Spring A Good Time For New Beginnings, Healthier Eating

Celebrate Easter with a festive and healthy feast. With its focus on spring, new life and hope, this annual gathering of family and friends is an ideal time to combine traditional ingredients in new ways to create a quicker and healthier menu.

Spa Potato and Leek Soup, a lighter version of the French classic, starts the meal off right with its substitution of Neufchatel cream cheese for the traditional butter and cream.

Extra-lean ham, nonfat milk and reduced-fat cheese in the simple but elegant asparagus and ham main dish continues the lower-fat theme using traditional ingredients.

Round out the menu with preprepared foods - a yogurt-dressed fruited slaw, a bakery dinner roll or hot cross bun and one or two macaroons. With only 37 calories and 1.9 fat grams each, these small but rich cookies are in keeping with the healthful eating plan.

With this festive menu, you’ll have plenty of time to don your Easter bonnet, enjoy a parade or church service and still get the meal on the table at a reasonable time.

Spa Potato and Leek Soup

Created at the Golden Door Spa in Escondido, California, this recipe was adapted from the Idaho Potato Commission’s version.

3 leeks

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 1/4 pounds potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried leaf thyme, crushed

2 1/4 quarts low-salt chicken broth

1/4 cup low-fat Neufchatel cream cheese

Dash ground white pepper

1/4 cup fresh chopped chervil or parsley OR 1 tablespoon dried chervil

Cut white parts of leeks lengthwise, rinse and cut into 1-inch pieces. Cut tender green parts of leeks into 1/8 - by 1-inch strips. Reserve.

In large skillet or saucepan, heat oil. Add potatoes, white leek pieces, bay leaf and thyme. Cover. Cook 10 minutes, stirring once. Add chicken broth; simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Stir in cheese and pepper. Press through a fine strainer or process batches in food processor or blender. Reheat briefly or chill, if desired.

To serve, blanch reserved green strips of leek in boiling water 1 to 2 minutes. Top each serving with 2 teaspoons fresh chervil or parsley or 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf chervil. Garnish with the leek strips. Serve soup hot or cold.

Yield: 6 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: About 300 calories, 6 grams fat (18 percent fat calories), 9 milligrams cholesterol, 647 milligrams sodium, 10 grams protein, 53 grams carbohydrate.

Asparagus, Ham ‘N’ Cheese

Adapted from JoAnna Lund’s “Easter Basket of Healthy Goodies Cookbooklet.” This 24-page pamphlet, one of Lund’s Healthy Exchanges publications, is available for $2.50 (including postage) by writing to Healthy Exchanges, P.O. Box 124, DeWitt, IA 52742-0124.

24 cooked asparagus spears

8 (1 1/2-ounce, about 1/4-inch thick) slices extra lean ham (97 percent fat-free)

1 tablespoon flour

1/3 cup nonfat dry milk granules

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 (3/4-ounce) slices reduced-fat Swiss cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wrap 3 asparagus spears in each ham slice. Place in 8-inch square baking dish.

In covered jar, combine flour, dry milk, water, parsley flakes and black pepper; shake well. Pour mixture into medium saucepan sprayed with butter-flavored cooking spray (or pour into microwave-safe container). Cook over low heat, stirring constantly (or microwave on high power, stirring every minute), until mixture is thickened. Add Swiss cheese. Continue cooking, stirring constantly (in microwave, stir frequently) until cheese melts. Pour cheese sauce evenly over ham rolls. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings or 2 rolls each.

Nutrition information per serving: 174 calories, 6 grams fat (31 percent fat calories), 20 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrate, 926 milligrams sodium, 1 gram fiber.

Tangy Fruit Slaw

3 cups shredded cabbage

1 orange, peeled and sectioned

1 cup halved seedless red grapes

1/2 cup sliced celery

8-ounce carton orange nonfat yogurt

1 small apple, cored and chopped

1/4 cup sunflower seeds, optional

In a large salad bowl combine cabbage, orange sections, grapes and celery; set aside.

Combine yogurt and apple. Spread over cabbage mixture. Cover; chill for 4 to 6 hours. Just before serving, gently toss salad; sprinkle with sunflower seeds, if desired.

Yield: 10 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 56 calories, 2 grams protein, 13 grams carbohydrate, 0.4 grams fat (6 percent fat calories), 1 milligram cholesterol, 24 milligrams sodium, 39 percent U.S. RDA for vitamin C.

One-Bowl Macaroons

2 2/3 cups flaked coconut

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional Garnishes:

Whole almonds, maraschino or candied cherry halves, well drained, or small jelly beans or candy eggs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix coconut, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Drop by teaspoonfuls, about 1 inch apart, onto well-greased cookie sheets, pressing down ends of coconut with back of spoon.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. If desired, quickly press an optional garnish into the top of each macaroon. Immediately remove macaroons from cookie sheets. Cool on wire racks.

Yield: 4 dozen.

Nutrition information per cookie: 37 calories, 1.9 grams fat (46 percent fat calories).

Chocolate variation: Prepare as above, stirring 2 squares melted unsweetened chocolate squares into coconut mixture just before dropping onto cookie sheets.

MEMO: Looking for a recipe? Have a food question? Laura Carnie, a certified home economist and food consultant in Coeur d’Alene, would like to hear from you. Write to Cook’s Notebook, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

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