A Slim Little Volume

When a friend invited me to dinner and I told her that I had all but eliminated fat from my diet, this in the face of a cholesterol count high enough to clog a mechanical heart, she told me not to worry. And I didn’t. She is a terrific cook with enough technique under her belt to let creative cooking take her where it will.

She served a delicious lentil soup with lime juice and green chiles from a recipe in Huntley Dent’s “The Feast of Santa Fe.” But she also concocted a vegetarian dish that ended up in the garbage disposal: a mixture of hominy and kasha rolled up in blanched kale leaves then slathered with tomato sauce and popped in the oven. It wasn’t bad. It was what a good cook thinks of when she thinks vegetarian without having first addressed the nuances. It was, in fact, everything I recalled of a vegetarian diet years back in my days of brown rice and chewy vegetables in long-haired Holland.

So it was with inordinate interest that I recently received a self-published cookbook by Tija (pronounced TI-a) Petrovich, a Seattle nutritionist/fitness trainer/body builder. “Lighten Up” is Petrovich’s answer to the low-fat (and low-calorie) yet palatable dilemma. Her recipes sound not only like the things you would want to put in your mouth, they sound normal. They sound like food.

The book begins with a philosophic overview on establishing a new lifestyle, the center of which is food. Then Petrovich establishes some guidelines for changing your diet. She explains food product-label reading and how to figure fat and calories and the percent of calories coming from fat. Her ingredient glossary describes various ways of lowering fat intake without leaving flavor far behind.

The recipe sections are divided into dressings and sauces, breakfast and brunch foods, breads, salads, soups and stews, side dishes, entrees and, of course, desserts. Sample menus follow, along with instructions on making low-fat substitutions in recipes. The book is designed for clarity of reading and process. It has been bound to lie as flat as my cholesterol count is sure to become, with pleasure.

“Lighten Up” is available for $14.95 from the Nutrition Connection, Inc., 1202 E. Pike St., Suite 925, Seattle, Wash. 98122. (206) 682-4005.

RAISIN-ORANGE PILAF 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup orange juice 1/2 cup cracked bulgur 1 tablespoon raisins, minced 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

Combine water, orange juice, bulgur, raisins, soy sauce and orange zest in 1-quart saucepan. Cover and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until tender. Serve immediately. Makes 2 servings.