Favorite Warrior Diet dessert

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/ 2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/ 4 teaspoon ground cloves
• Pinch of salt (optional)
• 1/ 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 whole eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 1/ 4 to 1/ 2 cup of maple syrup (adjust sweetness according to taste)
• 1 15-oz. can of organic pumpkin
• 15 oz. nonfat ricotta cheese (or farmer cheese)
• 4 oz. fat-free cream cheese

You can substitute these cheeses with organic, low-fat cottage cheese. However, this will change the texture of the cake slightly.

Preparation:

Combine cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt (optional) in a small bowl. Set aside. Lightly beat vanilla, eggs and maple syrup in a small bowl. Set aside. In a food processor, combine pumpkin and cheese until smooth. Add, alternating egg mixture and spice mixture, to the pumpkin and cheese mixture. (If you don't have a food processor, a blender will work, but mix eggs first, then gradually add pumpkin mixture.) Mix well, approximately three minutes.

Bake in a preheated 425° F. oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool and rack for about two hours. Serve room temperature or chilled. Do not freeze; freezing causes the filling to separate. Pumpkin cheesecake tastes so good that, unfortunately, it disappears too quickly. It's like an open invitation for a binge. The sweetness can be adjusted according to your taste. It goes very well with organic yogurt or low-fat sour cream. As you can see, this dessert is high in protein, low in fat, relatively low in carbs and highly nutritious.