The Low-Fat Kitchen

By North Star


No matter how healthy a food or recipe might be, if it does not taste good, people will not eat it. The challenge is to find ways to cook foods that are low fat, yet tasty so we can eat the foods we enjoy without guilt.

Non-stick pots and pans, waterless cookware, microwave-safe dishes, steamer and well-seasoned iron skillets all require less fat for cooking. Crock-pots allow simmering to blend flavors without the use of fat. Methods such as broiling, grilling or roasting meats on a rack allow fat to collect in the pan, decreasing fat in the meat. Instead of using oil to sauté, broth or wine can be used for steaming, poaching, simmering and even stir-frying. Stir-frying can be done with cooking spray. Dry sautéing is a technique in which a food is placed directly in a preheated, non-stick pan without any added fat. For example, a chicken breast or pork chop could be browned in this manner. Microwaving is fast, requires a little water and no fat. Stewing, braising or smoking meats require minimal amounts of fat.

Many low-fat foods can be substituted for high-fat foods in recipes.

Lessening fat can raise the question of losing flavor. Good seasoning is essential. Try salsa, picante sauce, reduced-sodium soy sauce or fat-free Italian dressing. Sun-dried tomatoes are excellent in pasta and salads. Roasted garlic or roasted red bell peppers add flavor. Fresh lemon can be added to fish, poultry, salad and green leafy vegetables. Cilantro has a strong flavor good in salads, stews, soups, salsa and sauces. Peppers, whether the sweet bell (green, red, yellow) or the hot jalapenos, poblanos and chili peppers add flavor.

Fat-Free vs. Reduced-Fat vs. Regular Products: Many foods such as cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, milk, mayonnaise and broth come in different varieties. If you are using a regular product and want less fat, choose a fat-free product and mix it with regular half and half, gradually increasing the amount of fat-free to regular as your taste buds change.

Broth or Bouillon: Regular products contain about 1,000mg of sodium per cup or 1 teaspoon dry. In the recipes, I used products that were less sodium. A product called Better Than Bouillon comes in a paste form that has about 690mg of sodium for 1 teaspoon, which makes 8 ounces of broth. However, if you want to reduce sodium even further, you can find products that are very low sodium. You could mix them together to get a better tasting broth with a lower sodium level than the less sodium products. Most people need to re-train their taste buds to accept the very low sodium products.

Cooking Oil Sprays: They are aerosolized oils formulated to help you use less oil than you ordinarily would when trying to coat a cooking surface with oil. They can be found in cans with propellant added or in pump spray bottles. When reading the labels, check what the serving size is. Remember, if you spray long enough, you could get just as much fat as adding a teaspoon of oil. You can also rub a non-stick pan with a paper towel that has a little oil on it.

Ground Meat: Most ground turkey or chicken will be ground dark meat unless it says ground breast or white meat. Even if there is no skin added, it may be higher in fat content than ground round or ground sirloin. Carefully check the fat content on the label. One brand that is found in the refrigerated section of the meat case is The Turkey Store, which comes in lean ground turkey and ground turkey breast. Both are acceptable.

When choosing ground beef products labeled lean and extra lean can still have 22.5% fat by weight or about 21 grams of fat for 4 ounces raw. The best choice are those that are 93% lean or higher. If listed by fat, look for 7% fat or less. This would have 8 grams of fat or less per 4 ounces raw.

Healthy substitutes for ground beef are products found in the frozen foods section of the supermarket made from soybeans to resemble ground meat, such as Green Giant's Harvest Burgers for Recipes and Morningstar Farms (found in the breakfast frozen foods section) Recipe Crumbles and Ground Meatless.

Pasta Sauce or Spaghetti Sauce: Choose a brand that has no fat and the lowest amount of sodium. Look for 480mg of sodium or less, such as Healthy Choice and Ragu Lite. The lowest brands such as Eden, Enrico and Muir Glen will be found in natural foods stores or supermarkets that have a natural foods section.

Salt: In an attempt to reduce sodium and improve flavor, you may notice recipes that use no-salt added or lower-sodium products and then require added salt later in the recipe. I've found that you get better flavor and a lower sodium content when salt is added close to serving a food rather than in processed foods. See comments under broth and tomato which discuss ways to decrease sodium and increase flavor.

Soy Sauce: Look for a "lite" version that has reduced-sodium. Compare labels to find the one with the lowest sodium. At this time, the brand with the lowest sodium is Angostura which has 390mg per tablespoon.

Tomato Sauce, Paste, Stewed, Etc: Choose a brand such as Hunt's No-Salt Added, and then add a small amount of salt to your recipe. Remember, a can of tomatoes has about to teaspoon of salt. If you add a teaspoon of salt to the no salt added products you will have less sodium with better taste.

Wine: Sautéing or adding wine to foods will allow you to decrease the amount of salt in a recipe without the loss of flavor. Do not choose cooking wines which are high in sodium. Choose an inexpensive wine you would drink and store in the refrigerator after opening.

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: Milled from soft spring wheat, whole wheat pastry flour retains the bran and germ and produces lighter-textured baked goods than regular whole wheat flour. It is available in natural foods stores as well as larger supermarkets that have a special natural foods section.