Simple Secrets To Healthy Cooking

Simple Secrets
to
Healthy Cooking
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100 + Tips, Tricks, Swaps, and Substitutions
4/6/09 10:06:00 AM
Simple Secrets
to Healthy Cooking
100+ Tips, Tricks, Swaps, and Substitutions
The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.
Pleasantville, New York / Montreal
Copyright © 2009 by The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction, in any manner, is prohibited.
Reader’s Digest is a registered trademark of The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.
Note to Readers: The information in this booklet should not be substituted for, or used to alter, medical
therapy without your doctor’s advice. For a specific health problem, consult your physician for guidance. The mention of any products, retail businesses, or Web sites in this booklet does not imply or
constitute an endorsement by The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.
ISBN 978-1-60652-990-4
Printed in the United States of America
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Simple Secrets to
Healthy Cooking
When is the last time you had a delicious restaurant meal that
didn’t break the calorie bank? That wasn’t oversalted? That provided several servings of vegetables that weren’t laden in butter
or cream sauce? That included tasty whole grains known to help
prevent everything from heart disease to diabetes? That’s what
we thought.
There’s no doubt about it: Cooking at home translates to better
health. When you control the portion sizes and the ingredients,
you gain the power to give your body exactly what it needs—and
nothing it doesn’t—all while truly satisfying your taste buds.
Think it’s too difficult or time-consuming to cook healthy meals
at home? It’s not—especially with this treasure-trove of clever
hints at your fingertips. It’s chock-full of ways to make producing
nutritious meals from your own kitchen surprisingly effortless
and convenient. So sharpen your chef’s knife and get ready.
You’ll start with a revamped trip to the grocery store, take a new
look at your kitchen, master a few healthy cooking methods,
learn how to sneak healthy ingredients into just about everything
you eat, and discover oh-so-useful swaps and substitutions that
turn any meal healthier. In no time you’ll be cutting down on
waist-widening calories; boosting disease-fighting, blood-pressure-lowering vegetables and fruits; improving your cholesterol
numbers; lowering your cancer risk; and more.
Cooking healthy meals doesn’t demand endless grocery shopping
or gourmet cooking skills or complicated recipes. It just takes a
little planning, a slight shift in perspective, and a hungry stomach! In no time at all, you’ll find healthy cooking has become a
habit—one you’ll never want to break!
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contents
Chapter 1
Buy Good-for-You Ingredients 4
Plus: Five Staples Every Healthy Kitchen Must Have 10
Chapter 2
Create a Cooking-Friendly Environment 12
Plus: Three Steps to Stress-Free Weeknight Dinners 16
Chapter 3
Master Healthy Cooking Methods 17
Plus: Chefs’ Secrets to Easy Food Prep 21
Chapter 4
Be a Health-Inspired Chef 22
Plus: Spice It Up! 24
Chapter 5
Use Clever Switches and Smart Swaps 28
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CHAPTER 1
Buy Good-for-You
Ingredients
To prepare healthy meals, you need to have healthy ingredients on
hand. Sounds easy enough, right? Right—until you go to grocery store.
The average supermarket stocks a dizzying 40,000 products or more
and places countless bad-for-you processed foods at eye level to turn
a bigger profit. Following the shopping strategies below will help
you outsmart the store and get you through checkout with a stash of
healthy ingredients and some money left over.
Buy fresh, whole foods. There is
no simpler, no easier, no plainer
measure of the healthfulness of your
food than whether it comes in boxes
and cans or is fresh from the farms
or the fields. More than half your
groceries should be fresh vegetables
(frozen are fi ne for convenience
as long as they’re naked—without
sauce), fruits, seafood, lean meat
or poultry, and low-fat dairy (think
plain yogurt to which you add your
own fruit).
Shop the outer edges of the store.
That’s where all the fresh foods are.
The less you fi nd yourself in the
central aisles of a supermarket, the
healthier your shopping trip will
be. Dip into the aisles for canned
beans, whole-grain cereal, brown
rice, and other non-perishable items
you know you need (like olive and
canola oil).
Buddy-up with the produce managers.
Don’t like the droopy lettuce on the
shelf? If you’ve taken the time to
greet the produce manager regularly,
he or she is more likely to dash to the
storage room to get you something
fresher.
Pile up on “all-the-time” vegetables.
It’s hard to fi nd a main meal recipe
that doesn’t include at least one of
these five essentials: garlic, onions,
carrots, celery, or potatoes. Happily,
all of these store well in the crisper
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Buy the freshest fish for tonight’s
dinner. Fresh fish is the ultimate “fast
food” because it’s ready in no time
and often requires no more than a
squeeze of lemon for flavoring. The
trick, of course, is to buy the freshest
fish possible, which isn’t always easy.
Our two top hints: First, no matter
what type of fish you had planned on
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•• If you’re buying whole fish, the
fish’s eyes should be clear, not
cloudy; the inside of the gills
should be bright red, not grayish
or even pink.
•• If you’re buying fillets, they
should be moist and firm. If there
are gaps or separations in the
flesh, it’s not fresh.
•• Whether you’re buying whole
fish or fillets, it should not smell
“fishy.” If it does, it’s not fresh.
Fish should have a moist, almost
musky smell like a cucumber or
melon’s. If you’re in doubt about
the freshness, ask the fish monger
to bring the fish to you to let you
sniff it before you commit to
paying for it.
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buying, be ready to scrap that idea
and buy whatever’s freshest instead.
Second, buy fish that isn’t already
shrink-wrapped so you can properly
examine it. Here’s what to look for:
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drawer of the
fridge or in
a cool, dry
place. Have
a plentiful
supply of
these backbone veggies
around and
you won’t hit
roadblocks in recipes,
plus you can always improvise
something tasty in a pinch, such as
a celery-laced potato soup or pasta
smothered in caramelized onions
and roasted carrots.
If your broccoli
or celery has gotten
limp, cut 1/2 inch off
the bottom of each stalk.
Place in a glass of cold
water and chill. It will
be crisp again in a
few hours.
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Subscribe to a farm. You get good, fresh food, and
you also contribute to the survival of a small farm when you become
a member of a CSA—a community-supported agriculture project. In
a CSA, subscribers pay a farmer (usually at least partly up front) for a
certain amount of food every week for the season. You get whatever’s
available, and the farmer gets cash to help keep the farm going. Ask
at your local health food store or farmer’s market for suggestions or
contact a local or regional organic farming organization.
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Buy Pacific salmon instead of Atlantic—the West Coast variety is wild,
which makes it naturally bright orange and lower in mercury than Atlantic
salmon, which is almost always farm-raised and sometimes treated with
antibiotics and food coloring additives.
Talk turkey. Whenever you find
yourself reaching for a package of
ground meat, take a few steps sideways to the poultry section and pick
up ground turkey breast instead. It
works just as well as ground beef for
meatballs, meat loaf or chili. This
little substitution can cut more than
30 percent of the calories and more
than half of the fat and saturated fat
in a three-ounce serving. When it’s
smothered in a zesty tomato sauce
or flavored with seasonings, you’ll
hardly notice the difference. If
you’re feeling a little hesitant about
abandoning the beef, use half turkey
and half lean beef.
even have more protein than beef.
What’s more, studies suggest that
soy may have special power to help
lower blood sugar. You don’t have to
brown and drain crumbles before
adding to recipes either, saving
time—they’re already cooked. How
to use them? Simple. Use them
instead of beef in chili (add plenty of
vegetables) and spaghetti sauce. And
if you’re making meat loaf, substitute crumbles for half the beef.
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Choose the right cheese. Forget fatfree cheeses; most are loaded with
blood-pressure boosting sodium to
make up for lost flavor, and they tend
to have a plastic, dry mouthfeel. And,
Seek out soy crumbles. Head over to
besides, “real” cheese can be good
the frozen foods section of any large
for you. It’s a concentratedAsource
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grocery store for another great
of phosphorus, zinc, vitamin
substitute for ground beef.
A, riboflavin,
vitamin B12, and
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These nuggets of soy protein
calcium, which studies show
have a chewy textureht
that
may help prevent insulin
iglike
Love the
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makes them “feel”
resistance, a harbinger
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taste of beef?
meat in the mouth.
of diabetes. And cheese
Give soy crumbles a
Crumbles have almost
can be heart healthy:
beefy f lavor boost by
no fat, no cholesterol,
According to a study of
adding low-sodium
and less than half the
10,000 adults at Wake
beef bullion to the
calories of an equivaForest
University School
dish.
lent amount of ground
of Medicine in Winstonbeef. Ounce for ounce, they
Salem, North Carolina,
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•• Choose naturally lower-fat, lowercalorie cheeses. These include
farmer cheese, feta, and soft goat
cheese.
•• Opt for part-skim. Versions of
mozzarella, ricotta, cottage, feta,
cheddar, American, provolone,
and others, made with partskim milk, have less saturated
fat but just as much good taste
and texture as the whole-milk
varieties. You don’t lose any of the
good-for-your-arteries calcium or
essential fatty acids either.
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To make cheese
last longer in the fridge,
wrap it tightly in plastic
wrap or aluminum foil to
prevent it from drying out.
Change the wrapping each
time you use the cheese
to keep mold from
taking hold.
•• Go gourmet. Try an herbencrusted sheep cheese, a nutty
French Comte or a handcrafted
domestic blue cheese. Although
specialty cheeses are high in fat,
their deep, intense flavors are more
satisfying, so you can more easily
stick to one serving—about the size
of two nine-volt batteries.
Use the color brown as your grain
guide. Brown is the hue of most
whole grains, which not only have
more vitamins and minerals than
refined white ones but are richer
in fiber, which protects you from
heart disease, cancer, and digestive
Don’t just grab any old ground turkey. Look carefully at the label in search
of ground turkey breast; otherwise you could be buying meat that has
almost as much fat as hamburger meat! Ground skinless turkey breast
gets only 5 percent of its calories from fat, compared with 43 percent for
turkey ground with the skin, 63 percent for chicken ground with the skin,
and 77 percent for ground beef.
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•• Switch from grated Parmesan
to grated Romano. The flavor
is stronger so you can use less.
Romano is less expensive, too!
And it has slightly fewer calories.
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women who ate the equivalent of a
serving of cheese a day had higher
ight
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HDL (good) cholesterol and lower
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LDL (bad) than those who ate less. In
contrast, men didn’t benefit from eating cheese, possibly because the ones
they choose have more saturated fat
and salt than the ones women tend to
pick. Tips for better cheese choices:
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problems. Whole-wheat bread and
pasta are easy switches, but so is
brown rice—don’t be put off by its
reputation for long cooking. Soaking it overnight cuts cooking time to
about 20 minutes. The key to conserving the B vitamins is to soak it in
the measured amount of cold water,
then cook it in the same water.
lycopene than fresh because they’re
concentrated. And canned tomatoes
are a godsend when it comes to quick
dinners—you can warm some up
with garlic for an instant pasta sauce,
mix some puree with vegetables for a
quick soup, or simmer with chunks
of chicken breast and herbs for a
flavorful stew.
H
LT
Purchase bags of dried beans. They
know fish is good for you. People
cost next to nothing, they rank
who eat fish twice a week slash their
among the top 10 foods richest
risk of heart disease and even have
in antioxidants, they stay fresh
a lower risk of depression thanks to
for at least six months, and their
brain-healthy fish fats. But since fresh
reputation for being difficult and
fish lasts only a day or so in the fridge,
time-consuming to cook is undeeating your fill can be tricky, though
served. Sure, if you remember, you
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you can always rely on canned tuna
can presoak beans theEnight
and salmon for lunches. For dinbefore by simply throwing
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coo
ner, buy bags of frozen shrimp,
them
inka large bowl with
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scallops, or fish fillets. They
plenty of water, covering,
ight
are almost as goodbras—
and letting sit. But it’s
When buying
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and sometimes better
not required. You
canned tomatoes,
than—fresh. Quickcan just as easily
look for products labeled
thaw according to
boil the beans for
San Marzano. These plum
package directions
two minutes, then
tomatoes are sweet and
meaty and have fewer seeds,
and you have the
let stand in the
less acid, and more natumakings of a fast,
covered pot for an
ral sugar than other
high-protein meal.
hour. After presoakvarieties.
Think shrimp stir-fry
ing, most beans require
or fillets poached with
almost no attention at all
scallions or skewered, grilled
to cook—just simmer on low
scallops served on a bed of lettuce.
for one to two hours, until tender.
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Go fishing in the freezer section. You
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Stock up on canned tomato products.
Look for microwave-safe steaming bags.
Studies find that tomato sauces and
crushed and stewed tomatoes have
higher amounts of the antioxidant
They’re a fast and convenient way to
cook many vegetables while keeping
their nutrients, crispness, and color
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intact—with the added treat of elimi- from granulated lemon zest and
nating pots and pans! Place veggies in cracked black peppercorns, and the
the bag (such as Glad SimplyCooktangy bite it adds can help reduce
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ing). No water is necessary. See bag
the need for salt in vegetable,
for suggested cook time of the
meat, and grain dishes), and
cook’sseasoning. These
veggie you’re using, then stand
blackened
cook’s
the bag in the microwave.
spice mixes lend serious
ht
g
r
i
Wait 30 seconds before
kick to fish, chicken,
b EA
Extend the life of
opening because hotID
or shrimp without
fresh herbs by storing
steam may escape.
calories. They
them properly in the fridge:
Each bag can cook
usually contain
Place the stems in a glass of
three to four servcayenne pepwater. Cover the leaves with a
plastic bag. You can also wrap
ings of vegetables,
per, black pepper,
the herbs in damp paper
usually in less than
garlic, and onion
towels and place in a
two minutes.
powder, and possiplastic bag.
bly paprika, celery, or
Buy real wine. Cooking
fennel seeds and other
wine is not of good qualingredients. If you like spicy
ity, and it’s typically loaded with
food that’s not too hot, there’s no
sodium you don’t need. Stock a bottle
better way to quickly add a lot of
each of red wine, white wine, and
flavor. Also try other dry rubs, such
inexpensive port for cooking and use
as cracked pepper rubs. Go for the
these instead of bouillon, commercial
better brands; they often rely less
sauces, and other synthetic aids to
on salt for their taste.
flavoring. Wine is a rich source of
polyphenols—natural plant comMake your juice grape or tomato.
pounds that help fend off heart disease, Grape juice contains many of the
cancer and many complications of
antioxidant compounds found in red
diabetes. To make excellent gravy
wine—and it’s significantly cheaper
for roast meat, strain the fat off the
than trendy juices such as pomegranate
pan drippings, add 1/2 cup wine, and
and wild blueberry (both of which are
scrape up the meat residue in the pan.
also very high in antioxidants). Make
Cook on high heat for a couple of min- sure it’s 100 percent juice, not juice
utes, which gets rid of the alcohol in
drink. And because it’s sugary, dilute
the wine, add a little water, and cook
it to half strength with seltzer. Tomato
for about two minutes more.
juice is another smart choice; it won’t
raise your blood sugar nearly as much
Stock up on seasonings. Two we
as other juices will, and you’ll get a full
like: lemon pepper (it’s made
vegetable serving in just 3/4 cup.
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5
Staples
1
Olive Oil
2
Vinegar
EVERY HEALTHY KITCHEN
MUST HAVE
Not just for salads or vegetable sautées, fruity
green olive oil can be used to replace half the
butter in cakes; as an instant topping for pasta;
as a base for meat and fish marinades; and as
a flavorful substitute for smoked sausage or
bacon in soups or casseroles. Why use olive oil
rather than other types? It’s one of the hearthealthiest fats around, with studies showing
it can lower “bad” LDL cholesterol and raise
“good” HDL cholesterol. Be aware that it has a
relatively low “smoke point,” the temperature
at which it will start smoking (and make your
food taste bitter). For high-temperature cooking, use canola or peanut oil instead.
It’s essential to dress greens and for making
marinades and glazes. You can also splash
it on berries. Don’t limit yourself to plain ol’
distilled vinegar. Try red or white wine or apple
cider or buy or make flavor-infused vinegars,
such as tarragon, raspberry, strawberry, and
so on. The acid in vinegar appears to slow
the emptying of the stomach, which could
translate to lower blood sugar levels after
meals—and to staying fuller longer, a boon to
anyone trying to lose weight.
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3
4
5
White
WholeWheat
Flour
Peanut
Butter
Mustard
Milled from white, rather than the traditional
red or brown whole wheat, this flour has all the
fiber and nutrition of traditional whole-wheat
flour but with a milder flavor and lighter texture.
It’s a great product to use while you transition
to a diet with more whole grains since it isn’t
dramatically different from white flour in taste
and cooking qualities (it’s just better for you!).
Start by replacing one-third of the all-purpose
flour in your favorite recipe with white wholewheat flour; gradually increase the percentage
of it until your baked good’s flavor and texture
are just the way you like them.
It’s much more than a protein-rich spread for
sandwiches and apples. Peanut butter is a
key ingredient in Asian stir-fries, African-style
soups, homemade trail bars, and more. Full
of “good” fat, it’s also rich in plant sterols, one
of the top proven cholesterol busters, as well
as the heart-healthy antioxidant compound
resveratrol. Studies have linked eating peanut
butter to a lower risk of diabetes, high blood
pressure, and even gallstones.
A dollop of mustard is a wonderful way to add
a kick of flavor, with no fat, to meat marinades,
eggs dishes, and everything bean-related. Most
varieties contain no added sugar and are much
lower in sodium than ketchup. Experiment
with different varieties: Spicy Dijon is great
slathered on chicken breasts before grilling,
for example, while fiery hot Chinese mustard
makes a tasty dipping sauce ingredient.
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Chapter 2
Create a CookingFriendly Environment
It’s a simple law of human behavior: The more convenient it is to do
something, the more likely you are to do it. In other words, the easier
it is to whip up meals from healthy foods you buy, the more likely it
is they won’t sit unused, spoiling. Get set to organize and equip your
kitchen in a way that encourages fuss-free food preparation. Use
these tips to set the stage for lots of no-stress, healthy cooking.
Keep the kitchen clean. Make a rule
and share it with every member of
the family: Dirty dishes are never to
be left in the sink, and the counters
and table are to remain clean. You’ll
be far more motivated to cook
healthy meals if you don’t have to
clean the kitchen first.
eating more food. Using the food
processor for grating (rather than
a hand grater) is a surefire fi ngertip
saver, not to mention time saver.
This handy appliance is also easy to
clean with a quick rinse under hot
water when it has only been used to
shred vegetables.
Put your food processor front and
center. It slices, it dices, it shreds, it
Invest in nonstick pans—and use them
properly. Nonstick pans and bake-
purees—it does everything and
makes quick work of it! So don’t
bury your food processor inside
a cabinet—make a place for it on
your counter so it’s always easy to
use. Make sure you have the grating
attachment—grating vegetables like
carrots, cabbage, celery, cucumber,
and such adds volume to your meals,
meaning you eat fewer calories while
ware are a great way to cook or bake
food, from omelets and chicken
breasts to cupcakes and bread loafs,
without being left with a daunting
cleanup afterward. After all, the
prospect of a huge sticky mess can
stop you from cooking before you
even get started! For low-fat cooking
in particular, nonstick pans are a
must, since they require little or
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•• Don’t use metal utensils on
nonstick cookware, and wash it by
hand using nonabrasive cleaners
and sponges (do not use steel wool).
•• Don’t stack nonstick cookware on
top of each other; stacking may
scratch the surface.
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knives every kitchen should have are:
••A small paring knife. This has
a 3 1/2-inch blade for paring
asparagus stalks, peeling avocados, and de-stringing celery,
among other jobs.
••A medium-size serrated knife.
This slices tomatoes and other
soft juicy vegetables and fruits. It
can also be used for slicing bread.
••A large chef’s knife. This has an 8-,
9-, or 10-inch blade for quick and
easy slicing, dicing, and chopping.
••A cheese knife. A good cheese
knife allows you to cut paperthin slices of your favorite hard
cheeses. You’ll eat less cheese
(meaning less saturated fat and
calories) and still get the flavor
you desire.
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Stock four essential knives. The four
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•• Don’t cook with temperatures
high enough to burn food (hotter
than 450°F), which is the point
at which the nonstick coating
will break down and release toxic
fumes.
•• Replace the pan at the first sign of
cracking or peeling.
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no oil for cooking. But what about
questions regarding the safety of
nonstick cookware, mostly because
of health concerns about a chemical
used to bond the nonstick coating
to the pan? The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and DuPont,
which manufacturers nonstick coating, say cooks have little to worry
about if they use nonstick cookware
properly. Here’s how:
Many recipes call for using cheesecloth to strain things,
but coffee filters produce a clearer liquid and they’re easier to
use than cheesecloth. If you’re using a cone-shaped filter, set it into
a funnel and put that over a container large enough to hold your
liquid. Pour the liquid into the filter. If it’s taking its time about going
through, go do something else for a while, then pour in some more. If
you’re using a basket-type filter, follow the same procedure, but set
it into a sieve over a jar or bowl.
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A brick works just as well as an expensive Panini press—
a machine that looks like an oversized waffle maker and that works
by pressing all the ingredients of a sandwich together, then grilling
them. Paninis are quite delicious and turn an ordinary sandwich into
a real treat. To have your Panini without the machine: Cover an ordinary brick in aluminum foil. Place your sandwich on a grill or a frying
pan, then put the brick on top to squash it down. When brown on one
side, turn the sandwich and replace the brick.
Keep your knives sharp. A dull knife
can easily dull your enthusiasm for
thinly slicing onions or chopping
cherry tomatoes or doing any of the
other tasks needed for healthy food
prep. But you can chop till you drop
if your knife’s blade is nicely honed.
While expensive electric sharpeners
are efficient, they’re not necessary to
do the job. Hand-held sharpeners or
sharpening stones, which you can buy
for under $10 at most cooking supply
or department stores, work fine.
Consider buying a slow cooker. A slow
cooker’s low heat, generally between
170°F and 280°F, tenderizes inexpensive, leaner cuts of meat, so you
can enjoy lean cuts without sacrifice.
Powered by less electricity than it
would take to cook the same meal in
an electric oven, a slow cooker can
turn a handful of ingredients into a
one-pot feast while you’re out working, shopping, visiting, or playing.
The most successful slow-cooker
recipes are for dishes that have high
moisture content, such as stews,
chilis, and roasted meats with veggies
and sauce.
Keep two cutting boards in play.
Which side are you on: wood or
plastic? Actually, the war over which
type of cutting board is safest is
over. Plastic can be cleaned more
thoroughly but wood retains less
bacteria. The bottom line: It’s a draw.
The important thing is to cut meat
or poultry on one cutting board
and vegetables on another, so the
vegetables don’t become contaminated. Then wash both boards with
hot, soapy water.
Discover the double boiler. Here’s a
tool that’s so old it never gets any
hype, so it might as well be new and
unknown. Double boilers are guaranteed not to scorch, they’re great
for keeping food warm, and you
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can serve directly from them when
entertaining. You can improvise a
simple double boiler by placing a
heatproof bowl (Pyrex is perfect)
over a saucepan of simmering water.
The bowl should sit over the water,
not in it.
Get a George Foreman Grill. Although
many infomercial appliances probably sit underneath your kitchen
counter only to gather dust and cobwebs, a George Foreman Grill may
become an appliance that occupies a
permanent spot on your countertop
(next to your food processor!). This
device allows you to grill inside your
house. A drip pan catches the grease,
reducing the fat content of cooked
meat and making cleanup simple.
The portable, indoor grill allows you
the convenience of low-fat grilling
during the winter months, when it’s
too cold to grill outdoors.
Buy one good vegetarian cookbook .
If you tend to have meat for dinner
most of the time, you may wonder,
“What else is there?”. The answer:
plenty! Find out for yourself in
books like Moosewood Restaurant
Simple Suppers and How to Cook
Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. Try out promising-looking
recipes until you have at least
five favorites you can add to your
weekly rotation.
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3
Three Steps to Stress-Free Weeknight Dinners
You’re late, you’re tired, it was a long, rough day on the job. Making dinner
may be the last thing you feel like doing, but it’s a little less daunting when you
use these strategies:
1.
Toss a big
salad on
Sunday.
Lettuce and most crisp vegetables will remain fresh
for several days in the refrigerator, so making a big
salad in the beginning of the week should get you
through to Wednesday or Thursday. Mix diced carrots,
celery, green beans, fresh broccoli, and cauliflower
with your favorite greens and store in an airtight
container. Add anything that contains moisture, such
as tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, low-fat cheese,
chicken, tuna or turkey, just before serving.
2.
Cook a large
batch of
barley or
brown rice
once a week.
These whole grains take about 45 minutes to cook
(unless you use quick-cooking varieties), but they
store beautifully in the fridge for up to a week and
reheat easily in the microwave. Precooking makes it
a snap to incorporate fiber-rich brown rice or barley
into soups, casseroles, salads, or pilafs. No patience
needed!
3.
Make meal
prep a family
affair.
Sometimes the idea of preparing a meal, washing
the dishes, and cleaning the kitchen can have you
dialing for takeout. The solution: Enlist help! Teens
are perfectly capable of chopping vegetables and
cooking pasta (not to mention putting their plates in
the dishwater after the meal), and even preteens can
help by setting the table. Finally, make a deal with
your spouse: Whoever cooks does not have to clean.
Besides sharing the labor so no one does it all, there
are other benefits to delegating: It results in more
creative menu idea-sharing and more time together
as a family.
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Chapter 3
Master Healthy
Cooking Methods
Healthy cooking isn’t complicated. In fact, you probably already know
the basics of grilling, steaming, and stir-frying—techniques that capture the flavor and nutrients of food without adding lots of fat or salt.
But you’ll want a few more calorie-shaving, nutrient-boosting tricks
up your sleeve so you never get bored. The healthy cooking tactics
described below will expand your repertoire—and are a snap to learn.
Sauté vegetables with seeds or
nuts. Seeds and nuts are important
sources of fiber, “good” monounsaturated fat, vitamin E, and other
natural compounds shown to
improve heart health and lower the
risk of diabetes. And they’re the perfect compliment to quick vegetable
sautés: Wipe or brush on a thin
glaze of olive oil in a nonstick skillet.
Throw in naturally tender vegetables,
such as thin-stalked asparagus,
strips of eggplant, green beans,
mushrooms, or snow peas, and add a
tablespoon of sesame seeds, ground
flax seeds, or fi nely chopped walnuts,
hazelnuts, cashews, almonds, or
peanuts. The seeds and nuts release
oil when heated, adding a rich, complex flavor and eliminating the need
for additional butter or oil. Harder
vegetables, such as carrots, broccoli,
or cauliflower, may benefit from a
quick blanching in boiling water
beforehand, to soften them slightly
before sautéing.
Toast nuts to bring out their flavor.
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Place
1/2 cup shelled nuts in a single layer
on a baking sheet and roast for 7
to 10 minutes. Don’t let them burn.
Then add to salads or eat as snacks.
Marinate, marinate, marinate! It
infuses foods with exciting tastes
while keeping the end result skinny.
It’s the difference between a ho-hum
grilled chicken breast and one that
sparkles with flavor from having
basked in a pool of sage-seasoned
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T H
H
LT
butter to keep them juicy during the
pear or apricot nectar for a few hours
long cooking process. But roasting
beforehand. Bland fish, such as cod
EA
can also be a quick, low-fat
or flounder, also benefit from short
k’spreparing food.
method
marinating—a brief soak in some
cooof
cook’s
For instance, chunks of
pineapple or orange juice
pork and apple, shrimp
spiked with soy sauce,
right
Don’t marinate
and thin slivers of
for example, addsbaIDEA
fish in a citrus-based
bok choy, and tofu
jolt of flavor without
marinade for more than
with mushrooms
overkill. And when
15 minutes. The acid will
can be seasoned,
you marinate lean,
actually start to cook the
then roasted on a
tougher cuts of beef
fish, and your entree
baking
sheet or in
in vinegar, citrus juice,
could end up tough
a roasting pan with
or wine, it helps break
instead of tender.
delicious results. Roastdown the fibrous tissue
ing vegetables shouldn’t
of the meat, tenderizing it.
be overlooked either—it browns
Make your marinade do double duty.
them, sweetens them, deepens their
Zesty marinades can also double
flavor, and adds a satisfying crunch.
as great low-fat sauces, so don’t
throw them away. Instead, bring the
Foil your fish. Use aluminum foil to
marinade to a boil over mediummake an extra-healthy fish dinner.
high heat and cook until reduced
Lay a long piece of foil on a clean
and slightly thickened, three to
surface. Top it with a piece of fish
five minutes. (The boiling destroys
along with some herbs or spices
any microbes picked up from raw
and a drizzle of olive oil. Pinch the
meat.) You can add a shake of flour
ends together, create an airtight
to thicken if you like, or just drizzle
tent over the foods, and poke a few
a little of the thin liquid over the
holes in the top of the foil with a
cooked meat.
fork. Cook in the oven and in no
time you’ll have a steaming, flavorSave roasting for…anytime, anyful, low-fat meal.
thing! Roasting, which uses an
oven’s dry heat to cook the food,
Make healthier “cream” sauces. Lowscarcely requires any more attenfat yogurt is infinitely better for your
tion than preheating the oven. But
heart and waistline than sour cream
too many of us reserve roasting for
or heavy cream and can be used in
the occasional whole chicken, leg of
place of them if you know how. To
lamb, or turkey—foods that often
prevent it from separating, add one
require lots of basting with oil or
tablespoon of cornstarch to one cup
HIN
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ight
brID
EA
cook’s
Freeze leftover tomato
paste. When you just want a
tablespoon or two of tomato paste,
remove that from the can and drop the
remainder by spoonfuls (pretend you’re
making cookies) onto wax paper. Put these
dollops, wax paper and all, in the freezer.
Once they’re frozen, peel them off the paper,
drop the paste pieces into a zip-seal plastic
bag, and store them in the freezer. Next
time you need a little tomato paste,
just add a “cookie” or two to your
sauce or soup. There’s no
need to thaw..
H
LT
cook’s
T H
Poach for skinny moisture. Cooking in
a low-fat liquid ensures that food will
be moist and tender without added
calories. Boneless, skinless poultry,
low-fat fish such a flounder or tilapia,
and meatier veggies, such as butternut
squash or turnips, are particularly
good choices for poaching, since these
foods can easily dry out with other
methods. Use a heavy-bottomed skillet that has a lid. Ideally, it shouldn’t
be much bigger than the size and
shape of the food you’re cooking, so
you can use a minimum amount of
liquid (too much liquid will result in
diluted flavors). Add broth or a mix
of wine and water to cover the food
about halfway. Season with herbs and
chopped vegetable seasoners like scallions, celery,
carrots, or onions. Bring
EA
the mixture to a boil, lower heat, cover,
and simmer until the meat or fish is
cooked or the veggies tender.
HIN
yogurt before stirring it into a dish.
If you want to mask that yogurt
“tang,” simply add a touch of sugar.
For a creamy sauce with more heft,
try this yogurt-spiked vegetable
puree: Whirl 2 cups of steamed vegetables (broccoli, carrots, parsnips)
with a chopped leek or shallot in a
food processor or blender. Stir in
1/2 cup low-fat yogurt mixed with
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch. Reheat to
just below simmering and substitute
for just about any creamy sauce.
Barbecue (but safely). Grilling allows
for fat drip-off like no other method.
But cooking meat over a hot, open
flame has long been suspected of
creating a variety of chemicals
that may play a role in cancer
development. Still, experts
agree that enjoying a backyard
barbecue on occasion is unlikely
to significantly raise your cancer
risk. Plus, there are ways to make
eating grilled foods safer:
••Avoid charcoal lighter fluid or
self-starting packages of briquettes
in a charcoal grill; they will leave
residues of toxic chemicals in your
food. A healthier alternative is an
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•• Raise the grill racks to the highest
level, then keep the temperature
lower to prevent smoke and flame
from reaching food.
•• Flip using tongs or a spatula—a
fork pierces food, releasing juice
and fat that leads to fire flare-ups.
•• Scrape off any charred, blackened portions before eating—the
burned areas contain many of the
chemicals believed to be cancerpromoting.
Get creative on the grill. Here are
three simple ideas to try:
•• Grill corn on the cob. Grilling
gives corn a rich, more complex
flavor and doesn’t require that
big pot of boiling water. Place the
corn, in its husk, on a mediumhot part of the grill and turn
the ears as they brown. The
object of this step is to cook the
kernels, and that should take
20 to 25 minutes. Then peel back
T H
cook’s
HIN
•• Skewer meat with lots of fruits
and vegetables. They don’t form
harmful chemicals when flamecooked, plus studies show they
may be protective against the
cancer-causing ones created in
grilled meats.
cook’s
H
LT
inexpensive chimney lighter that
uses a small amount of newspaper r ght
i
to ignite a mass of charcoal in a b IDEA
large metal cylinder. Gas grills are
also safer.
EA
Roast a chicken
breast-down. Cooked in the
traditional way with breast side
up, the white meat of a chicken is
dry and worn out by the time the dark
meat is done. Try flipping the bird over:
Chicken cooked with its backside up
and breast down produces meat that
is moist and tender throughout.
Just prop up the chicken on a
long cylinder of rolled-up
aluminum foil.
the husks (but leave them on the
cob), remove the silk, spritz the
kernels with a little olive oil, and
season them with salt and pepper.
Return to the grill and cook until
nicely browned, 4 to 5 minutes.
•• For a fun appetizer, cut salmon
fillets into 1-inch-thick strips and
thread onto wooden skewers that
have been soaked in water for
30 minutes. Brush with teriyaki
sauce and grill just until opaque.
•• For a quick, easy, and tasty
side dish, grill small Japanese
eggplants brushed with olive
oil, minced garlic, and salt and
pepper. There’s nothing quite as
good as grilled eggplant.
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Chefs’ Secrets
to Easy Food Prep
Great chefs—whether they work at a fancy restaurant or just happen to be
amazing home cooks—have all sorts of little tricks to keep things simple and
streamlined. Try these “kitchen wizard” tactics to:
Peel garlic
Place the bulb on a cutting board and whack it with
the flat side of a heavy knife. The peel will come right
off. You’ll use more fresh garlic—known to lower “bad”
LDL cholesterol—once you master the art of peeling it
quickly and easily.
De-pit
avocadoes
They’re a great source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat and cholesterol-lowering sterols, but they
can be intimidating to liberate from their peel and
pit. No longer! Cut the avocado in half lengthwise. To
remove the pit, tap it with the blade of the knife so the
knife slightly penetrates the pit. Then give the knife a
sideways twist and the pit will come out. Now you can
easily scoop out the flesh.
Quick-chop
canned
tomatoes
Only have canned whole tomatoes on hand but need
them diced? Get out the kitchen shears. Stick ’em right
in the can, and cut up the tomatoes.
Shell an
egg easily
Pricking eggs before hard-boiling them makes them
easier to peel. Just take a pin and insert it about half an
inch into the fat end of the egg. That lets in enough air
to break the seal between the membrane and the egg
white it wants to cling to.
Get zest
in a zip
If you don’t have a lemon zester, place a piece of plastic
wrap over a grater and rub the lemon directly over the
plastic wrap. When you’re done, simply pull off the
plastic wrap and scrape the zest off with a spoon.
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Chapter 4
Be a HealthInspired Chef
Your ultimate goal is to feel comfortable using a wide assortment of
good-for-you ingredients and confident that you’ll end up with a dish
that tastes great. No problem! Start by embracing these ideas, and
soon you’ll be able to expand your repertoire of healthy entrees—no
recipes required!—so you don’t get stuck serving the same old thing
week after week.
Add beans to everything. You know
how good they are for you, but you
only end up using them in chili.
If that describes you, it’s time to
embrace beans more heartily. The
more familiar you become with the
different types, the easier it will be
to intuitively grab a can and include
it in menus. Use these ideas as a
launching pad:
• Make a bean salad with canned
black beans, fresh or frozen
corn kernels, chopped cilantro,
chopped onion, and chopped
tomato. Drizzle with olive oil and
a dash of vinegar or lime juice,
salt, and pepper.
• Puree a can of cannellini beans
for a tasty dip. Add 2 cloves garlic
and a tablespoon each of lemon
juice and olive oil to the blender.
Use as a dip for veggies and
whole-grain crackers.
• Combine mashed white beans
with tuna fish, minced onion, and
dill to make a sandwich spread
or dip.
• Dress warm lentils (which
cook in about 30 minutes—no
presoaking required) with a light
vinaigrette and toss with chopped
cherry tomatoes and parsley
and serve over a bed of crunchy
Romaine lettuce for a room-temperature salad.
• Make a bean-topped pizza. Pile
a prepared, whole-wheat pizza
crust with some kidney beans,
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The same goes for berries. Of course
you can top your waffles, pancakes,
yogurt, and cereal with them—but
that’s just the beginning! For breakfast, whip up a smoothie by pouring
frozen berries into a blender along
with a banana, a few drops of vanilla
extract, and a little orange juice. At
lunchtime, sprinkle fresh berries over
tossed green salads. For a healthy dessert, start with angel food cake—it’s
naturally low in fat and calories—
and top it with fresh raspberries that
have been whirled in a blender with a
touch of sugar and orange juice.
Make fruit a main-course ingredient.
Go beyond strawberries sliced on
cereal or apples in a pie. Include fresh
and dried fruits in all sorts of savory
dishes to boost nutrition (fiber, vitamin C, and other antioxidants), add
IDEA
cook’s
••Add apples to roasted vegetables:
Dice a peeled apple and some
winter squash. Sprinkle with
cinnamon, salt, and pepper, and
roast for 45 minutes.
•• Serve fish or pork on a bed of
chunky fruit chutney: Combine
chunks of pineapple, mango, or
papaya with chopped onions,
ginger, garlic, mint, cilantro, and
hot pepper flakes. Heat until
fruit starts to soften, then place
a ladleful on each plate and top
with broiled fish or grilled slices
of pork tenderloin.
•• Make a fruit sauce for poultry:
Cook chunks of peeled pear,
minced ginger, and dried coriander in a small saucepan until soft,
then puree and drizzle warm over
chicken.
cook’s
HEA
LTH
bright
an interesting sweet twist to dishes,
and remove the need for added fat as
a flavor source. Some ideas:
T
shredded cheese and ground
turkey cooked with oregano, basil,
and other Italian seasonings.
Use a banana to ripen other fruit. You may have heard
that putting fruit in a paper bag speeds ripening by concentrating
the ethylene gas it emits. To make it ripen even faster, add a fully
ripe banana to the bag, which will give off more ethylene. Don’t use
plastic bags; the fruit will just spoil.
HIN
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Spice It Up!
Herbs and spices are the backbone of healthy cooking. They take the
bland out of low-fat foods and add practically no calories. What’s more,
most are chock-full of antioxidants and other disease-fighting ingredients.
Here are four of our favorites:
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is so tasty it’s hard to believe it has any
health benefits at all, but it’s actually one of the
most powerful healing spices. Anti-inflammatory
and high in antioxidants, it’s become most famous
for its ability to improve blood sugar control in
people with diabetes. Some tips:
› Add to applesauce, baked apples, and hot
oatmeal.
› Add a half teaspoon or so to ground coffee
before starting the pot.
› Sprinkle on winter squash or sweet potatoes.
Garlic
Garlic has antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral
properties, and it’s great for your heart. It’s also a
powerhouse when it comes to preventing colorectal, stomach, and prostate cancer. A few tips:
› For perfectly minced garlic, rub a clove over a
fine grater.
› For a small amount of garlic paste, mash one
clove with a fork.
› To reduce the pungency of garlic when adding it
raw to vinaigrettes or dips, simmer peeled cloves
in a small amount of water for 2 minutes.
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Ginger
This gnarled root has been a major player in Asian
and Indian medicine for centuries, primarily as a
digestive aid. Today we also know it combats inflammation and can help with arthritis pain and even
migraines. Some tips:
› Marinate salmon with low-salt soy sauce and
peeled and minced or grated fresh ginger.
› Sauté ginger and garlic in peanut oil to start off
just about any stir-fry.
› Combine chunks of steamed winter squash with
roughly chopped ginger and a touch of trans-fatfree margarine, and process in a food processor.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Turmeric
The spice that gives curry powder its yellow hue,
turmeric used in Indian medicine to stimulate the
appetite and as a digestive aid. But lately it’s grabbing serious attention as a cancer fighter. Studies
have also linked turmeric to reduced inflammation
in a number of conditions, including psoriasis.
Some tips:
› Purchase bright yellow curry powder, which is
likely to contain the most turmeric, or add turmeric to your favorite brand of curry powder.
› Include up to a teaspoon in pea soup.
› Add to stews, casseroles, and lentil dishes.
Just ate garlic bread? Chew on some cardamon or caraway seeds! They’re smaller
and far more effective than breath mints.
— getdollarsavvy.com
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•• Update an American classic:
“Oven-fry” strips of chicken breast.
breast is full of all-important
Just dip into a little flour,EAcoat
protein, low in fat, quick cooking,
in a mixture of egg and but’s with seasoned
always in season, and reasonably
termilk,
cookcover
cook’s
priced. But it’s deadly boring
breadcrumbs, then bake in
when broiled plain,
the oven at 350°F for 20
ht
igtime
brID
The fastest way
after time. The upside
EA
to 30 minutes. The
to cut carrots into
of its bland flavor
chicken will have a
julienne strips is to start
is that it makes it
crispy coating that
with packaged mini-carrots.
super-versatile—the
satisfies your yen for
They’re the perfect size to
perfect backdrop
the fried version.
simply slice lengthwise into
against which to
quarters and then cut
Stretch your beef. There
unleash your creativinto 1/8-inch strips.
are
all kinds of tricks to
ity! The possibilities
help
a
little red meat go a
are endless, but here a few
long
way.
The
idea is to satisfy
suggestions:
your craving for beef, but not get an
•• Break out of the traditional
overload of artery-clogging saturated
stir-fry: Using a nonstick skillet,
fat. In addition to using soy crumbles
sizzle thin strips of chicken breast
in place of some of the beef, here are a
in hot peanut oil, then toss in a
few more tactics to try:
tablespoon of minced ginger, a
•• Sauté eggplant with onion and
handful of slivered scallions,
garlic, then substitute it for half
fresh peach slices, and a splash
the ground beef in lasagna.
of lemon. Serve hot over a bed of
•• Reconstitute dried shitake mushraw baby spinach.
rooms in some hot water for half
•• Make an instant casserole: Brown
an hour, then use them in place
1/2-inch chunks of chicken
of
some of the beef in a stir-fry.
with chopped onions and garlic
Shitakes
have a meaty, chewy
in olive oil in a nonstick pan.
texture
that
makes them a perfect
When fully cooked, add raisins,
beef
substitute.
almonds, cooked carrot slices,
H
LT
T H
Consider chicken breast a “blank
canvas.” Boneless, skinless chicken
HIN
cubed cooked butternut squash, a
sprinkle of cumin, and an equal
ratio of couscous to chicken
broth. Cover, turn off heat, let sit
for five minutes, then eat.
•• Create healthier meat loaf by
combining finely chopped spinach, peppers, onions, and carrots
with extra-lean ground beef. Use
oats as a binder.
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Find joy in soy. Go beyond diced tofu
in a stir-fry and experiment with
all the different uses of versatile soy
products. For example, make a tofu
salad with cubes of firm tofu that
have been sprinkled with soy sauce
then baked for 30 minutes. Toss with
corn, sliced avocado, sliced tomatoes,
and chopped cilantro. Marinate tofu
in low-sugar barbecue sauce and cook
it on the grill. Or try this innovative,
super-quick, healthier pumpkin pie
filling. In a food processor or blender,
combine all of the following ingredients, pour into a prebaked 9-inch pie
crust, and bake in a 350°F oven until
set, about 15 minutes. Cool completely before serving.
12 ounces extra-firm tofu
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice or cloves
Bake flavor and fiber into breads. That
way you won’t feel the need to add
butter. You may already know to add
herbs to baguettes, blueberries to
pancakes, and walnuts and bananas
to muffins. But don’t overlook the
power of adding vegetables to baked
goods, such as chopped, seeded
tomato or sweet potato puree to
biscuits; shredded carrots to corn
bread; or diced, steamed winter
squash to a whole-wheat loaf. As a
general rule, start with small additions (1/4 to 1/2 cup of any veggie) to
standard recipes, so you don’t radically alter the taste or texture. You
can always up the amount the next
time if you like the results.
Embrace chocolate. If you choose the
dark variety and use it sparingly, it’s
practically a health food! One ounce
of luscious dark chocolate packs as
much as 41 milligrams of flavanols,
powerful antioxidants that guard
against plaque buildup in artery
walls. That’s more than a cup of green
tea, an apple, or a glass of red wine
contains. To get chocolate’s benefits
without overdoing the fat or calories,
limit yourself to about an ounce a
day, and choose chocolate with the
highest cocoa content you can find
(probably 70 percent cocoa). Experiment with making your own “candy”:
In a saucepan, slowly heat a 14-ounce
can of fat-free condensed milk with
6 ounces of dark chocolate. Peel eight
tangerines, separating the sections,
and dip them into the melted chocolate mixture. Serves eight.
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Chapter 5
Use Clever Switches
and Smart Swaps
A simple switch here and substitution there can add up to big savings in calories and fat—as well as big gains in antioxidants, fiber,
and other good-for-you nutrients. And swapping out unhealthy
ingredients—or sneaking in some healthy ones—doesn’t have to ruin
the flavor or texture of a recipe. With a little ingenuity, it’s possible
to transform the health profile of dishes while keeping them tasty.
Here’s a roster of simple swaps.
Remove the sausage, add the anchovy.
A 1/4 teaspoon of anchovy paste or
mashed anchovies per cup of tomato
sauce adds a savory, meaty, rich
flavor without any of the saturated
fat you get from sausage or ground
beef. You get a dose of heart-healthy
omega-3s, too!
Sub low-fat yogurt for sour cream. To
make it thicker, line a sieve with a
large coffee fi lter or two layers of
white paper towels (avoid printed
ones). Place the sieve over a large
bowl. Place 1 cup of yogurt in the
fi lter. Refrigerate for about 3 hours.
This will yield 1/2 cup “condensed”
yogurt with body and texture similar to sour cream. Use as a substitute
in recipes or add some chives and
top your potato with it.
Add bulk with chopped mushrooms,
delete the ground beef. You’ll cut
about 400 calories from standard
recipes for lasagne, sloppy Joes, and
chili, according to one study, which
also found that the “meatiness” of
mushrooms left eaters feeling so
satisfied that they didn’t compensate by overeating later in the day.
But don’t blow mushrooms’ allure
by sautéing them in lots of butter.
Use a nonstick pan lightly brushed
with oil or butter, then cook on
a low heat until the mushrooms
begin to throw their liquid. Then,
turn the heat up to high and cook
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Drain a 15-ounce can and toss with
2 teaspoons olive oil and 1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning. Bake at
When baking, use applesauce in place
375°F until dry and golden, 35 to 40
of half the butter or oil. The pectin in
minutes. Let cool completelyAso they
E
applesauce adds moisture and tenget crisp. For a nacho flavor,
derness, creating lower calorie
replace the
Cajun seasoning
ook’s
baked goods, which also have
cook’s
withc1 teaspoon chili powder,
a slightly chewier texture.
1/2 teaspoon ground
As a fat replacement,
ight
cumin, and 1/8 teabrID
You
can
slash
the
A
applesauce works E
spoon cayenne.
salt by one-half in baked
best with lightergoods that aren’t made with
colored batters and
Replace some pasta
yeast. But don’t cut the salt
spice batter.
with produce. Cut
in bread or cake recipes that
the
amount of
require yeast—the salt is needed
Consider caulipasta in half and
for proper rising. If you leave
flower in place of
replace it with an
it out, the end product
mashed potatoes or
may be flat and overly
equal amount of
rice. You’ll save on
dense.
vegetables—you get
calories. Here’s how
the same big portion
to make mashed caulibut about half the calories
f lower: Boil a head of caulif lower
and more nutrients. Steamed green
cut into f lorets, one diced peeled
beans or snow peas are a perfect
potato, and six peeled garlic cloves
match for linguine with pesto
until tender. Drain and puree in
sauce. Lightly sautéed zucchini and
a food processor and thin with
eggplant go great with rotini and
enough warm milk to make it
tomato sauce. And shredded carrot
velvety. Drizzle olive oil on top and
or cabbage can be added successfully
season with salt and pepper. To use
to just about any pasta dish that is
caulif lower instead of rice: Shred
heavy on garlic and herbs.
caulif lower in a food processor
until the texture is similar to rice.
Remove the bacon fat, keep the flavor.
Lightly steam it and use in recipes
How? Choose a lean smoked meat
that call for cooked rice.
like Canadian bacon, turkey bacon,
or smoked turkey. They all have a
Snack on chickpeas instead of chips.
fraction of the calories and slightly
Not straight from the can, silly!
more protein than regular bacon,
Here’s how to roast them as a snack:
with plenty of flavor.
H
LT
T H
until the liquid is reabsorbed and
the ’shrooms are softened.
HIN
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Instead of bottled salad dressing, use
homemade. Bottle dressings are
T H
H
LT
fructose corn syrup, there was
vitamin C–rich lemonade. Make
typically loaded with salt, sugar,
your own—with much less sugar
high-fructose corn syrup, and prethan most commercial varieties—
EA
servatives. They’re much higher
using about three lemons
in calories than they need be
and a quart
of water. Just
cook’s the lemons and
cook’s
for good flavor, plus making
squeeze
your own is less expensive.
mix about 1/4 cup
right
Try mixing 1 cupbolive
of sugar into the
If
you’re
watching
A
IDE
oil with 3/4 cup
water. Voilà!
what you eat, no doubt
balsamic vinegar,
you’ve cut down on butter. But
Add corn—not
once in a while, a little bit of butter is
1/4 cup water, a
cream or
just
what
the
chef
ordered.
Here’s
the
shake of dried
cheese. To
trick:
Sauté
in
small
amounts
of
butter
basil, 1 crushed
give soups
and
olive
oil.
You’ll
use
less
butter,
the
oil
garlic clove, and
or
cassewill keep the butter from burning, and
a pinch of sugar.
you’ll get that unmistakable butter
roles
a rich,
It keeps in the
flavor while searing and browning
creamy
texrefrigerator for at
meats and vegetables faster
ture
without
least a month. Just
than you would in oil
adding fat, use
remove an hour before
alone.
pureed
corn. The
serving so it can liquefy.
corn adds a welcome
Out of eggs? Reach for fiber-rich
touch of sweetness, too. For
f laxseed instead. In a blender,
creamy soups, you may want to
combine 1 tablespoon ground
thin the puree with a touch of
f laxseed with 3 tablespoons water
broth or water before adding. For
and process for 1 minute, then let
enchiladas or lasagna, simply mix
stand until viscous, about 2 minthe pureed corn into the filling,
utes. The mixture doesn’t have the
leaving out some of the cheese.
leavening effect of eggs, so don’t
Swap reduced-fat cream cheese for
use it in cake recipes, but it’s great
some shortening in crusts. Replace
for adhering crumbs to chicken or
fish; as filler in meatballs and meat up to one-fourth of the butter or
shortening with reduced-fat cream
loaf; or in muffin, pancake, or
cheese.
Add 1 tablespoon sugar and
waff le batter.
1/2 teaspoon baking powder to the
Skip soda and make your own soft
dough for tenderness and a lighter,
drink. Before there was Coke and
flakier texture.
Pepsi, with their loads of highHIN
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Subtract the cream and butter from
white sauces. A creamy white
sauce served over pasta or steamed
vegetables doesn’t have to be loaded
with saturated fat or calories. Here’s
a better-for-you version: Sauté
2 tablespoons chopped leek or green
onions and 1/4 teaspoon minced
garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil until
the leek or onion is softened. Add
3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs
and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Cook
over medium-high heat until the
liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup, about
8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the
heat and stir in 1/2 cup plain yogurt.
Serve immediately.
Use pureed peas in place of mayo.
You’ll get the creaminess without
all the heart-clogging cholesterol
and fat—plus some B vitamins,
folate, and fiber. Blanch fresh peas in
boiling water until softened or use
frozen peas, cooked according to the
package instructions. Whirl in the
food processor until creamy—you
may need to add a splash of water.
Use as the binder for egg salads, tuna
salads, and even dips.
Try a burger alternative. Try a thick
eggplant slice or a portobello mushroom cap. These veggies have no
saturated fat and are low in calories
and high in minerals, yet have a
creamy-firm texture and flavor that
work great in a roll. Brush with oil,
salt, and pepper, and grill until tender just as you would a hamburger.
Serve with all the usual burger
condiments and extras.
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