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By Dawn Hall, author of the Busy People’s Cookbook Series

1 medium cucumber
2 teaspoons dry ranch dressing mix
¼ cup finely chopped white onion
½ (8 ounce) package fat-free cream cheese
2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
1 (4 ounce) package lean ham, finely chopped
1 round loaf pumpernickel bread

Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. With a spoon remove all the seeds. Do not peel the cucumber; finely chop it.

In a medium bowl, stir the salad dressing mix, onion, cream cheese, and sour cream together until well blended. Stir in the ham and cucumber until well mixed.

Cut off the top of the round loaf and hollow out the bread leaving 1 inch of bread on the sides to form a bread bowl.

Cut the bread that you scooped out and the top into1-inch pieces and place around the bread bowl on a cake plate. Keep the pieces in a zip-top bag until serving time.

At serving time, place the dip in the hollowed out bread bowl.

Yield: 16 (2-tablespoon) servings

With bread
Calories: 94 (11% fat)
Total Fat: 1g
Cholesterol: 5mg
Carbohydrate: 16g
Dietary Fiber: 2g
Protein: 5g
Sodium: 364mg
Diabetic Exchanges: 1/2 very lean meat, 1 starch

Without bread:
Calories: 23 (0% fat)
Total Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 5mg
Carbohydrate: 2g
Dietary Fiber: 0g
Protein: 3g
Sodium: 173mg
Diabetic Exchanges: 1/2 very lean meat