4 steps to a healthy recipe makeover

An increasing number of studies show eating less food and fewer calories overall may help slow the aging process and help prevent heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, and other diseases. Here are some ways to lighten your favourite recipes while keeping taste and texture intact.

Here are some tips and tricks to get the same taste with less fat:

• Use reduced-fat dairy products like reduced-fat cheese, one percent milk, and low-fat buttermilk,  and yogurt.
• Use oil instead of butter for sauteing.
• Use light butter to spread on bread or to glaze vegetables.
• Choose lean cuts of meat like beef round or loin (including flank, tenderloin, and top round); pork loin chops and tenderloin; and lamb leg.
• Thicken sauces and soups with pureed cooked vegetables instead of cream or egg yolks.
• Opt for extra-lean ground beef, 100 percent ground turkey breast, and skinless poultry whenever possible. Or use skin-on poultry to retain moisture and avoid eating the skin (put seasonings under the skin so you can still taste them).
• In baking, replace one egg with two egg whites, which contain the leavening and binding properties of whole eggs without the fat and cholesterol. Keep at least one whole egg in the recipe for flavour.
• Replace heavy cream with evaporated skim milk, and opt for low-fat yogurt instead of sour cream.
• In muffins, quick breads, and cakes, replace half of the butter, oil, or margarine with drained unsweetened applesauce. Other fruit purees like apple butter also work well.
• Replace up to half of the butter with pureed prunes in brownies and chocolate baked goods.

The sugar in many old recipes can be cut by 25 to 30 percent with no other changes to the recipe. Here are some other ways of dropping the sugar:

• Sprinkle a little sugar on the top of reduced-sugar cookies, cakes, muffins, and quick breads to enhance the perception of sweetness (it will be the first thing you taste).
• Add citrus zest, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, or cloves to the recipe to enhance sweet flavours.
• In fruit desserts, replace up to one third of the sugar with 100 percent spreadable fruit.
• Use brown sugar instead of white. Brown sugar also adds a delicious molasses flavour, extra moisture, and tenderness to baked desserts made with less fat.

Keep added salt to a minimum and salt foods only at the end of cooking. You can also do this to lower sodium:

• Rinsing canned beans before using will reduce sodium by up to 30 percent.
• Make up for lost saltiness by adding sharp-tasting ingredients like citrus juice, ground pepper, herbs, and spices.
• Use low-sodium tomatoes, beans, broth, soy sauce, and other canned, bottled, and packaged foods.
•  Instead of table salt, use powdered sea vegetables, like dulse or kombu, which have much less sodium and beneficial minerals like potassium and magnesium. Or try salt-free herb and spice blends for additional flavour.

• Instead of deep-frying, try oven-frying: Simulate deep-frying by using a very hot oven, 230° to 260°C (450° to 500°F) and coating the food with cooking spray. This method reduces loads of calories and fat in foods like oven-fried chicken and French fries.
• Try steaming or poaching instead of sautéing vegetables or chicken. Use flavourful liquids like broth, wine, or fruit juice for the poaching liquid, and add aromatic citrus, spices, and herbs for even more flavour without added calories.
• Take to the grill or broiler: High-heat, dry cooking methods like grilling and broiling create intensely flavoured food without the added fat of frying and sautéing.

Following these simple guidelines will cut down on the bad stuff in food without losing the quality.

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