Friday, Day 5!

LUNCH:

Crabmeat Chantilly
spinach and grapefruit salad with Sherry French Dressing
tea or coffee

I like to use spinach in place of lettuce in salads; it has more flavor and color, for the same calories.  Use whatever pleases your palate.

DINNER:

Gratin of Celery
Trout with Red and Green Pepper Sauce
1/4 cup baked potato skins
1/2 cup cooked fresh green beans and okra with grated lemon peel
Low-Calorie Cheesecake
demitasse

If at all possible, use fresh fish.  It tastes better.  If frozen, defrost it in skim milk, then dry it thoroughly.

RECIPES in order of use:

Crabmeat Chantilly
for 4 to 8
1 TBSP whipped margarine
1 TBSP shallots, minced
13 oz crabmeat, fresh or canned
2 TBSP dry white wine
4 egg whites
1 1/2 TBSP Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Parmesan cheese

Melt margarine, add shallots, saute 1 minute.  Add crabmeat and wine.  Saute until wine is evaporated, about 1 minute.  Place in bottom of a lightly oiled, shallow, 1-quart casserole.  Beat egg whites until almost stiff.  Fold in mustard and Worcestershire sauce.  Continue beating until stiff.  Pile on top of crabmeat.  Sprinkle lightly with grated Parmesan.  Bake at 350F until light brown.  recommended portion:  as appetizer, 3 ounces (72 calories); as entree, 6 ounces (144 calories).

Sherry French Dressing
1 egg
1/4 tsp sugarless sweetener
1/2 tsp vegetable or Lite salt
1 cup safflower oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 cup water
1 clove garlic, crushed

Beat egg lightly with sweetener and salt.  Add oil alternately with vinegar, beating with a whisk.  Dribble sherry and water in slowly, beating constantly.  Add garlic.  Keeps well in refrigerator and complements any salad.  Recommended portion for 1 small salad:  1 TBSP (50 calories).  Any salad dressing can be diluted with water to further calorie cutting.

Gratin of Celery
for 4
2 celery hearts
1 cup chicken or beef broth
1 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese
2 TBSPs chopped parsley for garnish

Wash celery hearts thoroughly in warm salted water.  Remove leaves.  Plunge in boiling water for 1 minute.  Split each in half, lengthwise.  Place in a shallow casserole and pour the broth over.  Cover and bake at 350F until celery is tender, about 30 minutes.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley.  Recommended portion:  1/2 heart (15 calories).

Trout with Red and Green Pepper Sauce
for 4
4 8-ounce mountain or brook trout
1 TBSP vegetable oil
4 stalks celery
4 slices onion
a few sprigs of parsley
4 carrots, thinly sliced
vegetable salt or Lite salt to taste
1 green pepper, seeded
1 sweet red pepper, seeded
2 TBSPs whipped margarine
1 bunch scallions
1 lemon, sliced thin

Clean, wash, and dry trout.  Rub lightly with oil (if you like the flavor of olive oil, use it), and stuff with parsley and carrots.  Put celery and onions on a baking tray covered with aluminum foil, and lay fish on top.  Sprinkle lightly with salt.  Bake uncovered at 350F for 15-20 minutes.  Run under broiler to crisp.  Cut peppers in matchlike pieces.  Drop in boiling water for 1 minute.  Place fish on platter; remove vegetables.  Cover with peppers and melted margarine.  Decorate with scallion brushes and lemon slices.  Recommended portion:  1 trout (175 calories).

TO MAKE SCALLION BRUSHES:
Clean and trim scallions.  Cut in 4-inch lengths.  At each end of the scallion, with a very sharp knife, make several parallel 1-inch cuts, so that the onion looks like a double-ended paintbrush.  Place in ice water -- the cut ends will fan out. Do the same with other vegetables like celery, tiny squash, asparagus, carrot fingers.

Low-Calorie Cheesecake
for 8
1 TBSP gelatin
2 TBSPs lemon juice
1/2 cup skim milk, scalded
2 eggs, separated
2 tsps sugarless sweetener
2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese, low fat
1 cup crushed ice
1 tsp grated orange peel

Dissolve gelatin in lemon juice; add hot milk.  Put in blender.  Add egg yolks, sweetener, and cheese.  Whip at high speed for 2 minutes.  Add crushed ice.  Continue running at high speed until thoroughly blended.  Beat egg whites until stiff.  Add orange peel.  Fold into cheese mixture.  Pour into an 8-inch spring-form mold.  Chill until firm, about 24 hours.  Serve with any kind of pureed fresh fruit.  Recommended portion:  4 ounces (67 calories) with 1 TBSP pureed fresh fruit.