I have recently started using Cooking Light’s new diet plan. Subscribers receive a calorie-driven weekly meal plan for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks customized for their dieting goals and food preferences curated by the editors of Cooking Light. It allows you to substitute in other options if you aren’t digging the ones selected, and even has the option to list “Dining Out” or “Leftovers” if you have a non-cooking meal.
So far, I’ve been really impressed with the selection of recipes and how tasty they are. The recipes also take into account time constraints, so they aren’t like 2 hour recipes on a week day (very much appreciated!) If you want to try the Cooking Light Diet Plan along with me, use the code DIETSAVE20 to receive a special discount!
I wanted to begin sharing some of the recipes I have been sent to give you an idea of what options are offered. This recipe for Crab Cakes with Spicy Mustard Sauce was an awesome weeknight meal. It comes together in under 30 minutes and is super satisfying. (I am a huge fan of quick weeknight dinners; in fact, I have a whole section of “weeknight meals” on my blog.)
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
- 1 1/3 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided
- 1 pound lump crabmeat, drained and shell pieces removed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (I used stone ground)
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
Combine the chopped red bell pepper, mayo, salt, pepper, green onions, egg, and egg yolk.
Add 1/3 cup of the panko and the crab meat, tossing to combine. Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and shape into patties.
Add the remaining panko to a shallow dish and dredge the patties in the panko.
Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan and add 4 crab cakes. Cook for 4 minutes on each side.
Remove from pan, and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining olive oil and crab cakes.
To make the mustard sauce, combine 2 tablespoons mayo, reduced-fat sour cream, parsley, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, and cayenne in a small bowl. Serve with the crab cakes.
Within 20 minutes I was enjoying a really delicious meal that was under 500 calories per serving! (Note, a serving size is 2 crab cakes and 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce). The menu suggested serving this with a quick salad with lemon dressing which was a perfect accompaniment.
When pressed for time, I tend to look for seafood recipes because they tend to cook quickly and are still a healthy choice. My go-to quick dinner is usually seared salmon with lemons and a quick side salad, which is delicious, but I’m happy to have a new quick dinner option in my repertoire!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
- 1 1/3 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided
- 1 pound lump crabmeat, drained and shell pieces removed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (I used stone ground)
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
Instructions
- Combine the chopped red bell pepper, mayo, salt, pepper, green onions, egg, and egg yolk.
- Add â…“ cup of the panko and the crab meat, tossing to combine. Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and shape into patties.
- Add the remaining panko to a shallow dish and dredge the patties in the panko.
- Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan and add 4 crab cakes. Cook for 4 minutes on each side.
- Remove from pan, and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining olive oil and crab cakes.
- To make the mustard sauce, combine 2 tablespoons mayo, reduced-fat sour cream, parsley, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, and cayenne in a small bowl. Serve with the crab cakes.
Looks good, but just like Weight Watchers….Cooking Light must use a million ingredients that have to be purchased for just a bit used here & there.
Do you get the nutritional information with every recipe or just the calorie count? I would be interested in using the Cooking Light recipes in combo with Weight Watchers.
Hi Nancy,
Yes, each Cooking Light recipe includes nutritional information. Here’s the info for this recipe:
Serving size: 2 crab cakes and 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce
Calories 404
Fat 23.7 g
Satfat 3.1 g
Monofat 13.5 g
Polyfat 5.4 g
Protein 2 g
Carbohydrate 16.3 g
Fiber 1.2 g
Cholesterol 219 mg
Iron 1.6 mg
Sodium 670 mg
Calcium 149 mg
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Thank you so much for that very quick response. Your blog is gorgeous, & the crabs cakes look wonderful! I’m thinking of signing up for Cooking Light Diet Plan to use in conjunction with Weight Watchers, but you need to have the nutritional info in order to calculate the points. I always like Cooking Light recipes so this could be a good partnership for me. Many thanks!
Glad I could help, Nancy! Cooking Light is a favorite of mine too, so I hope you are able to use their diet plan along with Weight Watchers!
Do you think this would work for someone with little to no cooking experience? I’m wanting to lose weight but I think one of problems has always been that I’m really uncomfortable in the kitchen.
Kathy, I actually learned how to cook using recipes from Cooking Light, so I absolutely believe you would be just fine with the recipes provided by the Cooking Light Diet Plan! The recipes aren’t overwhelming!
Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That recently posted..Quick Meatball and Pasta Bake
Don’t do it! I got an email offer from Cooking Light Diet and, in good faith, filled out the subscription information including my credit card information and when I clicked to process the information I got an error message stating that my “payment could not be processed at this time. Your credit card was not charged. Please try again.” So I tried again and got the same message. Guess what? I got charged TWICE on my credit card by Cooking Light Diet and when I try to log in to the Cooking Light Diet website with the user name and password I signed up with, it tells me I am not subscribed. DO NOT BOTHER with Cooking Light Diet. Beware of them.
Would this food plan work for a college student who is vegetarian with very little time to ‘cook’?
Hi Simone! I don’t see why not! You can choose vegetarian recipes, and most of the recipes from Cooking Light take ~30-40 minutes to prepare.
I, too, am trying to find an adjunct recipe finder for Weight Watchers and was considering the Cooking Light Diet subscription. After a year, are you still subscribed? Have the recipes worked out for you? Do they all have a lot of ingredients, that in my case (cooking for one), will end up in the garbage because they go bad/don’t get used up/etc? There are not a lot of “cooking for one” recipes/sites that also provide the nutritional info needed to calculate points. If you know any, please pass that info on. In addition, WW just changed their points system so that in order to calculate the points in a serving, you have to know fat and saturated fat, carbs and added sugars. In the crab cakes nutritional info, I don’t see sugars. Has that changed now, where they do show the sugar content? If CL doesn’t show the sugar, I guess it won’t help me out.
So many questions! I hope you can help out. Your site is lovely and terrific!
Hi Ann!
I was only given a trial subscription to write a post about my experience, so I currently do not have a subscription. However, I use Cooking Light recipes quite frequently for my meal planning.
When it comes to not wasting ingredients, the best thing to do is to pick a couple of ingredients, then search for those ingredients in other recipes, and make a weekly meal plan around them. I also tend to freeze any extra servings for future dinners/lunches (I cook for my fiance and I, so we usually have 2 servings left over.)
Unfortunately, at least for this specific recipe, Cooking Light does not provide the sugar content.
I hope this helps!
I have attempted for two days to join this diet plan on their website. I have spoken to 3 people on three separate phone calls to Cooking Light magazine and no one seems interested in helping me except to keep giving me the website that does not seem to be working. I can get to giving my credit card information, and then an error screen appears. I have received no e-mails from this site regarding my attempts. I am very frustrated right now. Any suggestions?
Right after I posted this comment, I tried one more time and I was successful. Looking forward to starting!
Whew! So glad to hear that, Karen! I was trying to find you another contact person to get this resolved. I hope you enjoy the recipes!
Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That recently posted..Chicken Agrodolce with Creamy Polenta
I just made these for our July 4th picnic. They are amazing! I did increase the stone ground Dijon in the sauce, but that’s just my taste! Thanks for the recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Dorothy!
What kind of crab meat did you use? I don’t always have access to fresh crab meat where I live. What are some alternatives other than canned? Thanks!!
Amanda,
I picked up some from Reading Terminal Market (in Philadelphia) I believe. Canned jumbo lump crab meat is perfectly fine to use in this recipe! Just drain and check to make sure all shells have been removed.