A very old song lyric starts out, “Here Comes Summer…” and that means here comes bathing suit season and shorts season and skimpier clothes season. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready yet to bare not only the Minnesota mayonnaise complexion but the rolls around the middle that have accrued over the winter and have been nicely snuggling behind loose sweat shirts and jacket tops.
But I’m not quite ready to give up comfort foods for salads and lighter meals and the market is only beginning to have the delicacies of spring and summer. So, I dug through my make-over hints and recipes for ways to streamline my favorites and not even notice.
Some general pointers that work for almost any recipe are:
Cut down on the portion
Add a vegetable or salad on the side of the entrée
Add vegetables to the entrée
Use a little less meat
Use a leaner cut of meat
Replace butter when possible with canola or olive oil
Substitute some egg whites for whole eggs
Use less cheese and try one with a lot of flavor
Use low-fat dairy products and mayonnaise whenever possible
Use whole grains as much as possible
Roast vegetables for flavor boosts
Use fat-free half and half, skim evaporated milk or dry milk with half the liquid in place of regular half and half or cream
Use cooking spray for frying
Additionally, you can usually cut down on the amount of sugar by about 1/3 without doing any damage to the texture of baked goods. Using ½ the amount of cooking oil or fat and replacing it with applesauce is also viable in most recipes.
But will these foods taste as good, you ask? If they don’t, there is no sense in doing it as far as I’m concerned because cooking and eating are all about taste. I have personally found a few recipes that stand up to the makeover process and I’m sharing them with you.
Our family’s favorite comfort food was a ground beef-tomato sauce-elbow macaroni “hot dish” we called goulash. My four kids could easily finish a recipe for goulash that says “serves 12” in one sitting. And, basically, it wasn’t real good for them. The macaroni was white flour, it had lots of meat (and I usually bought less expensive ground beef in those days) and was devoid of any vegetables except onions and tomatoes. I decided to try and make over the recipe and bring down the saturated fat, and up the nutritional value. I made several attempts before coming up with a really satisfying and acceptable new goulash, but here it is:
A word on my philosophy: if you subscribe to the high-protein, low-carbohydrate style of eating, this is not for you. After struggling with all the current theories on this, I have concluded that lots of complex carbohydrates and less protein is a better alternative.
Light and Healthy Goulash
2 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni
½ pound lean ground beef
½ tsp. beef base or bouillon
½ cup chopped onion
1 small zucchini, shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
1 tsp. dried basil
1 Tbsp. minced parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
½ lb. white mushrooms, chopped
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes with juice
2 ounces processed American cheese (such as Velveeta), diced
½ cup shredded natural Cheddar cheese
Cook macaroni for about 7 minutes. Drain and set aside. In large skillet, brown meat until pink is all gone. Do not overcook. Drain any fat in pan and then transfer meat to a colander; rinse under hot water until fat globules in rinse water disappear. Wipe out skillet and return meat. Add ½ tsp. beef base if using, water and onions. Cook until onions are soft and transparent. Add zucchini, carrot, basil, parsley, mushrooms, salt and pepper and tomatoes. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add diced Velveeta cheese and stir into sauce. Add drained macaroni and transfer to a large casserole dish. Cover and bake for 45 minutes at 350. Remove cover; add shredded cheese over goulash and return to oven for 10-15 minutes.
This makes a lot of goulash. The macaroni will absorb a lot of the liquid, so when you uncover the dish check to see if it is getting dry. You can add tomato juice or water if necessary. My carnivore children and husband did not miss the larger amount of meat—because of the mushrooms. The Velveeta style cheese is necessary to bind hot dish together in a smooth, not stringy way and the top natural cheese adds more flavor. Believe it or not, 1/6th of the recipe is 315 calories and it really satisfies. That’s the kind of made over recipe I like—hope you will too!
But I’m not quite ready to give up comfort foods for salads and lighter meals and the market is only beginning to have the delicacies of spring and summer. So, I dug through my make-over hints and recipes for ways to streamline my favorites and not even notice.
Some general pointers that work for almost any recipe are:
Cut down on the portion
Add a vegetable or salad on the side of the entrée
Add vegetables to the entrée
Use a little less meat
Use a leaner cut of meat
Replace butter when possible with canola or olive oil
Substitute some egg whites for whole eggs
Use less cheese and try one with a lot of flavor
Use low-fat dairy products and mayonnaise whenever possible
Use whole grains as much as possible
Roast vegetables for flavor boosts
Use fat-free half and half, skim evaporated milk or dry milk with half the liquid in place of regular half and half or cream
Use cooking spray for frying
Additionally, you can usually cut down on the amount of sugar by about 1/3 without doing any damage to the texture of baked goods. Using ½ the amount of cooking oil or fat and replacing it with applesauce is also viable in most recipes.
But will these foods taste as good, you ask? If they don’t, there is no sense in doing it as far as I’m concerned because cooking and eating are all about taste. I have personally found a few recipes that stand up to the makeover process and I’m sharing them with you.
Our family’s favorite comfort food was a ground beef-tomato sauce-elbow macaroni “hot dish” we called goulash. My four kids could easily finish a recipe for goulash that says “serves 12” in one sitting. And, basically, it wasn’t real good for them. The macaroni was white flour, it had lots of meat (and I usually bought less expensive ground beef in those days) and was devoid of any vegetables except onions and tomatoes. I decided to try and make over the recipe and bring down the saturated fat, and up the nutritional value. I made several attempts before coming up with a really satisfying and acceptable new goulash, but here it is:
A word on my philosophy: if you subscribe to the high-protein, low-carbohydrate style of eating, this is not for you. After struggling with all the current theories on this, I have concluded that lots of complex carbohydrates and less protein is a better alternative.
Light and Healthy Goulash
2 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni
½ pound lean ground beef
½ tsp. beef base or bouillon
½ cup chopped onion
1 small zucchini, shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
1 tsp. dried basil
1 Tbsp. minced parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
½ lb. white mushrooms, chopped
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes with juice
2 ounces processed American cheese (such as Velveeta), diced
½ cup shredded natural Cheddar cheese
Cook macaroni for about 7 minutes. Drain and set aside. In large skillet, brown meat until pink is all gone. Do not overcook. Drain any fat in pan and then transfer meat to a colander; rinse under hot water until fat globules in rinse water disappear. Wipe out skillet and return meat. Add ½ tsp. beef base if using, water and onions. Cook until onions are soft and transparent. Add zucchini, carrot, basil, parsley, mushrooms, salt and pepper and tomatoes. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add diced Velveeta cheese and stir into sauce. Add drained macaroni and transfer to a large casserole dish. Cover and bake for 45 minutes at 350. Remove cover; add shredded cheese over goulash and return to oven for 10-15 minutes.
This makes a lot of goulash. The macaroni will absorb a lot of the liquid, so when you uncover the dish check to see if it is getting dry. You can add tomato juice or water if necessary. My carnivore children and husband did not miss the larger amount of meat—because of the mushrooms. The Velveeta style cheese is necessary to bind hot dish together in a smooth, not stringy way and the top natural cheese adds more flavor. Believe it or not, 1/6th of the recipe is 315 calories and it really satisfies. That’s the kind of made over recipe I like—hope you will too!
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