Posted by SolShine on 05-25-2001 12:38 PM:
COTTAGE CHEESE IDEAS

Cottage cheese is a good healthy way to get our calcium and protein. I found these ideas on one of my favorite web-sites:
http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html

I have not tried them all - and, given my aversion to tuna, I will not try some of them. Nevertheless, I figured some of you gals might appreciate the ideas so I've included them as well.

Cottage Cheese Fruit Dip
1 cup cottage cheese
sugar substitute to equal 2tbl sugar (more or less depending on taste)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Combine above ingredients in blender. Serve with fruit. For the Ukrainians in the crowd, this is also nice drizzled over poppyseed cake. Or, you can simply mix cottage cheese with cut-up fruit for a nice fruit salad.


Tuna and Cottage Cheese Mix
1 part canned tuna
1 part cottage cheese
This mixture is incredibly versatile. Eat it on its own or use it in a sandwich.


Bean and Avocado Salad
1 part chopped cooked green beans
1 part cooked kidney beans
1 part chopped avocado
1 part cottage cheese
Splash of lemon juice
Pinch of salt
Mix all ingredients together and serve cold.


Tuna Pasta
1/2 cup tuna and cottage cheese mix
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
Mix and heat for a few minutes over medium heat, stirring often, till flavours combine. Toss with pasta and top with grated Parmigiana. For a variation, try adding salsa.


Tuna Melts
Prepare tuna and cottage cheese mix. Spread over pieces of bread (nice multigrain buns cut in half work well for this). Top with sprinkling of grated cheddar cheese (old cheddar gives you the most flavour bang for your buck, and ensures you don't need a lot). Microwave for a minute or so, or grill under broiler (watch it--these burn fast!), till cheese on top is melted.


Tuna and Cottage Cheese Salad
Prepare tuna and cottage cheese mix. Toss with vinaigrette, chopped tomatoes, mixed leafy greens, and whatever other fresh chopped veggies you feel like throwing in. You can even toss in some chopped cooked egg whites if you like. Tastes pretty good on its own or topped with grated Parmigiana (you guessed it, I put the stuff on everything!). As a variation, toss cottage cheese alone with some fresh chopped spinach and shredded red cabbage in a creamy dressing.


Cottage Cheese Pasta
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 cup chopped tomatoes
Plenty of chopped fresh basil
1/2 clove chopped garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
Mix and heat for a few minutes over medium heat till flavours combine, cheese melts a bit, and garlic becomes fragrant. Toss with pasta and top with grated Parmigiana.


Vinaigrette:
(since vinaigrette recipes are as individual as chili recipes, this is merely a suggestion for those of you so culinarily impaired that the thought of prepping your own vinaigrette paralyzes you completely)
1/2 cup olive oil or 1/4 cup olive and 1/4 cup flax seed oil
1/4 cup red cooking wine
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 to 1 tsp Dijon mustard (depending on how zesty you like your vinaigrettes--I like them to burn my sinuses)
Pinch of salt and pepper
Pinch of dried basil, oregano, parsley, and/or garlic
Combine all ingredients in a sealed container and shake to blend. You can adjust proportions to taste and add natural yogurt (or even blenderized cottage cheese!) for a creamier texture.


Cottage Cheese Pancakes
(this one is a little more decadent and good for an indulgent cheat day)
3/4 cup ww flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp double-acting baking powder
2 tbsp powdered sugar (use sugar substitute instead)
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla

Filling (mix all of these together):
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 egg yolk
1 tsp butter
1 tsp vanilla/grated lemon rind
Mix dry ingredients together. Beat egg and then combine with milk, water, and vanilla/lemon. Add mixture to dry ingredients and combine with a few swift strokes. Grease a nonstick skillet lightly and heat it for a minute or two. Pour batter into pan and cook very thin cakes on one side only. Remove from heat and place on a clean teatowel cooked side up (the pancake, not the towel). Place about 2 tbsp of filling into each cake then roll and return to pan seam-side down. Cook till brown, turning once. You might need to re-grease the pan. Serve hot, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.


Cottage Cheese Nachos
fat free cottage cheese
lean or extra lean ground beef)
some tomaotes/green peppers or salsa
Triscuits

Combine all ingredients and you have some healthy nachos! They are awesome, high in protein, low in carb and fat....

also, try cottage cheese mixed with microwaved garbanzos and add 1 packet of Equal.....


Cottage Cheese and "Tasteless Tuna"
Also, try this discovery: if you boil tuna for 2 minutes in water, it loses about 80-90% of that nasty tuna taste! Just don't eat it hot. Pour cool water over it and drain it so that it is cool and dry and it is almost tasteless! Mix it with cottage cheese and Equal and garbanzo beans and it is perfect!



Scramble some eggs and just before you are ready to take them out of the pan, add some diced tomatoes and some cottage cheese just long enough to make them warm. The cheese should just start to melt a little but still look like pieces of cottage cheese. (Sounds gross but tastes good.)


Cottage cheese & other stuff
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 cup of frozen blueberries (big plump ones, not pale little ones)
1/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg or more to your liking
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, again to your liking
4 teaspoons of slivered or sliced almonds

1) put the cottage cheese and yogurt in a bowl
2) blend the blueberries (can be misc frozen fruit if market doesn't have any) with the applesauce
3) put the blueberry mix into the above bowl
4) put the nutmeg and cinnamon in the bowl
5) mix it all up
6) dust top with almonds