Baked Onion Rings - All the Goodness, None of the Guilt

I made Baked Onion Rings last night, and they were really yummy!! Much better than I expected. I got the recipe from Everyday Food Light and made a few adjustments.

With a new year, many of us are trying to eat better. These are a great item to feel like you are indulging without frying and grease.

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

2. In a food processor (or blender) combine 1 1/2 cups cornflakes and 1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs (plain or Italian). Transfer to a bowl.

3. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl: 1 egg, 1/2 cup buttermilk (I used milk with a dash of vinegar in it, since I didn't have buttermilk. I never buy buttermilk. I just add the vinegar to regular milk), 1/4 flour and seasonings (salt, pepper and then whatever you like: cayenne, grill spice, creole seasoning. I used grill spice to compliment the grilled chicken sausages I was making).

4. Slice 1 medium onion (preferably Vidalia or brown) - discard inner small rings (I put them in my freezer bag that I put veggie scraps in to make veggie broth).

5. Dredge onion slices in egg mixture first (letting excess drip off), then dredge in cornflake mixture.

6. Put on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Once all of the rings are on the cookie sheet - spray them with cooking spray, both sides. This helps them stay crispy.

7. Cook for about 15 minutes (eyeball it), flipping them in the middle.

Enjoy!!

The book said they have 241 cals per serving, 9 g of fat, 7 g of protein, 33 carbs, and 2.4 fiber --

The recipe I posted should have less fat and calories because I used cooking spray rather than the 2 tablespoons of olive oil that was suggested.

By using the cooking spray, I estimate it drops to about: 180 cals per serving and 3-4 g of fat, a big improvement.

Also, if you used an egg substitute and fat-free milk, you could make them even lower in calories and fat without missing much.

Wish I had a picture, but we ate them way too fast to get a photo.

Most onion rings are around 300 g per serving (at least) with 16 g of fat. Same with a small order of fries typically - and how many of us ever eats a small order of fries? So, skip the fries and make onion rings at home.

Healthy Side Dish or One-Pot Meal

A quick note on my potato leek soup, I made a vegetarian/vegan version recently, which required 2 simple changes. Just sautee the onions and leeks in olive oil instead of butter and use vegetable stock or broth instead of chicken broth/stock. The recipe already avoided the use of cream.

Tonight a made a Spicy Green Bean/Kale recipe that could be used as a side dish, but I added some left over quinoa I had and it became a yummy (and healthy) one pot meal.

Also, you'll notice in my blog that the same ingredients having been popping up, that's because my cooking right now, thanks to Abundant Harvest Organics, is centered around the produce I get in the box and because I like to use what I have on hand and not waste (by throwing things out before they get used or by wasting gas on a trip to the grocery store that might be avoided by adjusting recipes and using what I have).

Tonight's recipe was my take on Giada's (Everyday Italian) recipe. Remember, my portions are scaled, roughly, for 1 (or 1 with some leftovers), which is one way my recipe differs from hers. I also removed and added a few ingredients (she had mushrooms, I do not. I have bell peppers, shallot and garlic, she did not).

Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• 1 shallot, chopped (diced)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 1/3 pounds green beans
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• white wine vinegar
• chicken or vegetable broth
• (optional) a trio of bell peppers, in strips (red, yellow and green) - I like to always have the frozen package of these from Trader Joe's on hand, It's a great addition to lots of recipes or to jarred pasta sauce (and so easy and affordable).
• 1 1/2 packets of red pepper flakes (from the pizza place - yep, that's what I had. This is obviously amateur cooking).
• 2 handfuls (I have small hands) kale rinsed, stemmed, and roughly chopped (I actually just tear my kale)
• 1/2 of a lemon (to juice)
• Parmesan cheese (to top it off)
• chives/green onion (to top it off)

Preparation

1, Warm the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. (I used enough olive oil to coat the pan)

2. Add shallots and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes.

3. Add garlic, cook for just about 1 minute, then add broth, enough to cover the pan and keep garlic from burning.

4. Add green beans (I used frozen, but fresh would obviously be better. If you only have canned, I wouldn't even bother. I like string beans, not cut beans.), salt, and pepper and cook for 2 minutes.

5. Add a dash of white wine vinegar (Giada suggests white wine, which is probably better, but I didn't have it, so I used the white wine vinegar instead, since I already had some broth in there I think it worked fine). and continue cooking until the green beans are almost tender, about 3-5 minutes.

6. Add the red pepper flakes and the kale and continue cooking until the kale has wilted, about 4 to 5 minutes.

If you want to serve it as a side, squirt lemon juice on top (from half a lemon -- don't over use) and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

To make it a one-pot meal, I added my leftover quinoa to the pot while the kale was finishing cooking, just to warm the quinoa, and added the lemon juice and parmesan cheese once I had put a serving in a bowl. I also added some chives on top.

I think this would also work on top of rice or tossed with pasta, in which case you might also want to drizzle with some olive oil at the end.