Diet Friendly Fast Food

We (2 adults, 4 children) pretty much filled up on cheese and we didnt end up ordering take-in for dinner, but instead went out for dessert after the appetizers!

I made crustini out of a loaf of brown rice bread (food for life, pink package) for our dippers, and we also had carrot sticks, celery sticks, and raw cauliflower. We used all the dipping items, but greatly preferred the crustini for all (the cauliflower got fed to the guinea pigs the next day. they were thrilled.)

1 loaf pretty dense bread (I used food for life rice bread)

olive oil

salt 

pepper

---Cut each slice of bread into thirds, and brush olive oil on each side. Sprinkle kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on each side. Bake on a lined or greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes on each side, or until nice and toasty.

 

 

1/2 small yellow onion, peeled and finely diced

1 garlic clove, minced

4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (1 cup)

8 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated (2 cups)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

1 (12-ounce) bottle of beer (Redbridge, by Anheuser Busch is gluten free)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Use a 2-quart slow cooker. Put the onion, garlic, and cheeses into your cooker. Stir in the cornstarch and dry mustard. Crush the caraway seeds (Jennifer says to use a mortar and pestle, but I dont have one, and instead crushed them in a ziplock with a small mallet). Add them to the pot. Pour in the beer. Cover and cook on low for 2to 4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper before serving, adding more to taste if necessary.

1 (11-ounce) package fresh goat cheese

2 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leave, plus more for a garnish

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Use a 2-quart slow cooker. If desired, place an oven-safe ramekin into the bottom of the cooker that youd like to use for serving. Otherwise, plan on serving this right out of the crock.

Put the cheese into the pot (or ramekin), and press the thyme leaves into the top. Drizzle olive oil on top and add black pepper. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, or until cheese has softened and become easy to spread. Lift inserted dish  (CAREFULLY! use oven mitts!) out of the slow cooker and serve on the table with your favorite dippers.

Fondue night rocks. End of story.

Most tartar sauce is definitely not diet-friendly, which is why I came up with my Ultra-Easy Double-Dill Diet Friendly Tartar Sauce Recipe.

How do you feel about tartar sauce? I'm sure some food snobs consider it to be a very boring and ordinary condiment, but I absolutely love tartar sauce and don't think I'd ever pass it up in a restaurant if I was having some kind of mild-flavored fish.  Unfortunately, most tartar sauce is a long way from being diet friendly for South Beach or any other type of diet.  The reduced fat ones you buy at the grocery store are loaded with sugar, and most tartar sauce recipes are a bit too heavy on the mayo to be what most people would consider a healthy condiment.

But lately I've been really trying to eat more fish, which got me thinking about how much I love tartar sauce, so I decided to try to come up with a tasty tartar sauce recipe that didn't have sugar and was lower in fat. It took a bit of experimenting, but this Ultra-Easy Double-Dill Diet Friendly Tartar Sauce recipe combines fat-free Greek Yogurt, regular or reduced fat mayo, dill weed, capers, and dill pickle relish, and it's not only easy-to-make, it's as delicious as any tartar sauce I've ever tasted.