Reduce the Fat, Not the Flavor

Simple tips to make your favorite recipes lower in fat and more heart-healthy

Here are two complete menus that are healthy and delicious.

Menu 1: Winter Delight
Caesar Salad with Homemade Crouton
Brocolli Manicotti
Spiced Pumpkin Bars

Menu 2: For When the Game Is On
Make your own mixed greens salad with your favorite low-fat or fat-free dressing or serve crudite with fat-free ranch dressing
Spicy Arkansas Chili
Spicy Corn Muffins
Vanilla-Poached Pears

Want to lower your risk of developing heart disease and still enjoy delicious-tasting foods? It’s not difficult to do, says registered dietitian Shelley DePinto of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network’s Helwig Health and Diabetes Center.

“Most recipes – from Grandma’s meatloaf to your favorite creamy dessert – can be tweaked to be more heart-healthy,” DePinto says. To do this, select heart-healthy fats like the monounsaturated fats (canola, olive, and peanut oil) and omega-3 fats (fatty fish, walnuts) and try to limit saturated fats (butter, whole milk dairy products, and fatty cuts of meat) and trans fats (found in many packaged foods and stick margarine). “Monounsaturated fats help lower your bad cholesterol and raise your good cholesterol whereas saturated and trans fats raise bad cholesterol which can lead to heart disease,” DePinto says. For example, to make a meatloaf more heart-healthy, try replacing half of the ground beef with ground turkey, as ground turkey tends to be lower in fat than ground beef. If you are making a cream-based dessert, try some of the substitutions below to replace the cream. It is important to remember that high fat foods are also high calorie foods! “Using the guidelines below, you may be able to cut the fat or replace saturated and trans fat with a more heart-healthy fat in many of the meals and desserts you enjoy.”

Tips for modifying recipes

Many of your favorite recipes can be modified to provide a healthy, lower fat alternative that still tastes good.

Reducing sodium intake is another important part of a heart-healthy diet.

Copyright Highmark 2004

For a downloadable chart listing common herbs and spices and the foods they complement, click here.

For a downloadable chart showing which cuts of meat are the leanest (including total fat and saturated fat information), click here.

Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons

With crisp hearts of romaine, crunchy croutons and a creamy non-fat Caesar dressing, you can recreate the flavor of the high-fat restaurant classic. This recipe yields more croutons and dressing than you need for one meal. Save the extra croutons in an airtight container and use them for soups and salad throughout the week. The leftover dressing will also keep, covered and refrigerated, for 3-4 days. Enjoy it as a dip with raw or blanched vegetables.

Serves 4

Homemade croutons:

1 day-old non-fat baguette, in 3/8-inch dice

Caesar dressing:

½ cup non-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons grated non-fat Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 large head romaine, washed, dried and chipped into bite-size pieces

Make croutons: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Put diced baguette on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Make Caesar dressing: Put all dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk to blend.
To assemble salad, put romaine in a salad bowl. Add 1 cup croutons and half the dressing. Toss well to coat leaves evenly with dressing. Serve immediately.

Broccoli Manicotti

You don’t have to eliminate all your favorite dishes on a low-fat vegetarian diet; just learn to adapt them. Substituting non-fat dairy products for high-fat ones and filling the shells with fresh broccoli and mushrooms instead of ground meat yields a dish with all the pleasure and none of the fat of the more familiar version.

You can fill the shells in advance and refrigerate, but bake them just before serving. (Figure a little more time if they’ve been refrigerated.) Note that you need to undercook the shells before filling them as they will cook more in the oven.

Serves 4

½ cup diced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup vegetable broth
½ cup diced mushrooms
2 cups thawed and squeezed-dry frozen chopped broccoli or 2 cups well-drained chopped cooked fresh broccoli
1 cup non-fat cottage cheese
½ cup liquid egg substitute
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons grated non-fat mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg
8 manicotti shells (half a 9-ounce package)
1 cup non-fat marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small skillet, combine onion, garlic and broth. Bring to a simmer, covered, over moderate heat and simmer until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, uncovered, until mushrooms are tender and their liquid has evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool.

In a bowl, combine mushroom mixture with broccoli, cottage cheese, egg substitute, ¼ cup mozzarella, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir well.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add manicotti shells and cook according to package directions until half-done. Drain.

Divide filling among manicotti shells and place in an 8-inch by 12-inch baking dish, either nonstick or lightly sprayed with nonstick spray. Cover shells evenly with marinara sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake until hot throughout, about 30 minutes.

Spiced Pumpkin Bars

Fragrant with “pumpkin pie” spices, these cake-like bar cookies would be welcome in a lunch box or picnic basket. Or pass a platter of pumpkin bars as the finale to a holiday meal, paired with hot herb tea.

1 cup egg whites (from approximately 8 large eggs) or liquid egg substitute
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1½ cups granulated sugar
2 cups canned unsweetened pumpkin (not prepared pumpkin pie filling)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray a 12-inch by 8-inch by 1-inch pan with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, applesauce, sugar and pumpkin.

Sift or stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Gently fold dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture; do not overwork. Spread mixture evenly in prepared pan. Bake until firm to the touch and lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool, then slice into 24 bars. Dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

Spicy Arkansas Chili

Serves 4

10 (2.5-ounce) Boca Burger “No Fat Original” patties
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced green bell pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 cup canned ground tomatoes or diced tomatoes diced finer by hand
¼ cup tomato salsa (no added fat)
Salt

Cook Boca Burgers according to package directions. Chop coarsely.

In a nonstick pan, combine onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder and cumin. Add ¼ cup water, bring to a simmer and simmer until vegetables are soft and water evaporates, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, salsa, chopped Boca Burgers and 2 cups water. Bring to a simmer, cover and adjust heat to maintain a slow simmer. Cook until chili is thick and flavorful, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Spicy Corn Muffins

Corn kernels, red bell pepper and a hint of salsa give these golden muffins an appealing Southwestern flavor. They’re perfect with a spicy chili or enjoy with a favorite vegetable soup, black bean stew or braised collard greens.

Makes 8 muffins

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ cup egg whites (approximately 4 large eggs) or liquid egg substitute
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
½ cup diced red bell pepper
¼ cup tomato salsa (no fat added)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
½ cup non-fat plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal and baking powder.

In a large bowl, whisk egg whites with salt just to break up the whites. Stir in corn, bell pepper, salsa, cilantro, applesauce and yogurt. Add dry ingredients and mix lightly just to blend; do not overmix.

Divide mixture evenly among eight 2½-inch-wide muffin cups, either nonstick or lightly sprayed with nonstick spray. Batter should come just to the top of the cups. Bake until nicely risen and lightly browned, about 25 minutes.

Vanilla Poached Pears

If you like the flavor of vanilla extract, you’ll love the character of real vanilla bean. Look for it in jars in your supermarket’s spice rack.

Serves 4

1 tablespoon frozen apple juice concentrate
1 tablespoon sugar
1 (3-inch) piece vanilla bean, halved
4 pears, preferably Anjou or Bosc

In a large saucepan, combine 1½ cups water, apple juice concentrate and sugar. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the water with a knife, then add the bean pods to the water, too. Bring mixture to a simmer over moderate heat and simmer 2 minutes.

Peel, quarter and core the pears. Add to poaching liquid, return to a simmer, cover and adjust heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until pears are just tender when pierced, 5 to 10 minutes. Cool in liquid, then chill. To serve, put four pear quarters in each bowl and top with some of the poaching liquid.

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