What happens when you pair a doctor who focuses on nutrition with a world-renown pastry chef? You get an amazingly healthy dessert that doesn’t taste like diet food.
We asked Melina Jampolis, M.D., an internist and board certified physician nutrition specialist, to come up with four rules for a healthy dessert. Then, we put Johnny Iuzzini, a pastry whiz who you might recognize as the host of Bravo’s Top Chef Just Desserts, to make a delicious dessert while abiding by Dr. Jampolis’ rules. The result? A balanced, pillow-y parfait.
1. Limit your calories to 100 to 150 for an everyday dessert (though dessert shouldn’t be an everyday affair). For a splurge dessert, keep to 250 to 300 calories.
2. Substitute whole grains whenever you can—even if it’s only for a quarter of the total grains, every little bit adds up to better health since they’re a great source of fiber and anti-oxidants.
3. Add in healthy fats like nuts or seeds (or avocados!). Not only do they boost the fiber and nutrient content, healthy fats help lower the glycemic index of sugary desserts, which can help prevent you from craving even more sugar an hour later.
4. To really boost the nutritional value, add in deeply colored fruits like berries or cherries. These fruits are loaded with potent disease-fighting phytonutrients called polyphenols. (Dark chocolate is also a great source of polyphenols as long as it contains about 70 percent cacao.)
2. In a large bowl, mix together all the seeds and nuts with the maple syrup and salt until coated evenly. Spread the mix evenly in a single layer on each lined baking sheet and place in the pre-heated oven.
3. Stirring occasionally, bake the trail mix until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Allow it to cool and break it up into a loose mixture. Toss with the dried fruit.
In the bottom of each 6 oz parfait glasses (or a regular drinking glass or bowl will work), place ¼ cup of trail mix. Next, pour in half of the yogurt and add 1/8 cup of the berry mixture. Repeat each of the layers once more and serve.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Dannon Activia, Healthy Dessert, Johnny Iuzzini, Melina Jampolis, Parfait, Yogurt. Bookmark the permalink.
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