It can be served hot, at room temperature or cold. In other words, this is truly an all-purpose recipe! For further convenience, it can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until you are ready to bake it, and it even freezes well after baking.

PEAS IN A CARROT PUDDING RING

¹/2 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
¹/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
2 egg whites
1¹/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¹/2 teaspoon salt
1¹/2 teaspoon baking powder
¹/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons water
4 medium carrots, peeled and grated (2 cups)
3 cups cooked peas

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 1¹/4-quart ring pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Combine the sugar and butter in a large bowl, and mix until it's the consistency of gravel. Add the applesauce and mix well. Combine the egg and egg whites in another bowl, beat until frothy and stir into the applesauce mixture.

In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon and stir into the applesauce mixture. Add the water and carrots and mix well. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Place the pan in a larger pan that's filled with water, to a depth of 1 inch, and bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Take the carrot ring out of the pan of water and place it on a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes before unmolding onto a serving plate. Fill the center with the peas. To serve, cut the pudding ring into 6 pieces and serve each piece with ¹/2 cup of the peas.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains approximately: 282 calories; 5 gm fat; 46 mg cholesterol; 243 mg sodium; 50 gm carbohydrates; 9 gm protein; 6 gm fiber.