Mint Chocolate Chip Meringues

What an ugly weather day it was yesterday....rainy, windy, gray....but at least there was no snow. ( No, that is making another appearance tonight!  Boo!)  It made me feel like not wanting to do ANYTHING that required leaving the house, but when my youngest son came home from school and asked to go to the mall, I decided it might be good to get out and use the mall as an excuse to get some walking in.  So that is exactly what I did. The mall was dead...which is exactly how I like it!   Since we left so late, we decided to have dinner at Houlihan's in our local mall.  We were early enough to take advantage of the early bird specials, and much to my delight, they now have several healthy choices on that menu.  I got the broiled tilapia and subbed a plain baked potato for the mashed it was supposed to come with.  It was also served with steamed broccoli and a side salad ( which I did my standard request of ONLY vegetables and dressing on the side).  For the one price of $12.99 we were given a choice of dessert to finish off our meals, which I will admit, I ate half of...so I ended up dipping into my extra points for the week...but not too far since the dinner itself was just so point friendly!  There are many restaurants that I rarely go to or have just stopped eating at because making healthy choices was so difficult.  Houlihan's was one of them....but now, it is back on the list...as long as they keep healthy choices available that is!

With it being March....and with St. Patty's Day fast approaching...it seems the color green is everywhere!  We saw Irish dancing at the mall yesterday ( nice treat!), enough snow has melted to see the grass again and  McDonald's is selling Shamrock Shakes ( another thing I used to love but have stopped indulging in...they aren't as good as they used to be anyway! )  so the thought of something minty and green has been on my mind for some time.  I decided to try a batch of meringues flavored with mint, colored green, and speckled with mini chocolate chips.....and well, in the words of Charlie Sheen....WINNING!  I think over the few days they were around, I ended up eating most of the batch...which is really OK because they are so low in points+.  If you have never made meringues before, they are super easy...just a little time consuming.  And with their lovely green color, these pretty much say "spring is coming" to me!

Mint Chocolate Chip Meringues loosely adapted from Chocolate and the Art of Low-fat Desserts by Alice Medrich

Servings -approx. 24 meringues    Serving size -1 meringue   PP per svg - 1 point+
Calories - 46.4,   Total Fat - 0.7g,   Carb. - 9.8g,   Protein - 0.8g,   Fiber - 0.1g

2 egg whites, at room temperature

1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 cup granulated sugar, which has gone through the food processor for 30 seconds

2 drops green food color

1/4 tsp. pure peppermint extract

1 oz. mini chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick foil.  In a medium bowl,  whip the egg whites with a hand mixer, when foamy, add the cream of tartar.  Continue whipping until soft peaks form.   Once soft peaks form, slowly add the sugar a little at at time.  Continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks form.  ( peaks that form when the beaters are removed that stay up)  Be patient, this takes awhile.

2.  Quickly beat in the food color and the extract and then fold in the chips by hand.  You can either put the mixture into a gallon sized bag and snip a hole big enough for chips to come out and pipe about 1- 2 TBS. onto parchment line baking sheets or you can use two spoons, one to scoop, and the other to move the mixture off onto the pans into mounds. 

3.  Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Store in airtight container. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE