I try, I really do

Mushroom-Fontina Strata
Better Homes and Gardens New Diabetic Cookbook Copyright 1999

3 cups assorted sliced fresh mushrooms, such as shitake, button, white, and/or cremini I used all button mushrooms
½ cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 ounces Canadian-style bacon, finely chopped
8 ½-inch-thick slices French bread
½ cup shredded Fontina cheese I added more
2 tablespoons assorted snipped fresh herbs (such as basil, oregano, marjoram, or thyme) or 2 teaspoons assorted dried herbs, crushed I used dried
1 cup fat-free cottage cheese
1 cup evaporated fat-free milk
3 egg whites
1 egg
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 small tomato, seeded and chopped I omitted this

1. Spray a medium skillet with nonstick coating. Cook the mushrooms, onion, and garlic in a skillet until tender. Drain off any liquid. Stir in the Canadian-style bacon.
2. Spray a 2-quart rectangular baking dish with nonstick coating. Arrange the bread slices in the prepared baking dish, cutting as necessary to fit. Sprinkle mushroom mixture over bread. In a small bowl toss together fontina cheese and desired herbs. Sprinkle over mushroom mixture.
3. In a blender container or food processor bowl combine cottage cheese, evaporated milk, egg whites, egg, mustard, and pepper. Cover and blend or process until smooth; pour evenly over other ingredients in baking dish. Lightly press bread down with the back of a spoon. Cover; chill for 4 to 24 hours.
4. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven about 35 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with chopped tomato. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings

I hate when I screw up a recipe, denying it a fair review. When I went to throw some dried herbs onto the cheese, I accidentally grabbed a bottle of garam marsala. I thought I got most of it out of the cheese before I moved on but I couldn't get past the idea that the flavor was still there. And if there's one combination of flavors that turns me off right now, it's cumin and cinammon (after that crab enchilada disaster, the week I ended up getting a stomach bug - I never ate it but the smell was enough). Personally I think this would have been better without any dried herbs, just salt and pepper would have been fine.

This just didn't 'wow' me. I must have rich tastes because almost every time I try a diabetic or other 'light' recipe, I'm not impressed. I think if you added the fat back into this, and took out the herbs, it would be pretty good so this might be something someone can play around with.