Ok, It’s Lower In Fat, But It’s Still Pretty Tasty
While trying to watch the fat in our diets, many times we have to sacrifice some of our favorite dishes, which tend to be rich in butter, cheese or eggs.
But in this series of recipes we’ve converted some of these favorite foods into low-fat versions.
For example, in our recipe for chicken enchiladas, we reduced the fat to about 1/3 of what it would normally be - from 37 grams of fat to 10 grams per serving - by making several small changes.
To soften the tortillas, we dipped them in the warm enchilada sauce right away, rather than the traditional method of frying them in oil first. Also, we used poached, skinless, chicken breast meat for the filling rather than the higher-fat dark meat.
The use of low-fat jack cheese saved us half the fat calories of regular jack cheese. Finally we topped the enchiladas with nonfat yogurt rather then sour cream.
For the garlicky baked potatoes with salsa we reduced the fat to one-fourth that of the original recipe, from 32 grams of fat to 8 grams for each serving. A very small amount of olive oil along with the minced garlic was brushed on top of the potatoes for flavor and to crisp the top. The addition of paprika also helped to color the potato tops.
A very small amount of olive oil was used in the salsa and nonfat yogurt was served with the potatoes rather than high-fat sour cream.
The use of nonfat milk, egg substitute and very thinly sliced bread helped to reduce the fat in the asparagus custard puff from 14 grams to 6 grams per serving. That enabled us to use a small amount of butter to add flavor while sauteing the mushrooms, though you can eliminate even this fat by dry-sauteing the mushrooms in a nonstick pan.
Most of the fat in the Mediterranean-style stuffed tomato recipe was eliminated by using baked eggplant to give a creamy texture to the filling and by using less oil for sauteing the rice. Doing this lowered the fat by almost 80 percent - from 14 grams to 3 grams per serving.
Chicken Enchiladas
1 29-ounce can enchilada sauce
8 corn tortillas
3 cups shredded cooked chicken breast meat, skin removed
3 green onions, minced
2 canned whole long green chiles, cut into quarters lengthwise
1/2 cup low-fat Monterey Jack cheese
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt or nonfat sour cream
Heat enchilada sauce in skillet until hot. Dip tortillas, one at a time, in sauce to coat lightly on both sides. Sprinkle about 1/3-cup chicken down center of each tortilla.
Sprinkle over 2 teaspoons green onion, then top with one piece green chile. Roll up. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Arrange filled tortillas in 9-inch-square baking dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over top of tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees 20 to 25 minutes until hot and cheese is melted. Just before serving sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Serve with yogurt.
Yield: 4 servings.
Nutrition information per serving, with yogurt topping: 443 calories, 1215 milligrams sodium, 99 milligrams cholesterol, 10 grams fat (20 percent fat calories), 36 grams carbohydrate, 40 grams protein.
Garlicky Baked Potatoes With Southwest Salsa
4 russet potatoes, cut in half lengthwise
Salt, pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Paprika
1 ear corn, husk removed
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small tomato, minced
2 long green fresh chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 green onions, sliced
Juice 1/2 lime
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt or nonfat sour cream
Score cut surface of each potato half in diamond pattern. Put potatoes on 15- by 11-inch jelly roll pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Combine 3 cloves minced garlic and 1 tablespoon olive oil in small bowl. Brush mixture over surface of potatoes. Sprinkle to taste with paprika. Bake at 400 degrees about 40 minutes or until potatoes are browned and fork tender.
For salsa, remove kernels from ear of corn. Combine corn, beans, tomato, chopped chilies, onion, green onions, lime juice, cilantro, remaining clove minced garlic and remaining tablespoon olive oil in bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, spoon salsa over potatoes. Serve with plain yogurt.
Yield: 4 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 465 calories, 113 milligrams sodium, trace cholesterol, 8 grams fat (15 percent fat calories), 87 grams carbohydrates, 16 grams protein, 4 grams fiber.
Stuffed Tomatoes
2 Japanese eggplants
6 large, firm tomatoes
Salt, pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup short-grain rice
2/3 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup minced basil
6 basil leaves
Grill eggplants over open flame or under broiler until skin is blistered all over, eggplant smells roasted and interior is soft. Remove stems. Chop and set aside.
Remove tops from tomatoes. Scoop out insides, leaving 1/2-inch shell. Puree pulp through food mill, discarding seeds left behind. Season inside of tomatoes to taste with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in skillet and saute onion and garlic in skillet until tender. Add rice and continue to saute until lightly browned. Stir in 1/2 cup chicken broth and all but 1/2 cup tomato pulp. Simmer until rice is partially cooked, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in minced basil and reserved eggplant. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon rice mixture into shells. Top each with whole basil leaf. Replace tops. Place in 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Combine remaining broth and reserved pulp. Pour around tomatoes. Lightly season tomatoes to taste with salt. Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes to 1 hour or until rice and tomatoes are tender. Spoon juices over tomatoes while baking. Serve warm, at room temperature or cold.
Yield: 6 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 180 calories, 148 milligrams sodium, trace cholesterol, 3 grams fat (15 percent fat calories), 35 grams carbohydrate, 4 grams protein, 1 grams fiber.