No-Bake Berry Cheesecake Bars
As if no-bake weren't tempting enough, consider that the graham cracker crust for these berry cheesecake bars has pecans in it. Ooh la la! In the filling, nonfat Greek yogurt and reduced-fat cream cheese cut the calories and saturated fat.
Watermelon Fruit Pizza
This refreshing fruit dessert pizza recipe swaps classic cookie crust with a healthier watermelon crust. Topped with yogurt sauce, your favorite berries and mint, this fresh dessert can easily be doubled for a party or halved for every day.
EatingWell Flag Cake
Though this stunning red, white and blue American flag cake screams “Fourth of July Cake,” it's such a good dessert you'll want to make it for Memorial Day and other summer holidays too. We made this flag cake recipe healthy, with less saturated fat and calories than traditional versions, by replacing some butter in the yellow sheet cake with oil. Plus, for the cream cheese frosting, we replaced some of the cream cheese and butter with low-fat Greek yogurt.
Star-Spangled Fruit Kebabs
Cutting naturally red and white fruits into star shapes to pair on skewers with blueberries makes a fun, patriotic fruit dessert you can feel good about eating and serving to your kids. This red, white and blue fruit "salad" will be a hit at summer barbecues, especially for the Fourth of July.
Bev's Chocolate Chip Cookies
EatingWell reader Beverley Sharpe of Santa Barbara, California, contributed this healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe. She gave chocolate chip cookies a healthy update by cutting back on sugar and incorporating whole grains. To increase protein, Sharpe replaces the rolled oats with 1 cup almond meal.
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
You might not think to use hummus as a pasta sauce, but the creamy dip makes the perfect backdrop to the bold flavors of this healthy Mediterranean-inspired pasta salad.
Japanese Cucumber Salad
This Japanese-inspired cool, crisp salad is as elegant and well balanced as it is simple.
Carrot Cake
Carrots give carrot cake a health-halo effect--people think it's health food, but it's usually very high in fat and calories. But our version has about 40 percent less calories and 50 percent less fat than most. First, we use less oil in our batter. Then we skip the butter in the frosting (don't worry, it's still light and smooth). To ensure the cake is moist, we add nonfat buttermilk and crushed pineapple.
Italian Vegetable Hoagies
This delightfully easy, and somewhat messy, sandwich packs a punch with sweet balsamic vinegar, artichoke hearts, red onion, provolone cheese and zesty pepperoncini. We love it for dinner as well as lunch. If you're packing the hoagies to take along, keep the ingredients separate and assemble right before eating to avoid soggy bread. Serve with tomato and cucumber salad.
No-Cook Black Bean Salad
A classic black bean salad is a must for picnics and potlucks. This vegan version gets its creaminess from blended avocado. Any mix of salad greens will work well, but try arugula if you want to give this hearty salad a peppery kick.
Parmesan-Squash Cakes
In this recipe we shred summer squash and use it like shredded potatoes to make tasty little pancakes flavored with Parmesan cheese and shallots.
Loaded Garden Pizz'alad
Here a garden salad packed with lettuce, bell pepper and avocado rests atop a provolone cheese pizza. And it's all drizzled with tangy homemade ranch dressing. We recommend a knife, fork and plenty of napkins to dig into this pizz'alad! Using bread flour gives the pizza crust a crisp and sturdy structure, but all-purpose flour works well in its place. For a gluten-free pizza crust variation, see Tips.
