This holiday season, put traditional recipes on a diet
When we examine traditional holiday meals, it’s easy to see why many people gain weight during the holidays. At Thanksgiving, the parade of tempting dishes often begins before dinner with several appetizers, perhaps accompanied by wine.
Next comes the turkey and possibly a ham, surrounded by three to four different starches–stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and rolls. Then come two or more vegetables and, of course, cranberry sauce. Naturally, the turkey, stuffing and potatoes are topped with fat-laden gravy. Finally, the whole meal is polished off with a selection of rich desserts.
What can you do if you want to celebrate without guilt? Put traditional recipes on a diet using these simple suggestions and recipes.
– Turkey is a naturally low-fat entree–buy fresh, unbasted turkey instead of the prebasted kind, which has been injected with a mixture of oil and salt. Concentrate on eating the white meat; skinless, it has less fat.
– Make gravy with low-fat broth or de-fat the turkey pan juices using a fat-separator cup. The cup has a long, tubular spout extending up and out from the bottom. Since fat rises to the top of the broth, this allows you to pour off the broth while the fat remains in the cup. If you don’t have a separator cup, pour the juices into a bowl and add a few ice cubes. The fat will rise to the top and harden, where it can be easily skimmed off.
– Use low-fat broth to moisten dressing instead of fat.
– Modify holiday recipes with no-fat or low-fat substitutions.
TRIMMED-DOWN PRALINE PUMPKIN PIE
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 40 servings
Chilling time: 1 hour
Yield: 8 servings
Pastry:
1 1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, in bits
1/4 cup cold solid shortening, in bits
3 tablespoons ice water
Filling:
1 can (15 ounces) cooked pumpkin
1 cup skimmed evaporated milk
1/2 cup fat-free egg substitute
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Topping:
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey-crunch wheat germ or finely chopped toasted pecans
1. For pastry, mix flour and salt in bowl. Cut in butter and shortening with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture is crumbly. Drizzle in water, tossing with fork, until dough holds together. Press into disk. Wrap; chill 1 hour.
2. Set oven rack in lowest position. Heat oven to 400 degrees. On floured surface, roll pastry to 13-inch round. Ease into deep 9-inch pie plate. Trim edge; crimp. Freeze 10 minutes.
3. For filling, place all ingredients in blender and process until smooth. Pour into crust, and bake 15 minutes.
4. Mix topping ingredients; sprinkle over pie. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake about 45 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool before serving.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …….. 360 Fat …… 14 g Cholesterol .. 7 mg
Carbohydrates .. 18 g
