Last week MyPlate had a birthday! On June 2, 2011, the USDA released its new food icon and My-Plate officially replaced MyPyramid as the guide to healthful and balanced eating. This week, we’ll explore some of our favorite aspects of MyPlate.

Here’s a review of key MyPlate information that you should know. These are some of MyPlate’s most important consumer messages, and you can find details at www.choosemyplate.gov.

These messages come in three categories…

• Foods to Reduce
• Foods to Increase
• Balancing Calories

Can you match the messages below to the categories above?

1. Enjoy your food, but eat less.
2. Fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables.
3. Replace sugary drinks with water.
4. Compare the sodium content among various breads, soups, canned meals, and frozen meals, then choose the option with low numbers.
5. Avoid oversized portions.
6. Choose fat-free or low-fat milk.
7. Make at least half the grains you eat whole grains.

Here are the answers. How did you do?

• Foods to Reduce: 3, 4
• Foods to Increase: 2, 6, 7
• Balancing Calories: 1, 5

Celebrate learning more about MyPlate by preparing this fantastic fruit cheesecake that features MyPlate’s great design:

Crust:

• 10 whole grain Fig Newtons (you can also use regular Fig Newtons, in a pinch)

Cheesecake:

• 8 ounces reduced-fat neufchatel cheese
• 8 ounces fat-free cream cheese
• 2 ripe Haas avocados
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon key lime extract (or juice and zest of 2 limes)
• juice of 2 lemons
• 3/4 cup egg whites

Garnish:

• 2 kiwi, 1 cup blueberries, 1 cup raspberries, 2 ripe apricots 1/2 cup apricot marmalade, arranged to match MyPlate’s divisions of color.

Directions:

1. Lightly spray a 9-inch deep dish glass tart dish with vegetable oil spray. Grind the cookies in a food processor and press them firmly into the tart pan.
2. Place the cheese and avocados in the food processor and process until smooth. Add the sugar, corn starch, lime extract, and lemon juice in the food processor and puree. Add the egg whites and puree again.
3. Pour the cheesecake filling into the tart dish on top of the cookie crust. Bake at 325 degrees F until the cake is firm in the center, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven and chill overnight in the refrigerator.
4. To remove from pan, heat the bottom of the dish gently in a bowl of warm water. Sprinkle sugar over the top and invert onto a dish. Invert again onto another dish.
5. Decorate with fruit. Top the fruit with heated marmalade. Chill until ready to serve. Cut into 12 pieces.

Serves 12. Each slice: 276 calories, 8 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 16 mg cholesterol, 279 mg sodium, 45 g carbohydrate, 3.5 g fiber, 7.5 g protein. Compare to regular cheesecake which has 640 calories and 41 g of fat! Or compare to regular frosted birthday cake that has 600 calories and 28 g fat.

For a low-cal, low-sugar treat, use 0% Greek yogurt (4.5 cups) instead of the cheesecake and top with fruit as directed. With the cookie crust, yogurt, fruit and marmalade, this dessert variation will yield 12 servings (scoop it out with fruit on top): 140 calories, 0 fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 88 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 8 g protein.

Cook’s notes: we do prefer using a deep dish glass pan because the cheesecake cooks more evenly than if you use a spring form pan – however you can lower the temperature a little bit and use your favorite spring form pan.