Fat Is Nearly Nonexistent In Spinach Pie

Health-conscious Americans are eating more vegetables in accordance with the USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid, but it’s easy to get bored with plain greens and steamed carrots.

Most traditional recipes for vegetables include heavy sauces or toppings that add fat and calories.

This Light Spinach Pie provides a welcome alternative for vegetable lovers. It combines lots of spinach, zesty dill weed and a little low-fat cottage cheese and grated Parmesan cheese to make a lighter-than-air, low-fat casserole. Each serving has little more than a single gram of fat.

Plus, Light Spinach Pie is easy to prepare because it’s made with frozen leaf spinach, which is simply thawed and pureed in a blender or food processor with the herbs, spices, seasonings and fat-free egg substitutes. The casserole bakes until the eggs are set.

The emerald-colored pie can be cut into squares for easy serving. A square makes an excellent side dish with baked chicken or grilled fish or it becomes a main dish when combined with a side of brown rice or whole grain bread.

Ambitious cooks can make the pie in advance and reheat it or they can freeze it for another day.

Light Spinach Pie

Nonstick cooking spray

1 (16-ounce) bag frozen cut leaf spinach, thawed

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 green onion, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon dill weed

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup low-fat (1.5 percent milk fat) cottage cheese

1 cup nonfat egg substitute

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Place the spinach in a colander and press with a flexible spatula to remove excess moisture. Transfer spinach to a food processor. Add garlic and green onion and puree briefly. Add dill weed, Parmesan cheese, cottage cheese, egg substitutes, salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice. Puree until well mixed.

Spoon mixture into prepared pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until firm to the touch, but not dry. Allow to cool 10 minutes before cutting. Cut into squares.

The pie can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and reheated covered before serving. It can also be frozen for up to two weeks. Reheat the frozen squares in a 325-degree oven until hot.

Yield: 9 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 56 calories, 7.6 grams protein, 4.6 grams carbohydrate, 1.3 grams fat, 2.2 milligrams cholesterol, 331 milligrams sodium.

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