Cottage cheese is one of those foods that people tend to love or hate. I have been a fan since first discovering its healthy diet food status back in the 1970s. It is a great source of protein with about 14 grams in a 4 ounce serving.
Cottage cheese can be enjoyed in so many ways - on its own, with fruit or salad, on toast, and in a wide variety of both sweet and savory dishes.
\"Easy Breakfast Recipes\"
Are you put off my the texture of cottage cheese? To make it smooth, give it a whirl in a food processor or blender. Then it becomes a healthier alternative to sour cream in your favorite dip recipe or as a tasty topping for baked potatoes.
Looking for new ways to eat cottage cheese? Here are some ideas.
1. Mix it with nut butter. Stir a tablespoon of your favorite nut butter into a half cup of cottage cheese. Use it to stuff celery or spread on whole grain toast or crackers.
2. Serve it with fruit. In my opinion, cottage cheese and fruit is a match made in heaven. I love it for both breakfast and lunch during the summer. Just about any fruit will work - fresh, canned in fruit juice, or frozen. Delicious options include:
-Sliced bananas
-Crushed pineapple or pineapple chunks
-Berries - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or a combination
-Melon chunks or balls
-Fresh or canned peach slices
-Chunks of apple and a sprinkle of cinnamon
-Applesauce or apple butter
3. Add it to smoothies. Blend it into your favorite fruit smoothie or green smoothie recipe for an extra boost of protein.
4. Stir it into pasta. The cottage cheese gets warm and creamy and is especially good with lots of freshly ground pepper.
5. Top it with salsa. Good with tomato salsa, tomatillo salsa, or fruit salsa.
6. Stir in a bit of pesto. Enjoy as a dip or spread for vegetables or crackers or stuffed into hollowed out cherry tomatoes.
7. Spread it on toast. I love cottage cheese spread on toasted raisin bread, then sprinkled with cinnamon and chopped walnuts.
8. Sprinkle with granola and drizzle with honey.
9. Spread on thin slices of apple and sprinkle with cinnamon.
10. Use as a substitute for sour cream. First buzz it in a blender or food processor to make it creamy.
11. Season with your favorite spice blend. Lemon pepper, Mrs. Dash, seasoning salt, Old Bay, and Herbamare all work well. Spread on vegetables or whole grain crackers of stuff into celery or hollowed out tomatoes.
12. Mix with chopped celery and tuna or small canned shrimp. Makes another great dip or spread.
12 Ways to Eat Cottage Cheese
Martha McKinnon is a health coach who believes that healthy eating and losing weight can be simple and delicious when you slow down and learn to trust your body's inner wisdom. Her website, http://www.simple-nourished-living.com, is full of practical tips for losing weight and feeling great & offers a FREE e-cookbooklet of great recipes for healthy homemade granola bars.