Spices can add lots of flavor without a lot of calories
With bathing suit season soon upon us, now is a great time to start getting in shape.
An easy and healthy way to reduce calories and improve your diet is to remove some common ingredients that are loaded with unwanted calories, fat or sugar. By modifying some key ingredients, you can make that morning muffin much more nutritious without giving up on flavor.
Here are some tricks for reducing empty calories that are big on flavor and easy on the waist line.
- Loose the sugar from your morning oatmeal and sprinkle on a sweet cinnamon like Cassia or Ceylon.
- Instead of cream, use puree potatoes to create a white sauce for lean meats or vegetables.
- You can use citrus as a salad dressing: squeeze a navel orange over a carrot raisin salad, lemon over avocado.
- Create healthful dips by using yogurt in lieu of sour cream.
- Yogurt also makes a great marinade for chicken when seasoned with a Garam Masala or Tandoori Blend.
- Identify foods that you enjoy like white rice. Then take a look at other rice dishes that offer better nutrition
per calorie like wild rice, brown rice or quinoa and try them out. As I discovered, some of these
alternatives like wild rice offer a much deeper level of flavor which more than compensates for longer cooking
times or slightly more involved preparation.
The chart* will give you a good start at identifying alternative ingredients for flour, butter etc.
Once you start looking at alternatives, I think you will find that your culinary imagation will start to take over.
Who knows, you may never look at a big old head of cabbage in the same way!
Ingredient Substitutions
|
If your recipe calls for: |
Try substituting: |
| All-purpose (plain) flour | Whole-wheat flour for half of the called-for all-purpose flour in baked goods
Note: Whole-wheat pastry flour is less dense and works well in softer products like cakes and muffins. |
| Bacon | Canadian bacon, turkey bacon, smoked turkey or lean prosciutto (Italian ham) |
| Butter, shortening or oil in baked goods | Applesauce or prune puree for half of the called-for butter, shortening or oil
Note: To avoid dense, soggy or flat baked goods, don’t substitute oil for butter or shortening. |
| Butter, margarine, shortening or oil to prevent sticking | Cooking spray or nonstick pans |
| Creamed soups | Fat-free milk-based soups, mashed potato flakes, or pureed carrots, potatoes or tofu for thickening agents |
| Dry bread crumbs | Rolled oats or crushed bran cereal |
| Eggs | Two egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute for each whole egg |
| Enriched pasta | Whole-wheat pasta |
| Evaporated milk | Evaporated skim milk |
| Fruit canned in heavy syrup | Fruit canned in its own juices or in water, or fresh fruit |
| Fruit-flavored yogurt | Plain yogurt with fresh fruit slices |
| Full-fat cream cheese | Fat-free or low-fat cream cheese, Neufchatel or low-fat cottage cheese pureed until smooth |
| Full-fat sour cream | Fat-free or low-fat sour cream, plain fat-free or low-fat yogurt |
| Ground beef | Extra-lean or lean ground beef, chicken or turkey breast (make sure no poultry skin has been added to the product) |
| Iceberg lettuce | Arugula, chicory, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach or watercress |
| Margarine in baked goods | Trans fat-free butter spreads or shortenings that are specially formulated for baking
Note: If ingredient lists include the term “partially hydrogenated,” it may have up to 0.5 grams of trans fat in one serving. To avoid dense, soggy or flat baked goods, don’t substitute diet, whipped or tub-style margarine for regular margarine. |
| Mayonnaise | Reduced-calorie mayonnaise-type salad dressing or reduced-calorie, reduced-fat mayonnaise |
| Meat as the main ingredient | Three times as many vegetables as the meat on pizzas or in casseroles, soups and stews |
| Oil-based marinades | Wine, balsamic vinegar, fruit juice or fat-free broth |
| Salad dressing | Fat-free or reduced-calorie dressing or flavored vinegars |
| Seasoning salt, such as garlic salt, celery salt or onion salt | Herb-only seasonings, such as garlic powder, celery seed or onion flakes, or use finely chopped herbs or garlic, celery or onions |
| Soups, sauces, dressings, crackers, or canned meat, fish or vegetables | Low-sodium or reduced-sodium versions |
| Soy sauce | Sweet-and-sour sauce, hot mustard sauce or low-sodium soy sauce |
| Syrup | Pureed fruit, such as applesauce, or low-calorie, sugar-free syrup |
| Table salt | Herbs, spices, fruit juices or salt-free seasoning mixes or herb blends |
| White bread | Whole-wheat bread |
| White rice | Brown rice, wild rice, bulgur or pearl barley |
| Whole milk | Reduced-fat or fat-free milk |
*Source Mayo Clinic Website: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-recipes/NU00585
