Baklava, Pumkin Butter, and Tandoori Chef

So, Saturday was my dessert day, and I also had a fight with my boyfriend, so I ended up with a craving for something really good. I decided upon baklava, which is amazing, but also swimming in fat. It's really yummy, but I'm not sure that I want to indulge so heavily on my next sweet day, so here is a recipe for low-fat baklava (I know, it sounds like an oxymoron)!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound (226g) walnuts or shelled pistachios, ground
3 tablespoons Splenda for Baking (or other sugar substitute such as Equal)
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons rose water
1/2 pound (226g) Filo (phyllo) dough
1/2 cup low-calorie (diet) margarine, melted
Rose Water Syrup (see recipe below)

Garnish (optional)
Ground Pistachios

*Note: Rose Water (or Rose Flower Water) may be purchased at Middle Eastern, Greek or Turkish grocery stores or at some gourmet stores.

Instructions:
1. Combine walnuts (or pistachios), sugar, cinnamon and rose water in small bowl. Using half of filo sheets (cover remaining with plastic wrap to prevent from drying out), place 3 sheets in bottom of lightly greased 13-inch x 9-inch baking sheet. Brush with some of the melted margarine. Sprinkle evenly with nut mixture. Place remaining sheets over nut filling, brushing after every third sheet and top sheet.

2. Cut baklava at 1-1/2" intervals diagonally to form pattern of about 35 diamond shapes. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 C) for 25 minutes or until golden. Place on wire rack to cool. Drizzle Rose Water Syrup evenly over top and allow to soak several hours. If desired, sprinkle ground pistachios over top of Baklava.

Nutritional Information:
Each piece baklava with syrup contains about: 85 calories; 32mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 9 grams carbohydrate; 2 grams protein; trace fiber.

Rose Water Syrup:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups sugar substitute (such as Splenda, Equal, or Sweet N' Low)
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup rose water

Instructions:
Prepare the syrup by combining the sugar substitute and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, add the rose water, and set aside until ready to use.

85 calories and five grams of fat! That sounds great. I don't even want to know what I ate last night because I didn't just eat a diamond. I ate TWO! and it was the real deal with real butter on every sheet of 36 layers, tons of cashews, and so much honey it stung my tongue. Yum.

Moving on . . .

Pumpkin butter is my new best friend. I've been looking for a low calorie substitute for peanut butter for a while, and frankly, Better Than Peanut Butter leaves something to be desired unless you are making a milkshake or something else that only needs peanut butter "flavor." Pumpkin butter tastes like a super sweet pumpkin pie filling and contains only 20 calories and no fat per tablespoon. It will be very tasty on my toast, on a pumpkin butter and jelly sandwich, and in anything else I can think to use it in. I may also use it on my leftover naan bread from last night, which brings me to my third point . . .

Tandoori Chef. I know, I know. It's neither soul food nor Mediterranean food, but it is damn good, and after having that fight with my boyfriend, I needed something super spicy to burn my tongue and keep my mind off the pain. Tandoori Chef is t.v. dinner Indian food that tastes just like maataa made or at least like the local restaurant down the street. I had kofta and naan bread last night right before my baklava. But, a note of warning. Unlike lean cuisine or weight watchers, Tandoori chef boxes contain enough food for two, so either share with your honey or portion it out. I had eaten one and a half servings before I noticed a) that I wasn't going to be able to finish b)that I was super full and c) that I had ingested almost 14 grams of fat + baklava (which I ate first in true jilted style)!

More T.V. dinner and hopefully cooking adventures later.