Celebrate Kwanzaa with Low-Fat Corn Pudding

Kwanzaa is a week-long holiday celebrated primarily in the United States honoring African heritage. It is observed starting today, from December 26 to January 1 every year. As a Recipe Developer, I have worked on many recipes for cookbooks, magazines and food companies for Kwanzaa, and I always love working on those projects. What I love to do with a lot of my recipes is to twist them a bit and to “lighten” them up as I have done here. I have a nutrition background and like to maintain a healthy lifestyle for my family so I replaced some eggs with egg whites, used skim milk instead of half-and-half, used part-skim ricotta instead of regular, and decreased some butter and used cooking spray. I hope you will like this recipe as much as I do. It’s warm and comforting and perfect for Kwanzaa or any cool day. And best of all, it’s low-fat so you can have an extra helping without any guilt.

 

Corn Pudding

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook:  50 minutes

Yield: 8 to 10 servings 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

5 cups fresh yellow corn kernels cut off the cob (6 to 8 ears)

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion (optional)

2 egg whites

2 eggs

2 cups skim milk

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves (optional)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup (6 ounces) grated extra-sharp cheddar, plus extra to sprinkle on top (white cheddar works great too)

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease the inside of an 8 to 10-cup baking dish.

2. Melt the butter in a very large saute pan greased with cooking spray and saute the corn and onion over medium-high heat for 4 minutes. Cool slightly.

3. Whisk together the eggs and milk in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the cornmeal and then the ricotta. Add the basil, sugar, salt, and pepper. Add the cooked corn mixture and grated cheddar, and then pour into the baking dish. Sprinkle the top with more grated cheddar.

4. Place the dish in a larger pan and fill the pan 1/2 way up the sides of the dish with hot tap water. Bake the pudding for 40 to 45 minutes until the top begins to brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm.