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MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
JULY | AUGUST 2017
the
Burger
issue
H
ere’s a little secret: It’s easy to make
healthier dishes. My daddy didn’t
want lower-sodium bacon or low-
fat mayonnaise or healthy anything, really.
Mama simply served the would-be offenders
to him anyway and hid the containers. If
you don’t make a big deal out of it, nobody
will even know you are improving their diet.
Some simple changes can get you to that
point. Here are some of my favorites.
For years, I made a blue cheese coleslaw that
had been featured at a long-closed restaurant
in another state. Recently, I’ve been making
it with feta cheese instead. Like blue cheese,
feta has a ton of tang, but with about 25
percent fewer calories and a bit less fat.
Another thing that makes it better for you
is using Greek yogurt in place of most of
the mayonnaise. This miracle ingredient
can be substituted for at least half the
mayonnaise and/or sour cream in a variety
of recipes. In general, you only need a couple
of tablespoons of full-fat mayonnaise, sour
cream or even low-fat sour cream to give
the dish smoothness and the expected flavor,
while substituting yogurt for the rest of the
fattening ingredient. I’ve had great luck with
plain Greek yogurt and even nonfat yogurt.
Another favorite coleslaw is my adjusted
version of my Granny Trower’s old-
fashioned staple. Into about a third of a cup
of mayonnaise,I stir an equal amount of plain
Greek yogurt, a tablespoon or so of seasoned
rice wine vinegar, a pinch of Splenda (or
sugar or other sugar substitute) to balance
the flavor and a generous amount of celery
seeds (the old-school ingredient). Pour this
over a bag or two of shredded cabbage,
shredded carrots, and maybe julienned red
and green bell peppers.
The lesson from these two dishes is that
the feta and the celery seed provide big
flavors that make up for the underlying
improvements in calorie and fat counts.
For years, writers of healthy recipes have
preached the virtues of using fresh herbs
as seasonings. A tablespoon or three of
fresh chopped parsley, basil, cilantro, dill
or whatever is growing in your herb patch
(in my case, garlic chives that survive
everything) add so much fresh flavor that
they are worth the effort to buy and/or
grow. A platter of thick Creole tomato slices
generously sprinkled with fresh herbs, then
drizzled with two tablespoons of olive oil and
a couple of teaspoons of wine vinegar, plus
fancy salt (like pink Himalayan) and freshly
ground pepper, is always a good addition to
the menu at casual gatherings. Pretty, too.
If fresh herbs have the bad habit of turning
black in the refrigerator before you get to
them, try this: Trim the stems a bit and put
them in a small glass of water, then cover the
glass with the plastic produce bag the herbs
came home in. Put this mini-terrarium back
in the fridge in a prominent place, to remind
you to use the herbs.
Or try chopping twice as many fresh herbs
as you need, and package half in a zip-top
sandwich bag, pressing out all the air before
closing. When you make guacamole two
days later, the cilantro is ready to add.
The Greek yogurt trick works well with
deviled eggs, by the way. And try it with your
favorite potato salad recipe and tell me what
Healthy
sidekicks
by
Judy Walker +
photo by
Romney Caruso