Winter 2012 | Volume 110 | Number 662

Living Well

Photo Credit: Pepe Nilsson/Stockfood

Tasty Transformations

Grandmother's recipes can be sinfully delicious. We asked a top nutritionist to trim two traditional dishes – but keep the taste.
by Gretchen Roberts

In the mid-1800s, numerous Lutherans immigrated to America in search of economic opportunity, bringing their traditional German, Norwegian and Swedish recipes along for the ride. In those days, people put in long hours of physical labor, working from sunup to sundown in farms and factories. Naturally, they refueled with hearty food.

Today, many people do more desk work than manual labor, yet the average calorie intake per person has risen steadily since the government began tracking such numbers, increasing from about 3,400 calories per day in 1910 to 4,000 calories in 2000. Approximately one-third of U.S. adults are now obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Calculate your BMI, which is based on your weight in pounds and your height in feet and inches).

That means it's probably time to take a second look at our old-time dishes and update them. We turned to Devin Alexander, a celebrity chef and best-selling author of eight healthy comfort food cookbooks.

Her latest cookbook, The Biggest Loser Quick and Easy Cookbook: Simply Delicious Recipes to Make in a Snap, published in fall 2011. With experience making over desserts, fast food and more, she was the perfect choice to cut the fat – but not the flavor – in two traditional Lutheran recipes: Swedish meatballs and German potato pancakes.

The good news is you can swap out plenty of fat, sugar and refined flour in Grandma's recipes without losing the flavor. Here are some of Alexander's favorite tricks. We promise Grandma would approve. And even Grandpa!

• Replace sour cream with fat-free Greek yogurt, which has the same texture and body as sour cream, but isn't runny and watery like fat-free sour cream.
• Low-fat cheese can be incredibly tasty, or it can taste like plastic. Try different brands and find one you like, then stick with it for all your dishes.
• Spice and herb-based rubs are a great way to boost flavor and reduce sodium. Make sure the first ingredient isn't salt or sugar.
• Swap out full-fat mayo in salads for fat-free yogurt mixed with a little olive oil and dijon mustard. It's creamy, flavorful and will save a ton of fat.
• Replace up to half the oil in baked goods with applesauce or yogurt, and substitute two egg whites for egg yolks in most baked goods recipes.
• Buy mini chocolate chips to make brownies, muffins and even chocolate chip pancakes; you can use fewer chips and get more chocolate in each bite.