Low Fat Cooking Tips and Techniques - Dean Ornish MD

Simple techniques can be used to convert typically high fat recipes into healthy low fat recipes without sacrificing good taste. The techniques in this post are from the healthy nutrition and lifestyle books by Dean Ornish MD, one of the nutrition and medical experts who have influenced the Nutrition Strategy used for recipe analysis and makeovers in this blog. (Buy his books here.)

Some of Dean Ornish's Low Fat Cooking Tips and Techniques are listed after the jump:

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"Sauté vegetables in a small amount of vegetable broth, wine, or water instead of oil. At the end of the cooking time, the liquid should be evaporated so the vegetables’ natural sugar caramelizes slightly. This method can be used frequently, particularly with onions and garlic at the start of a recipe. Sauteing brings out the onion’s sweetness and mellows the garlic. Be careful not to use too much liquid or the caramelization of sugars won’t develop.

Vegetable broth should be used whenever possible instead of water. It adds a lot of flavor. To get an even more intense flavor, reduce the vegetable broth by half over high heat.

Herbs and spices can help make dishes lively and varied. Use fresh herbs whenever possible. Their intense flavor can compensate for the lack of fat. Add them to a dish at the last minute for maximum impact and save the sprig or two for a pretty garnish. Dried herbs need to simmer in a soup or stew for a few minutes before they impart their character. Whole spices can be toasted first to intensify their flavor. Try toasting whole cumin, coriander, or fennel seed in a dry skillet until the spice colors slightly, then grind it to a powder in a coffee mill were mortar. A little ground toasted cumin does wonders for steamed carrots.

Vinegars and citrus juice can add a spark to dishes. Choose the milder vinegars - rice vinegar, balsamic vinegar, sherry vinegar - for dressing salads or steamed vegetables. Balance the sharpness of a wine vinegar or cider vinegar with a touch of sugar or other sweet component.

A squirt of lemon or lime juice added at the end of cooking can invigorate a stew or bean soup. Or stir grated citrus zest into stews or fruit salads. It adds fragrance and flavor without adding acidity.

Canned tomato products are great medium for braising. You can simmer mushrooms, zucchini, and herbs in store-bought tomato sauce to make a quick vegetable stew. Or you can reheat left over cooked beans or steamed vegetables with canned diced tomatoes and basil.

Choose a thick tomato purée, if the dish won’t cook for very long. Diced tomatoes in purée will give the same dish more texture. Use diced tomatoes in juice if you don’t want a thick texture - in a minestrone, for example.

Peeled whole tomatoes can be diced and simmered with herbs and garlic until they thicken into a sauce for pasta or for braising vegetables.

Prepared tomato-based pasta sauces at your market with no added fat can be big-time savers. Simmer them with greens or chopped broccoli or canned beans to make a quick pasta sauce. Or simmer with a variety of beans and vegetables to make a hearty stew.

Fruit juice concentrates can be used in place of refined sugar when a fruity taste would be appealing. Apple juice, orange juice, and white grape juice concentrates contribute a more complex sweetness to baked goods, sauces, salad dressings and fruit desserts. Other sweeteners, such as maple syrup and honey, can also give a dish a dimension that refine sugar won’t. Of course any sweetener should be used sparingly.

Cornstarch can be used to give body to poaching liquid for fruit. In traditional cooking, sugar adds the body, turning a poaching liquid into a syrup. To compensate for the sugar, dilute a little cornstarch in cold water (never add it directly to the hot liquid) and stir it into the poaching medium. It will thicken the juices and give a more syruplike texture.

Roasted Vegetables can be used to intensify flavors. The caramelized flavor of roasted onions enhances many dishes. Many conventional recipes start with an onion sautéed in fat to develop a sweetness. Roasted onions will give you your dishes that same pleasing taste. You can also roast other vegetables to intensify their flavor, such as garlic, bell peppers, eggplant, beets and tomatoes.

Beans and grains, can be added to meatless dishes to make them hearty. Make vegetables into substantial meals by adding pinto beans, chickpeas, brown rice, lentils, or wheat berries.

Salad dressings can be made with soft tofu or nonfat yogurt. Or mix the two together. They’re both good subsidies for high-fat mayonnaise or sour cream. Add whole grain mustard for texture and vinegar for tang. Add fresh herbs such as dill, basil, cilantro, mint or parsley. Sweeten with a touch of honey, if desired, or purée with cucumbers to make a creamy dressing.

Nonfat dairy products have limitations. Yogurt is terrific for uncooked sauces and dresses dressings, but it will curdle if boiled. If you’re adding it to a hot sauce, do so at the end, off the heat. You can boil nonfat sour cream and nonfat milk but not in the presence of acid; lemon juice, tomato, or vinegar will make them curdle.

Nonfat cheeses are getting better and better. In the past, they wouldn’t even brown when heated, but now they melt and brown nicely. For sauces and other cooked dishes, nonfat ricotta is a better choice than nonfat cottage cheese, which is grainier.

Baking with nonfat dairy products requires care not to overcook. Fat keeps baked goods moist. Without the fat, it is easy for them to taste dry. So, it is better to undercook slightly than to overcook. Be careful not to overmix muffin or cake batters. Without the tenderizing effects of fat, muffins in cakes can be tough. By mixing lightly, you don’t overdevelop the gluten that can make baked goods tough."

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These strategies, tips, techniques, and suggestions were obtained from Dean Ornish’s books – Eat More, Weigh Less; Everyday Cooking with Dean Ornish; Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease; and The Spectrum. (Buy them here.)