 12 minutes.

Flip the bread and spray again with cooking spray. Sprinkle the remaining spice mixture lightly over the top and bake for another 11-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These little cuties are a snap to put together-I had them ready before the oven even preheated. These may taste like a big, sweet indulgence, but they are actually pretty healthy. Try them warm, so the chocolate chips are all melty. You could make them rise more by adding more flour and baking powder, but I personally like the moistness and density of these just the way they are.

Ingredients (makes 24):

3 very ripe bananas

1 (5.3 or so ounce) container vanilla yogurt (fat free is fine)

½ cup applesauce

½ egg substitute (like Egg Beaters®)

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon butter flavoring (optional)

1 cup flour (or gluten free flour blend)

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons ground flax seed

Pinch of salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½  teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chips (plus a few more to sprinkle on top of those that you don’t think got enough chocolate chip love)

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two regular sized muffin pans liberally with cooking spray and set aside.

With an electric mixer, combine all the wet ingredients (bananas, yogurt, applesauce, egg substitute, vanilla and butter flavoring (if using)) until thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, flax seed, salt, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon).

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and ladle into the prepared muffin tins, filling each cup about 2/3 full.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned and the edges start to pull inwards.

Let cool for 15 minutes. 

Cheddar-Bacon-Horseradish Dip

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this dip before. It is one of my family’s favorite things. I think the name says enough, so I’ll just stop right here.

Ingredients:

½ pound of bacon

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

¼ cup horseradish

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Chopped green onions  and additional crumbled bacon for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Drain the bacon on a paper towel lined plate and drain off all but 1 Tablespoon of the drippings.

Add the chopped onion to the drippings in the skillet and cook until just translucent. Let cool slightly.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the mayo, sour cream, horseradish and cheddar cheese. Crumble the bacon and throw that into the bowl along with the cooked onions.

This dip is great right after it is made, warmed up or even cold.

Corn chips seem to be the preferred dipper, by the way. 

Bavarian Cheese Toast

At the grocery store this morning, I came across a beer called “Schnicklefritz” from Urban Chestnut Brewing Company here in St. Louis, MO. I remember my parents and grandmother calling me that so many times when I was growing up, that I had to buy the beer. Apparently, “Schnicklefritz” is a term of endearment for mischievous or talkative children so, yeah, that was me! Seeing this beer also brought back memories of one of my parent’s favorite snacks—Limburger on rye or pumpernickel bread with shaved red onion. Limburger is not really all that stinky when combined with a milder cheese (I promise) and the flavor is deep and rich. It is also great with beer. Please keep this in mind for Oktoberfest!

Ingredients:

4 slices rye or pumpernickel bread, toasted

Limburger Cheese Spread (recipe follows)

Bavarian Toasted Caraway and Dill Salt (recipe follows)

Red onion, shaved into thin rings

Serve with any combination of:

Dill pickles

Cherry tomatoes

Sliced apples

Grapes

German sausages, cooked and sliced

Directions: Cut each piece of toast into 4 squares. Spread with Limburger Cheese Spread, sprinkle with Bavarian Toasted Caraway and Dill Salt. Place a few shavings of red onion on top.

Limburger Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package Limburger cheese, room temperature

1 (8 ounce) package Neufchâtel or cream cheese, room temperature

Directions:

Place both cheeses in a mixing bowl and combine well with an electric mixer or whisk. That’s it.

Bavarian Toasted Caraway and Dill Salt

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon caraway seed

1 teaspoon dill seeds

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1 teaspoon dried parsley

½ teaspoon onion powder

6 Tablespoons kosher salt

Directions:

Add the caraway, dill and celery seeds to a dry skillet and heat to medium low. Cook until just fragrant (about 6 minutes), stirring frequently. Remove from heat, cool and place in a small sealable bag. Crush the seeds lightly with a rolling pin and place in a small container. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. This salt is best if it has a few hours to hang out before use.

Turkey Chips

For Father's Day, I present to you a 'man snack'. I first posted this 'recipe' many years ago and I find they are still one of my go-to snacks when I watch what I eat. These make such a good low fat, high protein snack. They taste a lot like bacon to me. Consider that each piece has about 15 calories, .75 grams of fat and 1.5 grams of protein-nice! Four of these and a hard boiled egg makes a great on-the-go breakfast that will keep you full and energized until lunch. Plus, these chips are much more economical than packaged beef jerky. Make sure you don't get the 'honey smoked' version of turkey--it will burn faster than anything. Lesson learned. 

Ingredients:

1 package (16 ounces) of 95% fat free smoked white meat turkey (found in a tub, like bologna, in the lunch meat area of most grocery stores)—Not ‘honey smoked’

Vegetable oil cooking spray

Directions: Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with foil and spray liberally with spray. Cut the turkey slices in half and lay pieces in a single layer on the baking sheets. Bake for a total of 1 ½ hours, turning the pieces over with tongs and rotating the trays on the racks every 30 minutes. The pieces should be uniformly brown all over and will shrink by about half their size. Let cool for several minutes to crisp up.

Low fat muffins with pineapple, orange, carrots and dates

Now, here’s a muffin to get your day started right. This is such a good marriage of all kinds of fruit and some carrot for a little bit of something different.  They are low fat, have no refined sugar and are gluten free. They even have protein from the almond meal/egg white combo and are loaded with fiber. I like these because they are so flavorful and dense, which really fills me up and satisfies me much more than a light fluffy muffin would do (but I like those, too!).

Ingredients:

1 small, ripe banana, mashed

½ cup crushed pineapple

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

3 dates, seeded

½ of a large orange, washed and seeded (leave the peel on)

½ cup shredded carrots

½ cup liquid egg whites

1 Tablespoon honey

1 ¼ cup oat flour (just grind 1 ½ cups of oatmeal to a powder)

1 cup almond meal

1 teaspoon ground flax seed

1 teaspoon chia seed

Pinch salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon cardamom

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 muffin cups with liners. Spray the liners and set the muffin pan aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the banana, pineapple and applesauce. Whir the orange and dates in the food processor until completely broken down and add them to the banana mixture.

Add the carrots, egg whites and honey to the bowl and mix until well combined.

In a separate large mixing bowl, stir together the oat flour, almond meal, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and baking soda.

Dump the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Scoop the muffin batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake for about 25 minutes. They are done when you can stick a toothpick in and it doesn’t come out doughy.

Steak Flavored Roasted Chickpeas

This is a seriously good snack for anybody who likes crunchy, salty, and crispy things. I admire all the people who roast their chickpeas with exotic seasonings, but I like a simple approach.  Oh, and these little beauties have a lot less fat and much more protein and fiber than chips. Just sayin’.

Ingredients:

2 (15.5 ounce) cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas) drained and rinsed.

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon steak seasoning (I like Montreal Steak or Chicago Steak seasoning)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Toss the drained chickpeas and olive oil together on the baking sheet and sprinkle with the steak seasoning. Toss everything together with your fingertips and bake for 1 hour (add an extra 15 minutes if you want them really crunchy), stirring halfway through. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

Just so you know, I am only posting calories, fat and fiber information on here for myself. I always need to come back to what I am doing and why. This helps me a great deal, so I hope you can bear with me when I say that chickpeas (which I haven’t learned to like raw—yet) are kind of nutritional powerhouses. A half cup of raw chickpeas has 120 calories, 2 grams of fat and 6 grams of fiber. 

Malted Milk Crunch

This has to be one of the best party mixes ever. Trust me, I didn’t originate the idea of using malted milk in a party mix—I first saw it on the Epicurious website. Christina Tosi, of Momofuku Milk Bar fame, first made something like this to the best of my knowledge. Here’s a link to that recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pretzel-crunch-368430

Whether you use the original recipe or my tweaked version with much more malt and some malty flavored cereal added, you can’t go wrong. Unless you don’t make enough.

Ingredients:

5 cups mini pretzels

2 cups multi-grain cereal (like Life®)

¼ cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar

½ cup malted milk powder (like Carnation® Original Flavor)

¼ cup powdered milk

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Toss the pretzels and cereal together in a large bowl (you can break up the pretzels a bit, if you like).

In a small bowl, combine the sugars and milk powders. Toss this with the pretzels/cereal in the large bowl. Pour the melted butter over all and combine thoroughly. The butter acts like a glue to help the dry ingredients stick to the pretzels and cereal.

Divide the mixture between the two baking sheets and bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are toasty and fragrant. Let cool completely before breaking up into clusters and serving. 

Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookie Energy Bites

Give me nuts or give me seeds! Wait, give me both. Try a couple of these bites with a sliced apple to get over that 3pm slump. They are full of protein and really take care of your sweet tooth. Really, they are almost like peanut butter cookies without the mess of baking up a batch.

Ingredients (makes 28-30):

1 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons honey or agave syrup

1 cup instant oats

1 scoop protein powder (I use unflavored whey protein powder, you do you)

¼ cup ground flax seeds

1/2 cup roasted, salted sunflower seed kernels

1/2 cup salted or unsalted pepitas (shelled and roasted pumpkin seeds)

Directions: Stir the peanut butter, vanilla and honey/agave together in a bowl. Add in the oats, protein powder, flax seeds, sunflower kernels and pepitas. Mix until well combined. Roll into 1 inch balls. Store in the fridge. That’s it!