Savory Spinach Bites

It's been a while since my last entry.  Life got in the way, but I gotta admit this last recipe was a big pain.  But, I sure did have a lot of fun experimenting, learning and mostly taste testing!

As soon as I made these Savory Spinach Bites, I just knew that I had to try to make them lower in fat so that I could eat them more often.  They're extremely flavorful and it's impossible to eat just one or two or five!  Here's the original recipe.
http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2011/02/04/savory-spinach-bites/

So, as you all know, flavor is important to me.  I want to keep the flavor and lose the fat at the same time.  Don't tell me I can't have it all!!  So, I started slowly taking out the fat, calories and other evil ingredients.  This is where the learning began.  I am here to tell you that not everything is swapable!  We know that Greek Yogurt can be a great swap for butter.  But, apparently, it doesn't work in all instances!  This recipe calls for you to melt the butter in a pan to saute the onions and garlic.  So, I figured I could just plop in the yogurt & saute away.  You can imagine my horror when the minute the yogurt hit the pan it began to separate.  Yep!  Little Miss Muffet I found your curds & whey!!  So, clearly THAT wasn't going to work.  What next?  Aha! I'll just use a little bit of butter to saute and then put the yogurt in when I mix everything together!  I'm such a genius!!  Not!  Everything came together fine and looked fine.  BUT, it DID NOT taste fine!  The end result tasted very sour.  The yogurt taste was very overwhelming.  So, now what?  Olive Oil?  It doesn't have nearly the amount of saturated fat that butter does.  But, it's not nearly as low as greek yogurt.  But, if it doesn't taste good, what's the point, right?  So, I substituted the butter for Olive Oil and it worked beautifully.

The next thing to try and reduce was the sodium in the stuffing.  I haven't couldn't find a low sodium stuffing mix.  So, I tried to use toast.  I made the toast and cut it up into little squares.  You couldn't tell the difference in appearance.  But, when I tasted the final product, it just wasn't as moist and chewy as the original.  So, since the toast didn't reduce the fat and calories that much and I'm not on a low sodium diet, I chose not to go that route.  But, I wanted to put that trial in here in case anyone else IS on a low sodium diet, you'll know what you can do to bring it down a little.

Here's the comparison & ingredient breakdown.

The Original Recipe
(Per 1" Ball)

Calories	46
Total Fat	2.7g
Saturated Fat	1.56g
Sodium	128mg
Fiber	0.30g
Sugar	0.31g
Protein	2.4g

The Swap
4 Tablespoons EVOO for 1/2 Cup of Butter
Eggs White for Eggs
Reduced Fat Parmesan Cheese for Parmesan Cheese

Swapped Recipe
(Per 1" Ball)

Calories	37
Total Fat	1.5g
Saturated Fat	0.44g
Sodium	131mg
Fiber	0.30g
Sugar	0.33g
Protein	1.5g

Although we lose a little fiber & protein and have a small jump in sodium, the calories, fat & saturated fat drop is pretty significant when you are eating 4 or 5 or 10 of these little morsels of yummy goodness!

Servings: Note: I cut the original recipe in half and yielded about 36 balls if you make them 1".  I used a 1" cookie scoop so that I was sure to get them all about the same size.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 small onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)1/2 teaspoon minced garlic1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained1/2 8-ounce bag of herbed seasoned stuffing mix (4-Ounces, Dry, not not cook it!)3 large egg whites1/2 cup Reduced Fat grated Parmesan cheeseSalt and pepper, to taste

Instructions1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.2. In a small sauté pan, heat the olive oil3. Add onion and cook until the onions are soft and slightly translucent, about 5 minutes4. Add the garlic and cook just a few seconds, until fragrant.  Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.5.  In the meantime, remove the excess water from the thawed spinach by pressing it between paper towels6.  In a large bowl, combine the stuffing mix, spinach, eggs, Parmesan, salt and pepper, and onion/garlic mixture.  I like to use my Kitchenaid on the slow speed with the paddle attachment.  So, it can do all the work while I clean up a little.  But, you can just as easily mix it all with your hands or a large spoon.7.  If you use a cookie scoop, scoop a batch out onto the baking sheet.  Then, go through and roll them all into balls.  This will keep your cookie scoop clean while you work.  If, you don't use a cookie scoop, one at a time, using your hands, roll the mixture into individual 1-inch balls.  Place each one on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I used my Pampered Chef stone dish, so if you have one, use it.  No need to line.  You don't need to place a lot of space between them.  They won't spread.8.  Bake the balls for about 20-25 minutes, or until very slightly browned.
9.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool and set a minute or two.  Then, use tongs to place them in your serving or storage dish.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!  Betcha won't miss that fat!