As diabetics, too often we focus on the foods we’re not supposed to eat, struggling to say no to pasta and bagels and all the things we know can wreak havoc on our blood sugar. But there are countless delicious recipes that won’t send our glucose levels out of control — and we think Diabetes Awareness Month is a perfect time to share some of our favorites. We’ve gathered diabetes friendly recipes from leading chefs and food bloggers and other great cooks, all of whom know that eating healthily doesn’t mean having to skimp on taste.

By: Elana’s Pantry

photo provided courtesy of elanaspantry.com

With so many healthy and nutritious ingredients, this pie style cheesecake could almost be part of the main course, though I prefer to save it for an after dinner treat in our house as I enjoy the dessert and tea ritual at the end of a meal (the boys love to make tea every evening and are now old enough to hold the kettle of hot water after it has boiled; they are growing up).

Ingredients:

1 medium pie pumpkin, acorn squash or butternut squash
1 quart whole milk yogurt, strained overnight or up to 24 hours (discard whey)
½ cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt

Preparation:

Fill the bottom of a baking dish with a little less than ¼ inch of water

Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds, and place face down in baking dish

Roast pumpkin in the oven for 45-55 minutes until soft

Allow pumpkin to cool and scrape flesh into a bowl, then measure out 2 cups

In a cuisinart, combine 2 cups pumpkin, strained yogurt (minus the whey which was strained out), agave, vanilla and lemon juice and process until smooth, about 1-2 minutes

Process in cinnamon and salt

Pour batter into a 9-inch tart pan

Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes, until firm

Remove from oven, cool and serve

Serves: 8

*A Sweet Life reminds you that agave nectar is a sugar.  The less you use, the better.