5 Easy Ways to Lighten Up a Decadent Recipe

I’m sending my husband to the doctors office for a check up. (Have you ever noticed that you really have to SEND your husband to the doctor’s office? Mine avoids the place like everyone there is carrying the plague.) He WILL be getting his blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar checked among other things. (He is growling at me as I type this.) 

Unfortunately, I know those numbers aren’t going to come back where they should be. I have to take at least 80% of the blame for this. Being a test subject for a food blog isn’t always healthy number friendly. For example: I have recently discovered the amazing powers of cream and have gone waayyy overboard in it’s use.

I actually grew up eating really healthy. My Mom always made tasty food but it was with lean meats, low fat cheeses, plenty of veggies and not much in the way of butter or cream. So in anticipation of those numbers I’m going to (at least 90% of the time) return to the ways of my Mom and start cooking a little healthier. I will share some of my healthier recipes here too; and perhaps when I work on baked goods for the blog I better send more of the results over to the neighbors! To get rolling on my healthier kick here are 5 great tricks to lighten up a decadent recipe:

1. Substitute whole grains in place of white carbohydrates. Whole grains can take some getting used to in some recipes, but can often shake up an old favorite and make it feel fresh. The less processed your grains are the more the texture and taste will change but the more nutritional benefits you gain. While whole grains often have the same calorie count as their ‘white’ equivalent they fill you up with less.
2. Use lean meats and low fat dairy. This is a great way to cut calories and bring down the saturated fat in a dish. Rich, fat laden dishes can taste great but this is a great way to make a dish healthier without sacrificing flavor.
3. Swap out or cut down on butter. Olive oil is a great substitutes for butter in most dishes. Less butter means less saturated fat and calories. Olive oil helps raise HDL (the good type of cholesterol). Smart balance makes blended butter sticks, which are part butter and a blend of healthy oils, which are often good for baking. Because there is still butter in the blend your recipes usually come out right but you have cut calories and saturated fat. Can’t stand a substitute for butter in a certain dish? Experiment with cutting down the amount of butter you use. Most dishes don’t need nearly as much butter as they call for.
4. Bulk up your dish with more veggies and legumes. If you recipe calls for veggies double it! Triple it! Perhaps use less meat or cheese when you add extra veggies? If your recipe doesn’t call for veggies, add some. For example beans, tomatoes, or diced carrots and zucchini work well in meatloaf. Obviously the benefits of veggies and legumes are huge. They fill you up for way less calories then anything else and there are just too many nutrition benefits to list.
5. Use more spice (and add fresh herbs when possible). Many of us often under spice to begin with. More spice goes a long way towards keeping a dish tasty even when you make lower fat substitutions or cuts in butter. Fresh herbs in particular really jazz things up. We also tend to be more quickly satisfied by very flavorful dishes. And of course many spices and herbs also have nutrition benefits of their own.

Do you have any great tips to lighten up a recipe? Please leave a comment and share them with me!