Summer living is in full swing here at The Three-Acre Wood and I’m all about some easy delicious meals that won’t blow up my Weight Watchers progress. After I lost over a pound last week, I gained almost half an l-b back this week. *grrr*
So last night I decided to dip into my WW bag of tricks and cook up some yummy good stuff that wouldn’t sabotage my weight loss progress. I thawed out some homemade barbeque pulled chicken, but sauces are pretty high in points; so I went searching for a complementary side that wouldn’t blow the day. That’s when I remembered these oven-baked onion rings that are so quick and easy to make that they wouldn’t interfere with some good ol’ treehouse building and T-ball playing (it was a busy evening).
Now who doesn’t love a good onion ring with some barbeque? I can really relish a deep-fried, bread crumb coated onion ring as much as the next gal, but those restaurant-style rings are not exactly low cal or even slightly healthy. Oh wait, onions are a vegetable. . . Can we count those as a serving?
Okay, so let’s stop kidding ourselves and get down to business. I found this recipe in a Weight Watchers cookbook that I borrowed from a friend and was really surprised the first time I cooked up this tasty treat (with a few changes), because they actually do taste like real onion rings! They are also super easy to make (my seven-year-old son helped me in the kitchen last night) and only one SmartPoint for six rings. It really does feel like cheating! I just gotta say that these things are so tasty I would use this recipe even if I wasn’t watching my weight. Yeah, they are that good!
- 1/2 c all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 c plain dried bread crumbs
- 1 large white onion
- Nonstick spray (I use Aldi's SimplyNature Extra Virgin Olive Oil spray.)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.
- Mix together flour, salt and cayenne pepper in a shallow bowl.
- Beat eggs in a different bowl.
- Pour bread crumbs in a third shallow bowl.
- Cut onion into 1/4 inch rounds and separate rings.
- While rings are still moist from cutting, coat rings with flour, dip in eggs, and then coat with bread crumbs.
- Place onion rings on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake until browned on one side, about 10 minutes. Turn rings over and bake until browned on second side, about 6-8 minutes.
- Serve warm.
- Six rings are only 1 Weight Watchers SmartPoint or 108 calories.