I usually don’t like to buy cookbooks that are &uot;diet&uot; books. I think the best thing we can do is try to eat healthier, not go on a diet. Going on a diet always makes me spend my time thinking about how to go off the diet. Last week I was looking for a few books to stock up on for this past weekend. I was scheduled to have knee surgery on Friday and was preparing for a weekend of immobility. While perusing the paperbacks at Turning Pages, I couldn’t resist sifting through the cookbooks and of course I was able to find one that I thought I might need. A new one out by one of my favorite authors, Holly Clegg who is from Baton Rouge.

The Holly Clegg Trim and Terrific Cookbook is filled with delicious recipes and good ideas for cutting a few extra calories from your families meals and they don’t all require a bunch of strange ingredients that you probably don’t have. Next week when I am back on both of my feet I have a long list of recipes that I plan on trying, and this one tops the list.

Southwestern Lasagna

1 pound ground sirloin

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juice

1 4-ounce can diced green chilies, drained

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

2 egg whites

2 cups fat free or reduced fat cottage cheese

14 6-inch corn or flour tortillas cut into quarters

1 15-ounce can of whole kernel corn, drained

8 ounces reduced fat Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and spray a 9-by-13 dish with nonstick vegetable spray. In a large skillet, brown the ground meat until done and drain any excess grease. Add the tomatoes and juice, chilies, chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper, set aside. In a small bowl, thoroughly blend together the egg whites and cottage cheese. Cover the bottom of the sprayed pan with six quartered tortillas. Layer on all of the corn, half of the meat mixture, half of the shredded cheese, four quartered tortillas, then all of the cottage cheese mixture, the remaining half of the meat mixture and the remaining four tortillas, quartered and then top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake, uncovered for 30 minutes. Serve hot with a salad and bread. The cookbook says this makes eight to 10 servings, with each one having approximately 240 calories.

Christina Hall

writes a weekly column for The Democrat.