A Salad, A Pie, A Cheesecake, and a S'more Sundae Walked Into A Kitchen...

A Salad, A Pie, A Cheesecake, and a S'more Sundae Walked Into A Kitchen... Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. But today's yumminess (that's the official word of the day!) is anything but bad. The recipes came from emails received from the Diabetic Gourmet and from the Food Network. Enjoy!

CRANBERRY-APPLE SPINACH SALAD

Yield: 4 servings

Source: The Complete Diabetes Prevention Plan

Ingredients

6 cups moderately packed fresh spinach leaves

1/4 cup light balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing or Citrus Vinaigrette

1 cup matchstick-sized pieces apple

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped walnuts or toasted pecans

1/4 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta or blue cheese

Directions

Place the spinach leaves and salad dressing in a large bowl and toss to mix well. Divide the mixture between 4 salad plates.

Top the spinach on each plate with a quarter of the apples, cranberries, nuts, and cheese. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information Per Serving

Calories: 141 ; Protein: 4.7 g ; Fat: 8.3 g ; Sodium: 272 mg; Cholesterol: 2 mg ; Carbohydrates: 13 g

Exchanges: 1 Vegetable, 1/2 Fruit, 1-1/2 Fat

COCONUT CUSTARD PIE

According to the Diabetic Gourmet site, "A baked custard pie with less calories because it's sweetened with Equal and made with 2% milk. For added coconut flavor use the optional coconut extract."

Serves: 8

Ingredients

Pastry for single-crust 9 inch pie

4 eggs

2 cups 2% milk

1 cup Equal Spoonful or Granulated*

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup toasted flaked coconut

1 teaspoon coconut extract (optional)

* May substitute 24 packets Equal sweetener

Directions

Roll pastry on floured surface into circle 1 inch larger than inverted 9-inch pie plate. Ease pastry into plate; trim and flute edge. Set aside.

Beat eggs in large bowl about 5 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Whisk in milk and remaining ingredients. Pour mixture into pastry shell.

Bake pie in preheated 375F oven 30 to 35 minutes or until sharp knife inserted halfway between center and edge of pie comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve at room temperature, or refrigerate and serve chilled.

Nutritional Information Per Serving

Calories: 194 ; Protein: 6 g ; Fat: 11 g ; Sodium: 301 mg; Cholesterol: 115 mg ; Carbohydrates: 19 g

Exchanges: 1/2 milk, 1/2 starch, 2 fat

Source: Equal

INDOOR S'MORE SUNDAE

from Melissa d'Arabian of Ten Dollar Dinners on The Food Network.

Total Time: 1 hr 11 min; Prep: 10 min; Inactive: 1 hr; Cook: 1 min; Level: Easy; Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust:

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 5 whole graham crackers)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Salt

4 scoops vanilla ice cream

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

Quick Chocolate Sauce:

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons whole milk

Directions

For the graham cracker crust: Mix the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar, cinnamon and a sprinkle of salt together in a bowl. Firmly press the crust into muffin tins to make individual crusts. Top each crust with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Press the mini marshmallows into the ice cream, covering the scoop completely. You will have 4 s'more "domes". Freeze at least 1 hour.

For the quick chocolate sauce: Immediately before serving, heat the broiler to low. Toss the chocolate chips with the milk in a ramekin or small bowl and microwave 30 seconds, stir until smooth and set aside. Place the s'more domes under the broiler until marshmallows brown, about 30 seconds. Watch them constantly as they burn easily. Place each s'more on a plate and drizzle with the chocolate sauce.

RED VELVET CHEESECAKE

Total Time: 2 hr; Prep: 20 min; Cook: 1 hr 40 min; Level: Easy; Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups finely crushed chocolate wafer cookies (about 28 cookies)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

For the filling:

4 8 -ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon red food coloring

Directions

Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the cookie crumbs, melted butter, sugar and salt in a bowl. Press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Put the pan on a baking sheet and bake until set, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely.

Make the filling: Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the flour, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Transfer 2 cups batter to a bowl; stir in the cocoa powder and food coloring. Pour the red batter into the crust, then pour the white batter on top. Using a spoon, pull some of the red batter up from the bottom of the cake and swirl. Bake until the edges are set but the center is still wobbly, about 1 hour, 20 minutes.

Turn off the oven but keep the cake inside to cool, 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan (don't remove the springform side), then transfer to a rack to cool. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before slicing.