LOW FAT ABT's


 

dwayne e

TVWBB Super Fan
I know ABT's have been beat to death but my wife got me to make them with lowfat cream cheese and they were wonderful.

I mixed about 6oz of Philly lowfat cream cheese (3/4 of a small box) in a mixing bowl with onion powder and McCormick's taco seasoning (to taste......I like a lot).

I halved and cored 10 jalapeno peppers (I always look for large/plump/dark peppers).

I evenly split the CC between all of the peppers and filled them with a fork.

I then wrapped them in TURKEY bacon. I used 1/2 slice per pepper and put them all on skewers.

I then smoked them until the bacon was done.......for me, this usually takes 1-2 hours at the end of one of my smokes (when the WSM is running at about 225).

The results were wonderful. With the seasoning, it was hard to tell the CC was lowfat. The turkey bacon was crisp and tasty. Everyone who has sampled them has loved them (without knowing it was a fairly lowfat dish).

If you're looking for something fairly healthy to fix on your WSM, this is the way to go. My wife LOVES them!!

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Great idea Dwayne about the taco seasoning. We usually use ground turkey for the filling seasoned with garlic salt, a dash of cumin, and after the ground turkey has cooled a little we mix in some spinach dip or even the artichoke and jalapeno dip, then stuff and wrap with bacon, but now I like the idea of turkey bacon and will sub that instead of pork bacon.
 
I forego the bacon all together for the low fat alternative... In a warm pan i mix laughing cow lite cheese and mix with ground turkey, garlic, fine chopped onion, and seasoning until i have a nice gooey mixture. I leave the japs in tact and just cut the tops off, and stuff my mixture in there. I have a jap rack i bought at william sonoma that they stand up on. I top off with some grated cheddar and put the jap caps back on before i throw them on the smoker. I typically use pecan, 1.5 hrs at 300. Voila.
 
Thanks for sharing that Dwayne. I made ABTs for the first time last night and used non-fat cream cheese It sounds like you've gone the full distance on reducing fat in yours.

I have no idea if they taste different because I've never made them any other way, but I do know that they did taste good!
 
I use skim mozzarella inside and put a "square" of bacon as a cap rather than wrapping it. some times I mix a tiny bit of serrano ham in with the cheese.

Not exactly low fat version but my favorite ABT this summer as been apples and chedder. slice up little matchsticks of apples and chedder and stuff them in the jap. I usually cap with bacon since the apple sticks turn black if they are sticking up.
 

 

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