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August 20, 2010 9:59 am
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Cottage cheese has a reputation as a diet food. But in this week’s Recipes for Health, Martha Rose Shulman makes a convincing case for cooking with cottage cheese.
Cottage cheese is an excellent, low-calorie source of protein — a half-cup of 1 percent low-fat cottage cheese has 14 grams of protein and only 82 calories. But unlike other dairy products, it isn’t an excellent source of calcium; much of that nutrient goes out with the whey during the curding process.
I use cottage cheese in cooked dishes as well, blended into a creamy sauce for pasta or as a low-fat, high protein base for a dip. Cottage cheese makes gratins taste rich and luxurious, and my cottage cheese bread rises high above the edges of the pan. Cottage cheese also is a low-fat, low-cost alternative to ricotta for lasagna.
Here are five new recipes for cooking with cottage cheese.
Cottage Cheese Pesto: This pungent mixture serves as a vegetable dip, spread or pasta sauce.
Lasagna With Spinach and Cottage Cheese: Cottage cheese substitutes for ricotta in this rich pasta dish.
Raspberry Cream: This simple dish is a perfect setting for frozen raspberries.
Cottage Cheese and Herb Loaf: This savory, high-protein bread is ideal for sandwiches.
Summer Squash and Cottage Cheese Gratin: This comforting, high-protein gratin is a great vehicle for the summer squash now pouring into farmers’ markets.
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Opera Girl August 20, 2010 · 10:33 am
The only trouble with cottage cheese is its high sodium content — a cup has about 400mgs. I have yet to find a brand of organic, no-salt-added cottage cheese. Low-fat ricotta is a good substitute, though!
Erik August 20, 2010 · 10:56 am
I freakin’ love cottage cheese and it’s great as a post-weightlifting snack, but give me the full-fat stuff. The 30-calorie difference for 1% low-fat isn’t worth the watery taste.
Also, if you’re comparing calcium, one 8-oz cup of full-fat cottage cheese has 20% RDA of calcium compared to 28-29% RDA for one 8-oz cup of milk. It’s actually not a bad source of calcium at all, cup for cup. It’s just that most people (except us cottage cheese lovers) don’t eat a full cup of the stuff at a time.
Combining last week’s and this week’s “healthy food” posts: One of my favorite ways to eat cottage cheese is to mix it 2-to-1 with diced cucumber. Half a cup of full-fat cottage cheese, a quarter-cup of diced cucumber, and a generous grind of fresh black pepper. Completely amazing after a workout on a hot afternoon.
Also good with chopped fresh parsley or other herbs.
Kristen August 20, 2010 · 10:57 am
The sodium content is exactly why I buy no-salt-added brands as well. And you are right — no organic no-salt varieties available in my local stores! If one is eating a low sodium diet already, however, eating even just 1/2 cup of cottage cheese is not going to break the sodium bank, especially considering it’s other nutritional content and low calorie content.
Granny Pants August 20, 2010 · 11:05 am
Yes! Cottage cheese is a great substitute for many things that ask for sour cream too! Here are a few of my favorite recipes:
* Cottage cheese in blender with some fresh lemon juice & a tad of salt for mock sour cream topping.
* Mix equal parts of small curd cottage cheese & chunky red salsa. This is an excellent dip for chips & healthy for kids as a snack or lunch addition.
*Plain small curd cottage cheese as a dip for Doritos as a quick, fairly nutritious snack that you can buy at any mini-mart! I have turned on many a child & teenager to this quick snack. When you are on the road or at a gas station & have to get something quick, this is a better choice than most!
panny August 20, 2010 · 11:21 am
@Opera Girl
Try making your own, its so easy! Just add rennet (or Vegiren) to warm milk, let it set for 15 mins (sets like jelly), mix it up and leave for another 10 mins and strain off the whey. I do this with raw milk and its awesome… tastes much better!
Star August 20, 2010 · 11:49 am
I am a life-long dieter (well, except for the last 20 yrs) and I still like cottage cheese! Amazing, what? It makes a good toast spread. Put on lots of black pepper. I know this is not a good spokesman, but I read that Richard Nixon liked it for lunch with ketchup. I don’t know where this cottage is located–but they need to keep cranking this stuff out.
Larry Eisenberg August 20, 2010 · 12:25 pm
The Gratin’s real tempting to me,
The Combo almost Cal’rie-free,
We’ll give it a try
As the ev’ning comes nigh,
T’will suit our taste buds to a T!
FoodFitnessFreshair August 20, 2010 · 12:28 pm
The classic cottage cheese and pineapple makes a wonderful snack. A perfect combo. of salty and sweet. I too like to look for low-salt varieties though. I’ve never made my own. That sounds like a great idea though Panny!
girliefriend August 20, 2010 · 2:16 pm
My faves – cottage cheese with warm boiled eggs, and cottage cheese on baked potatoes.
hetty green August 20, 2010 · 3:28 pm
Cottage cheese and a fruit jelly on a crepe! YUM. Whipped cottage cheese (1% on a bagel) — and thank you for instructions on making your own, Panny! The Czechs make a fruit dumpling served with butter, cinnamon sugar and cottage cheese — heavenly bliss.
ACW August 20, 2010 · 4:19 pm
I agree with #9 — on baked potatoes it is great, and it also makes a good alternative spread for bread or bagels. (Ricotta will do too, and if you want a real stick-to-the-ribs alternative try farmer cheese, which has a much lower moisture content than either and is still low-fat.)
I’d been a vegan until quite recently, but during a recent illness, the only palatable food I could get in the hospital was cottage cheese and fruit. (Hospital dieticians are about 50 years behind the times, and the menu was full of dead animals and junk food. They kept bringing me grilled cheese sandwiches and when I explained about the rennet they just looked at me blankly. Then they wonder why you have no appetite … )
I look for kosher, as the dietary laws against mixing meat and dairy bar the use of animal rennet. (And when in doubt I just don’t get that brand.) I’d rather be vegan, but it’s going to take awhile to wean myself again from dairy … I will have to try the lasagna.
PJ August 20, 2010 · 4:20 pm
With summer tomatoes in, I’ve always loved cottage cheese and sliced tomato (with a pinch of salt) on toast.
Awesome!
Carol Goldstein August 20, 2010 · 5:30 pm
My mother liked cottage cheese with apple butter. She said she learned to do it from her father, who I would love to have met. (I like both apple butter and cottage cheese but not so much together.)
During her final illness that was one of the last foods that appealed to her.
Marly Harris August 20, 2010 · 8:02 pm
#13 Carol Goldstein-Your comment brought tears to my eyes. Full-fat cottage cheese with apple butter was my favorite food treat until I decided to go dairy and sugar free. What a luscious taste that combination had. I’m reaping the benefits of my restricted diet, but I do remember past delights.
Hippo Crates August 20, 2010 · 11:13 pm
Three favorite recipes from Jane Brody’s Good Food Book;
Cottage Cheese Toasties are a healthy alternative to breakfast pastry. Top a slice of whole grain toast with a 1/4 cup cc, then sliced peach or plum or … Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and broil until bubbly. Yum!
Eggplant and Ziti Parmesan: scroll down to see Brody’s recipe, adapted by this blogger. Note that the recipe says sliced eggplant, but she has diced them instead. It looks like that works well and is probably quicker; I’ll try her method next time. Anyway, it’s really good, and requires little prep beyond cooking the eggplant, which I usually do the day before. Just use your favorite jarred sauce – I like Newman’s Own Roasted Garlic & Peppers.
//eatfirst.typepad.com/eat-first/2009/10/alone-in-the-kitchen-with-an-eggplant.html
Cottage Cheese Pancakes – another blogger’s adaptation. I use all whole wheat pastry flour in these. I also usually sub yogurt for buttermilk.
//www.jewishminnesota.org/page.aspx?id=160122
One last one: equal parts canned tuna and cc mixed w/ some minced scallion makes a quick and tasty sandwich filling!
Hippo Crates August 20, 2010 · 11:22 pm
Then there’s this, possibly the definitive collection of cottage cheese concoctions, from the sublime to the ridiculous: //www.stumptuous.com/the-cottage-cheese-page
brasscupcakes August 20, 2010 · 11:58 pm
cottage cheese is great, but it’s considerably more expensive than ricotta, given it’s not available in those gigantic containers and and that you often need to drain off much of the whey to obtain equal thickness.
and Opera Girl’s right, about homemade cottage cheese, it’s so easy waaaay better. (if you’re going to make it, go for the full fat — you won’t regret the extra calories).
Isabel August 21, 2010 · 8:26 am
I love cottage cheese. I make a wonderful spinach pie using both cottage cheese and feta. I also make it with eggplant or squash omitting the spinach. Served warm with a salad makes for a wonderful lunch or dinner especially this time of the year. If you omit the pie pastry, it’s still delicious.
Kim August 21, 2010 · 9:06 am
#6–Star, I’m laughing out loud this morning at your post: “I don’t know where this cottage is . . . .” Thanks for putting a big smile on my face this morning.
We didn’t have ricotta cheese in our grocery stores when I was growing up, so using cottage cheese as a “substitute” for ricotta was an everyday thing. I remember when I tried my first lasagna with real ricotta. Mmmmmm. Regardless, I still use cottage cheese sometimes. You can add it to baked goods too.
Pepper August 21, 2010 · 1:01 pm
At my local Safeway I can find Lucerne no-salt added (or maybe it’s low sodium) cottage cheese. That’s the only brand of low sodium cottage cheese that I know of.
Heidi August 21, 2010 · 2:37 pm
I grew up vegetarian, and my mom used to make something we called cottage cheese roast: a sautéd onion, a carton of cottage cheese, Rice Crispies or Special K, choped pecans, and some vegetable-based chicken-style seasoning. Bake in a loaf or casserole dish for a softer “roast,” and in a 9 x 12 cake pan for a crispier roast. I still make this when I want comfort food.
We also ate cottage cheese in our potato soup, with applesauce, with spaghetti instead of regular cheese, and of course in lasagna as already mentioned. Yum!
Heidi August 21, 2010 · 2:38 pm
Just posted about cottage cheese roast and forgot an important ingredient – eggs! Probably wouldn’t work without!
Andy Noodles August 21, 2010 · 9:32 pm
My favorite breakfast is two fried eggs slid into a bowl of small-curd cottage cheese that’s then topped with a crumpled-up, grape-jelly slathered piece of toast. Very satisfying! Been eating it every so often for nearly 60 years.
Jo August 22, 2010 · 1:40 am
Creamed cottage cheese, whether no-fat, low-fat, or full-fat, is the single nastiest food on the planet. It is slimy in texture, and tastes only of salt. Cooking with it is a waste of all the other good ingredients. Now, unsalted dry-curd cottage cheese, which I haven’t seen in the grocery store in over a decade, was actually edible. Ricotta is far, far better.
Ariane August 22, 2010 · 12:15 pm
No one has mentioned the greatest cottage cheese concoction of all… ice cream! 1-2 containers of cottage cheese in a blender with sweetener, a couple tablespoons of hard alcohol so it won’t freeze rock hard, and flavorings… we use erythritol and stevia for sweetener, and add about 6 scoops of vanilla-flavored cold-processed, grass-fed whey protein powder, then freeze in an ice cream maker. Low-carb, low-fat, sugar-free, and SHOCKINGLY tasty, like cheesecake ice cream.
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