Substitutes to Save Family Recipes

Some Substitutes to Save Family Recipes

These substitutes keep the comfort in comfort food, not the cholesterol

Switching to a diet low in fat and cholesterol does not means you’ll have to pitch your favorite family recipes.

Many family recipes can be adapted by replacing fat and cholesterol-laden ingredients with healthier ones, say dieticians and nutritionists. But keep in mind that a recipe makeover may require some experimentation, because switching ingredients can change the dish’s character. Here are some tips for reducing fat and cholesterol:

Instead of sautéing in butter or oil, use vegetable stock or water. Steaming can also be used to bring out an ingredient’s flavor and tenderize it.

Try notfat yogurt or cream cheese instead of heavy cream. For a dessert topping, chill canned nonfat evaporated milk until it’s almost frozen, then whip it to the right consistency.

Instead of eggs, use egg whites or an egg substitute product. Many egg-based recipes – even omelettes – taste great without the yolks. Be sure to check the label for fat and cholesterol content.

Hold the mayo: When building a sandwich, forgo the mayonnaise and instead use mustard (yellow, dijon, or honey) to add desired moisture and flavor.

Family Recipes. Photo by Elena

Use fat-free products. Cheeses (regular, cream, and cottage), salad dressing, sour cream, mayonnaise, and a variety of snack foods are all available. But be warned : Foods labeled fat-free can contain almost half a gram of fat per serving. So when you eat more than one serving, the amount of fat you consume can add up quite quickly.

When a person makes a practice of eating whole grains instead of refined foods, and vegetables and fruits in season, they can feel confident that the next time a new nutrient is discovered, they will discover they’ve been getting it all along (Laurel Robinson, author of the cook-book The New Laurel’s Kitchen).

Lasagna Vs. Eggrolls

What Marco Polo didn’t know what restaurants are serving

You’re in the mood for some tasty dining out but you want it to be healthy. You’re not into salad bars, they remind you of rabbit food. Aren’t Chinese and Italian foods supposed to be healthy?

According to a recent survey by the Food Marketing Institute and Prevention magazine a majority of Americans believe that Chinese food is healthier than their normal diet and 25 percent view Italian food other than pizza the same way. Olive oil and pasta have long been praised by nutritionists, and a landmark study of Chinese eating patterns by Dr. T. Colin Campbell of Cornell University recently found that in rural China a person is far less likely to suffer from “diseases of affluence” like heart disease or cancer than a typical American diner.

But before you stop at your favorite trattoria or order up a Chinese banquet, consider what the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a respected Washington, D.C., consumer research group, found when it analyzed the nutritional content of many popular Chinese and Italian dishes like Kung Pao chicken and eggplant parmigiana.

The center’s staff bought dinner-sized takeout portions of 15 Chinese and 15 Italian dishes at mid-priced restaurants in several U.S. cities. The dishes were then chemically tested under procedures recommended by government nutrition experts. The findings: If the Italians or Chinese ate at home what is served up in their names in American restaurants, they’d be courting nutritional disaster, too.

Instead of the pasta, bread, vegetables, and olive oil that have long been staples of Italian cooking, especially in the south, or the rice, wheat, and vegetables that are the mainstay of most rural Chinese menus, the Italian and Chinese food in most American restaurants is loaded with fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Making things worse is the tendency of American diners to ladle on heaping portions of sodium-laden soy sauce of fatty Parmesan cheese.

Though they were by no means nutritional all-stars. Chinese dishes did score better than restaurant Italian in the saturated fat department. The biggest overall loser was Fettuccini Alfredo, which contained a whopping 97 grams of fat. As the CSPI described it, “the Fettuccini quadrupled Kung Pau chicken’s saturated fat – as it may quadruple your next bypass.”

All is not lost though. You can improve your nutritional risks without sacrificing your palate by taking the CSPI’s advice and mixing a cup or so of rice or pasta into every heavy-duty dish you order, and then splitting the meal with one or two dinner companions.

Dining Chinese

Chinese food generally is lower in saturated fats than Italian food, but Kung Pau chicken still packs a mean wallop when it comes to calories. Szechuan Shrimp (4 cups) – 927 calories; Stir-fried Vegetables (4 cups) – 746 cups; Shrimp w/Garlic Sauce (3 cups) – 945; Hunan Tofu (4 cups) – 907; Chicken Chow Mein (5 cups) – 1,005; House Fried Rice (4 cups) -1,484; Hot and Sour Soup (1 cup) – 112; Beef w/Broccoli (4 cups) – 1,175; Sweet and Sour Pork (4 cups) – 1,163; Kung Pau Chicken (5 cups) – 1,620; Moo Shu Pork (4 cups) – 1,228; Egg Roll (1 roll) – 190.

Side Orders: Soy Sauce (1 tbsp) – 11; Fortune cookies (1 cookie) – 30; Chow Mein Noodles (1/32 cup) 119.

Dining Italian

Order Fettucini Alfredo at your local trattoria and you stuff your arteries with as much saturated fat as three pints of Breyer’s butter almond ice cream.

Spaghetti w/Tomato Sauce (3 1/2 cups) – 849 calories; Linguine w/Red Clam Sauce (3 cups) – 892; Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce (3 cups) – 918; Linguine w/White Clam Sauce (3 cups) – 907; Spaghetti w/Meatballs (3 1/2 cups) – 1,155; Chicken Marsala (10 oz), spaghetti – 867; Spaghetti w/Sausage (2 1/2 cups) – 1,043; Veal Parmigiana (1 1/2 cups), spaghetti – 1,064; Cheese Ravioli (1 1/2 cups) – 623; Cheese Manicotti (1 12 cups) – 695 ; Lasagna (2 cups) – 958 ; Fettuccini Alfredo (2 1/2 cups) – 1,498.

Side orders: Garlic Bread (8 oz) – 822; Fried Calamari (3 cups) 1,037; Antipasto (1 1/2 tbsp) – 629.