Cheesecake to Go with Fruit

This lemon-vanilla cheesecake is wonderful with strawberries, blueberries, cherries-any fruit you care to use. It also makes a nice breakfast.

YIELD: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup vanilla-flavored whey protein powder
• 1/4 cup Splenda
• Grated rind and juice of 1 fresh lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 Hazelnut Crust or Almond Crust, prebaked in a large, deep pie plate

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. In a blender, combine cottage cheese, eggs, sour cream, protein powder, Splenda, lemon rind and juice, and vanilla extract. Blend until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
3. Pour the mixture into the prebaked crust. Place the cake on the top rack of the oven and place a flat pan of water on the bottom rack. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
4. Allow the cake to cool, then chill it well before serving.

PER SERVING:

•  8 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber, for a total of 6 grams of usable carbs and 21 grams of protein. (Analysis includes crust.)

NOTE:

• Serve this cheesecake with the fruit of your choice. I like to serve it with thawed frozen, unsweetened strawberries, blueberries, or peaches, mashed coarsely with a fork and sweetened slightly with Splenda.
• If you use 1 1/2 cups of strawberries with 2 tablespoons Splenda for the whole cake, you’ll add 2 grams of carbohydrates per slice, plus a trace of fiber and a trace of protein.
• Use 1 1/2 cups sour cherries-you can get these canned, with no added sugar-and sweeten them with 1/4 cup Splenda, and you’ll add 3 grams per slice.