Fighting Fat in Baking, Entertaining
Following are some general tips for cutting fat intake when cooking, baking and entertaining.
APPETIZERS AND BEVERAGES
--Serve mini-rice cakes with thin slices of skim mozzarella cheese. Cook under the broiler.
--Wrap smoked turkey around a slice of melon.
--Serve apple and pear slices with a low-fat sharp Cheddar spread or Belgian endive with herb-yogurt dip.
--Toast pita bread or flour tortillas with hummus (chickpea puree) and salsa.
--Make slimmed-down versions of eggnogs and whipped spirited coffee drinks by substituting low-fat milk, nonfat dried milk powder or evaporated skim milk for whole milk or heavy cream.
--Combine orange or grapefruit juice with club soda.
MAIN DISHES
--Use clear defatted broth for gravy instead of pan drippings. If using pan drippings, skim off fat first.
--Chill stews, soups, casseroles and sauces, then skim the fat off the top.
--Use a gravy separator for quick degreasing of sauces or soups.
--Select beef cuts that are trimmed of excess fat, with little marbling.
--Use lean ground beef in casseroles.
--Reduce intake of processed meats like bacon, bologna, salami and frankfurters.
--Remove skin from poultry.
--Glaze poultry, fish or meat with pure fruit-juice concentrates, or serve meat with fresh fruit sauces.
COOKING
--Use non-stick skillets and non-stick cooking spray instead of butter or oil for cooking. Saute, stir-fry or bake instead of frying or deep-frying foods.
--Where possible, substitute unsaturated oils, including olive, canola, corn, soybean and safflower or margarine, for saturated cooking fats such as butter or lard.
--Use evaporated skim milk in cream sauces instead of heavy cream or whole milk.
--Substitute nonfat yogurt or buttermilk for sour cream.
VEGETABLES AND SIDE DISHES
--Steam or microwave vegetables.
--Serve baked potatoes with herbed low-fat yogurt. Serve sweet potatoes without a brown sugar or marshmallow topping.
--Make salad dressing with plain low-fat yogurt or no-salt-added buttermilk instead of oil.