Low-Fat and Quick

Eating food that contains a lot of fat needn't be a default way to live. For most high-fat dishes, there are tasty low-fat alternatives. Often, the shift to a healthy, low-fat recipe from a high-fat one is possible through seasoning. A slight change makes all the difference.

The following tip list from the National Institutes of Health provides several examples of how to reduce fat. Many of these suggestions are already an important part of healthy recipes in this book.

• Use reduced-fat or nonfat salad dressings.
• Use nonfat or lower-fat spreads, such as jelly or jam, fruit spread, apple butter, nonfat or reduced-calorie mayonnaise, nonfat margarine, or mustard.
• Use high-fat foods only sometimes; choose more low-fat and nonfat foods.
• To top baked potatoes, use plain nonfat or low-fat yogurt, nonfat or reduced-fat sour cream, nonfat or low-fat cottage cheese, nonfat margarine, nonfat hard cheese, salsa, or vinegar.
• Use a little lemon juice, dried herbs, thinly sliced green onions, or a little salsa as a nonfat topping for vegetables or salads.
• Use small amounts of high-fat toppings. For example, use only 1 teaspoon butter or mayonnaise; 1 tablespoon sour cream; 1 tablespoon regular salad dressing.
• Switch to 1 percent or skim milk and other nonfat or lower fat dairy products (low-fat or nonfat yogurt, nonfat or reduced-fat sour cream).
• Cut back on cheese by using small (1 ounce) amounts on sandwiches and in cooking or use lower fat and fat-free cheeses (part-skim mozzarella, 1 percent cottage cheese, or nonfat hard cheese).
• Try small amounts of these low-fat treats: fig bars, vanilla wafers, ginger snaps, angel food cake, jelly beans, gum drops, hard candy, puddings made with low-fat (1 percent) skim milk, nonfat frozen yogurt with a fruit topping, or fruit popsicles. Try pretzels or popcorn without butter or oil for an unsweetened treat.
• Save french fries and other fried foods for special occasions; have a small serving; share with a friend.
• Save high-fat desserts (ice cream, pastries) for special occasions; have small amounts; share a serving with a friend.
• Choose small portions of lean meat, fish, and poultry; use low-fat cooking methods (baking, poaching, broiling); trim off all fat from meat and remove skin from poultry.
• Choose lower-fat luncheon meats, such as sliced turkey or chicken breast, lean ham, lean sliced beef.
• What's a recommended serving size for meat? Experts suggest three ounces of cooked meat (which is the size of a deck of cards or a hamburger bun).

Excerpted from:

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to 20-Minute Meals © 2003 by CWL Publishing Enterprises, Inc., John Woods, President. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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