When you talk of healthy foods, cheese is not the first thing that comes to mind. This is because it is a fatty addition to the body and therefore adds more problems than most average foods do when it comes to fatty foods. But you can eat cheese and still not add to your weight. All you have to do is balance the times you eat cheese, instead of a daily act, it should be a weekly kind of meal, instead of eating it with heavy carbohydrate that adds fat to the body, eat it with vegetable dishes so that they will overcome the power of the cheese. The cheese will be a mere addition instead of the main meal. Here are a few vegetable dishes that you can eat with cheese.
1. Garden vegetable crust less quiche
A quiche is like the omelet’s fancier cousin. The fancy affair of this dish is the vegetables and the little extras like milk that one puts in an omelet. It is the upgraded version of a simple omelet. To do this, you will have to wake up early and prepare. This a very filling breakfast dish, full of vegetables that are also full of nutrients like vitamin C and E, fiber, calcium and antioxidants and it is just 230 calories. It is family oriented, and for a single individual as well.
Ingredients; 1 1/2 cups egg substitute, 3 large eggs, 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided, 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese, divided, 1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces), 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 (16-ounce) carton fat-free cottage cheese, Cooking spray, 4 cups sliced zucchini (about 4), 2 cups diced potato with onion (such as Simply Potatoes), 1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper (about 1), 1 (8-ounce) package pre-sliced mushrooms, 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced.
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°. Then Beat your egg substitute and eggs in a large bowl until they are fluffy. Then add your 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, 3/4 cup Jack cheese, milk, flour, baking powder, salt, and cottage cheese and mix.
Then, over a medium high heat, heat a nonstick skillet. Spay around your cooking spray in the pan, then add your zucchini, diced potato, with potato, onion, pepper and mushrooms and sauté until they are tender. Then put aside. After which, add your zucchini mixture to the egg mixture you had and parsley and pour into a casserole dish that has already being coated with cooking spray. Top with the remaining cheese, top again with tomato slices. Then put in oven for 15 minutes, after which you reduce it to 350 degrees, allow to bake for 35 minutes or until it is lightly brown and firm. You can substitute the vegetables for any type of your choice, either corn, broccoli or spinach.
2. White pizza
This dish is only 340 calories. Eating simple, healthy filling dishes and taking this for lunch or dinner simply wraps up any heavy eating for the day. Instead of using topping that ad to weight, use vegetable, keep it simple and enjoyable. Here is how to prepare;
Ingredients; 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese, 1 cup (4 ounces) pre-shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 1 (1-pound) Italian cheese-flavored pizza crust (such as Boboli), 1 cup thinly sliced fresh basil, 1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots, 1/2 cup finely chopped spinach, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 cup thinly sliced plum tomatoes
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425°. (The ingredients are arranged in the cooking order) the first thing is to combine the first 3 ingredients in a sizable bowl, then spread your cheese mixture on the pizza crust leaving an inch space around the edge. Top with basil and the remaining ingredients. Top again with tomato slices. After which, you place on a baking sheet, and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then remove, allow to cool and then serve.
3. Chipotle black bean twice-baked sweet potatoes
Ingredients; 4 sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean, 1 small head garlic, Drizzle of olive oil, ½ lime, juiced
1 can black beans, drained, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 (canned) chipotle pepper in adobo, finely minced, 1 teaspoon adobo sauce from canned chipotles in adobo, ½ cup chopped cilantro, 2 cups shredded pepper jack
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the head of garlic to expose the cloves and remove skin; first layer. Then put aluminum foil on a prepared baking sheet. Put your sweet potatoes and garlics and roast for 45 minutes to an hour. These would make it softened. After which you set it aside to cool, then slice the potatoes in half, scooping the insides until it look like a mini bowl, that is,, only a thin layer of potato is left, then put in a bowl. Squeeze the roasted garlic into a sizeable bowl, add lime juice, half cilantro, cumin, adobo sauce, chipotle pepper, and adobo sauce and mix well. Then stir in your black beans.
Next step; put your “mini bowls” of potato on the baking tray, and put in them your potato filling, top this with your cheese and put in an oven for 15 minutes, at this time, cheese should be melting and it should begin to look brown. Take this from the oven, top with remaining cilantro and serve.
image courtesy of: bsnscb.com, keeprecipes.com, bigoven-res.cloudinary.com, 10thkitchen.com.
