by Roelien Steenkamp

Created on: July 08, 2011

5 Healthy Ways to Enjoy Cottage Cheese

Loaded with calcium, protein, bifidobacterium (a probiotic)and even a small amount of fibre, cottage cheese is the perfect replacement for calorie-loaded, and often rich, non-nutritive cheeses, spreads and margarine. Yet, a consumer often reduces the flexibility of this wonder-food, thinking it can only be used on toast or crackers. Here are five, easy and healthy tips that would make cottage cheese a must-have ingredient on your grocery list:

1. If you’re a busy body, with hardly any time to make a proper meal for yourself between meetings, social events, or fitness workouts, cottage cheese is a great ingredient to pair with rye or low GI toast. But, what happens if you have already had your bread? Or what if you are gluten-intolerant? Perhaps you’ve also already had your fruit intake (and you are reserving your veggies for dinner), but you wish to eat something else that will count as your daily serving of fruit & veg. A great and delicious idea would be to halve an avocado and to scoop a tablespoon or less of cottage cheese into the hollow chamber of the avocado (where the pit has been removed). Sprinkle some fresh or ground herbs on top and enjoy. This is a great meal to keep up those energy levels and get in your healthy fats.

2. Are you at your laptop for hours on end? Or trying to catch up a Grey’s Anatomy Season in one day? Are you feeling guilty about your trans-fat snacks piling up next to you while you get caught in the characters' emotional mayhem? Snacking has long been recommended as an excellent way to sustain energy levels and keep weight levels under control, but this usually means snacking on nuts, seeds and fruit. Spice up the routine - this is a chance for you to eat your salad, too: Take some cottage cheese and add herbs, diced cubes of cucumber and sweet peppers to it. Take this ‘pâté’ and roll it in a few sheets of herb lettuce and rocket. Stick a toothpick through the rolls to keep them from unfolding. 3-4 of these will keep your mouth busy, your love handles at bay and will keep you quite full!

3. Whip out the cottage cheese to make a decadent, but healthy alternative for sweet icings. Such icings can be used for cupcakes and carrot cake. If you want it sweetened, add some xylitol. Check the web for delicious, low fat recipes.

4. Are the boys coming over for that Saturday sports game and you have to play hostess and impress? You might be worried about your own weight or even your partner’s weight, but you also want to be remembered as a good cook, or ‘snack-provider’. There are so many devious little ways to cheat the fat out of these situations.  Bake or roast your own chips or potato wedges, using olive, grapeseed or avocado oil, some rosemary and garlic. Serve the chips or wedges on a platter, with a sheet underneath to absorb the excess oil. In the centre, having banished calorie-loaded cream cheeses and sauces, place your own dipping tub of cottage cheese mixed with herbs or any natural flavouring you can find. 

5. Your waistline, and overall health, will thank you for replacing the strong cheddar and fatty dressings, with cottage cheese. But, don’t always rush to the counter to buy the product with the least amount of fat in it. Check your labels carefully, especially for the sodium-content. It’s no use buying a fat-free cottage cheese product, if you are only going to ingest more than the recommended salt intake.

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