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Losing weight would be easier if the foods we love weren’t fat-laden. Just glance
at the food we wax nostalgic about—mom’s home cooking. Lard, whole milk, eggs,
heavy cream, butter, nuts and unsweetened baking chocolate—a rogue’s gallery of
the fatty ingredients we’ve been warned about for years.
But you can enjoy your favorite foods while cutting the fat significantly. It’s
as simple as making some substitutions in the recipes, so fatty ingredients are
replaced by less lard. The taste won’t be affected either. Read over this list
below, then post it prominently on the refrigerator. Next time you reach for
the recipe book, use the appropriate fat substitutions for a healthier, low
calorie meal. Enjoy!
Eggs (in Baked Goods)
Eggs perform two functions in recipes. The yolks are a binder and the whites act
as leavener to help baked goods rise. Substitute:
- A commercial egg replacer
- Two tablespoons of silken tofu per egg
- Two egg whites per whole egg
- 1/4 cup of nonfat yogurt per egg
To substitute for a recipe that calls for egg yolks, add one tablespoon of arrowroot
powder and one tablespoon of water in place of each yolk. To substitute for an egg
white, use one teaspoon of baking powder.
Whole Milk
Replace with skim milk or a nonfat liquid such as fruit juice, vegetable broth,
water or wine.
Heavy Cream
One cup of heavy cream equals one cup of evaporated skim milk or 1/2 cup of low-fat
yogurt and 1/2 cup of plain low-fat cottage cheese.
Butter, Margarine or Oil
These items add fat to baked goods, and removing fat tends to make food denser,
drier or chewier. Experiment. Cut the amount of butter, margarine or oil called
for in a recipe by half and replace with an equal amount of nonfat yogurt or
other liquid. Good choices include applesauce, pumpkin, and mashed banana. Carbonated
water can be used in place of oil. Applesauce or pumpkin doesn’t add flavor but
banana does.
Nuts
Nuts are 80 to 90% fat, so omitting them eliminates significant amounts of fat from
a recipe. If nuts are an integral part of the dish, replace them with bread crumbs
from the toaster, Grape Nuts, toasted oats, bread crumbs plus cooked rice, or cooked
rice plus cornmeal. You may need to increase the dish’s seasonings to make up for
the lack of nutty flavor.
Sautéing
Instead of sautéing in one tablespoon of oil or butter, use 1/4 cup of sherry, wine,
vegetable broth or water. Or sauté in a dry pan with a pinch of salt added to
the vegetables to bring out the water.
Salad Dressings
Buy commercial oil-free products or make your own dressing by adding vinegar and
lemon juice to water, tomato juice or sweet fruit juice (or some combination of
these). Another possibility: puree roasted red pepper or peeled cucumber with a
bit of water. My personal favorite is balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. It goes
well with spinach salad and mandarin oranges. Experiment by adding seasonings such
as paprika or Dijon mustard to fat-free mayonnaise.
For a thick dressing, replace oils with a cornstarch and water mixture. Whisk one
tablespoon of cornstarch or arrowroot with one cup of water. Heat, stirring constantly
until thick and clear. Refrigerate. It should keep for up to three weeks.
Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
One ounce equals three tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder or carob powder plus
one tablespoon of polyunsaturated oil or margarine. Carob is sweeter than cocoa,
so reduce the sugar in the recipe by one quarter.
More Fat-Cutting Tips
- Rice is nice: Instead of eating a whole bowl of soup, partly fill your
bowl with rice, then top it off, so you’re using the chili or soup as a sauce
on the rice. This approach boosts your carbohydrate intake from the rice and
reduces the fat from the soup stock and the meat in some kinds of chili.
- Nix the sour cream on baked potatoes: Ladle on a little skim milk to moisten
the potato, then put your vegetables on top for more taste. Or use low-fat yogurt
instead of the sour cream.
- Dress it up with lemon: Pass on the high-fat salad dressing and squeeze a bit
of lemon juice on the salad.
- Ease the Cheese: When you have pizza, scrape off about half the cheese. Much
of the fat in commercial pizza comes from the cheese, and most pizza makers use
generous amounts, so removing half of the topping reduces the fat without compromising
taste.
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