Bloomin' Blossom (Healthy Clone for Bloomin’ Onions)

Bloomin' Blossom (Healthy Clone for Bloomin’ Onions)


This swap for those notorious fried onion appetizers is slightly more
complicated than our other recipes -- but it is SO, SO, SOOOO worth it! And
if you share this giant thing with 3 pals (instead of 1), each serving'll have
just 96 calories, <1g fat and a POINTS value of 1*. Rock on, Bloomin'
Blossom! (Pssst... click here for an easy-to-follow printable version of this
recipe.)

Ingredients:

For Onion:
1 jumbo sweet onion, not peeled
1 cup Fiber One bran cereal (original), ground to a breadcrumb-like
consistency in a blender or food processor
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Original Egg Beaters)
1/4 tsp. seasoned salt (like the one by Lawry's)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. black pepper

For Sauce:
3 tbsp. fat-free mayonnaise
2 tsp. ketchup
1/8 tsp. seasoned salt
dash chili powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine ground cereal with the seasoned salt,
garlic powder, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Cut the top half-inch of the onion off (from the pointy side, not the flat one).
Leaving the root (bottom) intact, carefully peel the outside layer off.

Next, starting from the top, carefully cut the onion down and across the
middle, stopping about a half-inch from the root. Repeat to make a criss-
cross, cutting the onion down the middle again and stopping a half-inch from
the bottom. You should now have 4 sections still attached at the bottom. Cut
each of those sections down the middle (from the top), again stopping before
you get to the root.

Place the onion, cut side up, in a large bowl, and cover completely with ice
water. Allow to sit for 5 - 10 minutes, or until "petals" open up. (You can use
your hands to gently help pry them open once they've been soaking for
several minutes.) Remove the onion, and dry both the onion and the bowl.

Once both are dry, place the onion back in the bowl, with the petals up. Pour
the egg substitute evenly over it, making sure to get in between all the petals
(use your hands to separate them). Swirl egg substitute around so the
bottom and sides of the onion get coated. Then flip the onion over to drain
excess egg substitute. The entire surface of the onion should be covered
lightly with egg substitute. Transfer onion to a separate, dry bowl. (You'll
likely have about half the egg substitute left in the first bowl.)

Slowly sprinkle ground cereal mixture evenly over the onion, making sure to
thoroughly coat each petal -- again, use your hands to separate them --
flipping the onion upside-down once you're almost done coating, so that the
entire surface gets coated in crumbs. (If needed, spread a little more egg
substitute on any dry spots to get the crumbs to stick.) Spray a baking dish
with nonstick spray, and place the onion in it with the petals facing up.

Place dish in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes (until outside is crispy
and inside is soft). Meanwhile, combine sauce ingredients. When onion is
done, allow it to cool slightly. If you like, carefully cut out the center of the
onion (so petals are easy to remove). Serve with sauce and enjoy! MAKES 2
SERVINGS

Serving Size: half of recipe (including half of the sauce)
Calories: 192
Fat: 1.75g
Sodium: 700mg
Carbs: 54g
Fiber: 17g
Sugars: 13g
Protein: 7g

POINTS value 3*