White Bean, Rosemary, Garlic and Red Pepper Dip

We made this dip way back in February for our little Super Bowl snack fiesta!  It was very low in points -- only 1 point for 1/6th of the recipe! -- and yummy.  I did make quite a few modifications to the original recipe however.  It called for parsley and I used rosemary instead.  It called for small diced red pepper to be mixed in the dip and I just threw it in the food processor with everything else (this modification was mostly out of laziness and time constraints of watching the big game).  We already had the roasted garlic from a previous recipe, so that was quick to just pull out of the fridge.  The original recipe also called for lime juice, which I substituted with lemon juice.  First off, we had a lemon left from a recipe I needed the zest for, and I thought lemon would go better with rosemary than lime.  I'd definitely feel free to vary the herbs as I did here, lime and  cilantro would be very good I would think.  I served it with whole wheat pita chips, red pepper strips and cucumbers for dipping.  

White Bean, Rosemary, Garlic and Red Pepper Dip

adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 garlic bulb, about 6 large cloves

1 cup canned cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 scallions, cut into large pieces

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into chunks

1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary

1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 decrees.  Cut off a thin slice from the pointed end of the garlic bulb.  Wrap the garlic in foil and roast until soft, about 30 minutes.  
• Unwrap the foil and let the garlic cool slightly.  Squeeze the garlic from the skins into a food processor.  
• Add the beans, lemon juice, olive oil, scallions, red pepper, rosemary and caynne, puree.
• Transfer to a bowl.  Refrigerate, covered, until the flavors are blended, at least one hour.  Serve with pitas, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots for dipping.

Nutritional Info
Calories: 84
Fat: 3g
Fiber: 3 g
WW Points: 1

Chocolate Muffins

This is one of the recipes from my Cookbook of the Month, Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook.  I made these when Zach's mom and sister were coming to visit for a weekend.  I wanted to have a yummy breakfast option that would still feel like a dessert, and chocolate muffins were a good option.  They were easy to make and held up well to freezing.  I made them when we had the giant snowstorms here in the Washington, DC area, and I was home from school on my week of snow days.  It was about 3 three weeks that they were frozen, and they survived just fine.  They were light and not too heavy as chocolate muffins can be.  

Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12 Servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup fat free milk

1 egg

4 teaspoons unslated butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.  
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.  In a small bowl, combine milk, egg, butter and vanilla.  Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients, stirring just until blended.  Do not overmix.
• Spoon the batter into the cups, filling each about to-thirds full.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.   
• Cool in the pan on a rack 5 minutes; remove from the pan and cool on racks. 

Nutritional Info
Calories: 91
Fat: 2 g
Fiber: 0 g
WW Points per muffin: 2

Cookbook of the Month: March 2010

I am a little late on this, but I have been working on a few recipes from the cookbook, I just haven't posted the intro post.  I chose my Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook as the Cookbook of the Month for March.  Since we've been following the program, and getting excellent results so far -- I'm down 12.5 pounds, Zach has lost 16! -- I decided it was a good choice.  I like that the cookbook lists calories and other nutrition info plus calculates the WW points.  I always double check the points though, since this was published several years ago, and the WW program has undergone a few changes since then.  Nothing major I think, since I've never found a major issue with the previous points calculations, but they do revamp the program every year.  So, look forward to some recipes from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook!  I normally link to an Amazon or Barnes and Noble page for more information about the book, but I believe this one is out of print, as I bought it 4-5 years ago.