Baked Apple with Walnut-Oat Stuffing

Ingredients

• 3 medium apples
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml agave nectar
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml rolled oats*
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml unsalted olive-oil based margarine or Do-It-Yourself Olive Butter Spread from The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml Sucanat
• 1/2 tsp / 2 ½ ml best-quality vanilla extract, separated
• 1/2 tsp / 2 ½ ml ground cinnamon
• 4 Tbsp / 60 ml chopped walnuts
• 6 Tbsp / 90 ml yogurt cheese (recipe below)
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml icing sugar
• Eat-Clean Cooking Spray**
* choose uncontaminated oats if you are gluten intolerant
** Products such as Pam and others are very handy, but I prefer to use healthy oils such as extra-virgin olive oil inside a spritz bottle as a cooking spray

Preparation
1.Preheat oven to 350° and coat a glass baking dish with cooking spray.

2.Combine agave nectar, rolled oats, margarine, Sucanat, 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, cinnamon and walnuts in a small bowl. Set aside.

3.Scrub the apples thoroughly and remove each stem.

4.Slice each apple lengthwise down the middle to create 2 halves. Remove the core and hollow out the center to create a space for the walnut-oat stuffing.

5.Place apples into the glass baking dish. Spoon 1 rounded tablespoon of filling into each apple hollow.

6.Cover the dish with foil and bake apples for 45 minutes or until they are tender. Keep an eye on them because you do not want them to be too hard or too mushy.

7.Remove the baking dish from the oven and set it on a wire cooling rack for about 15 minutes.

8.In the meantime, stir icing sugar and remaining vanilla into the yogurt cheese until well combined.

9.Once the apples have cooled, place each one on a plate and top with 1 Tbsp / 15 ml of yogurt cheese.

10.Garnish with a colorful fruit such as grapes, blueberries or dried cranberries.

Yogurt Cheese Ingredients
• 2 cups / 480 ml low-fat plain yogurt (makes one cup of yogurt cheese)

Preparation
1.Place 2 cups / 480 ml yogurt in a colander lined with two layers of cheesecloth. Place the colander over a large bowl to catch the liquid that drips out of the yogurt. Place this set-up in the refrigerator and let stand overnight.

2.Discard the liquid in the bowl below and you are left with rich, creamy yogurt cheese icing.

Tip
Store yogurt cheese in a closed container for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Nutritional Value for One Serving

Calories: 143
Calories from fat: 44
Protein: 2.25 g
Carbohydrates: 21.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 3 g
Fat: 4.7 g
Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Sodium: 72 mg
Cholesterol: 0 mg

Nutritional Value for 1 Tbsp of Yogurt Cheese Icing

Calories: 17
Calories from fat: 0.5
Protein: 1.8 g
Carbohydrates: 2.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 0 g
Fat: 0 g
Sodium: 24 mg
Cholesterol: 1 mg

Source: Eat Clean Diet

http://www.eatcleandiet.com/food_and_recipes/clean_recipe/baked_apples_with_walnut-oat_stuffing.aspx