:: pretending it's not winter: lemon berry cheesecake ::

So, Katie Lee (Billy Joel's ex-wife) does this cute little column in SELF magazine called The Sporty Chef. This month she's chilling down in Turks and Caicos (which I am not), in a bikini (which I am not), eating this cheesecake. It's delicious, so I guess I'm willing to settle for one out of three.

Anyway, cheesecake always sounded really hard, but this one isn't too bad. Maybe 20 minutes to prep, and then 40 minutes in the oven, and 2 hours to set. And at 239 calories a slice and 12 grams of protein, it doesn't put me on a cheesecake suicide mission.

Light Lemon Berry Cheesecake

Source: SELF, 1/14

Serves 8

Ingredients: 
-Cooking spray
-1/2 cup whole-wheat graham cracker crumbs (I cheated and just bought a ready made graham cracker shell)
-1 package (8 oz) light cream cheese, cut into quarters
-2 cups light cottage cheese
-3 eggs
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/4 cup lemon juice
-2 tbsp all purpose flour
-1 tbsp lemon zest
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 cup berries (I used raspberries)

Directions: 
Heat oven to 375. Press in the graham cracker crusts after you've sprayed a springform pan with cooking spray...unless your lazy like me and then just open the crust package.

In a blender or bowl, mix cream cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, sugar, lemon juice, flour, zest and vanilla extract until smooth, about 45 seconds. Gently pour into pan.

Bake until it looks set but has a slight jiggle, about 40 minutes. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes and set for at least 2 hours.

Serve topped with berries!