Recipe Remix

With a few simple substitutions, it’s easy to convert traditional recipes into healthier alternatives.

Add a dollop of sour cream and butter, some cheese and bacon bits to a baked potato. Or stir an extra teaspoon of sugar into your coffee. Without much thought, it’s easy to pack on the calories—and the pounds.

But the opposite is true too. “If we cut out a few extras and ate just 100 calories fewer every day, we could be 10 pounds lighter at the end of the year,” says Dee Rollins, Ph.D., R.D., L.D., clinical dietitian and nutrition educator for Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine.

The key is to replace foods that are high in fat and sugar with healthier substitutions. To do that, says Rollins, it might be necessary to sacrifi ce the memory or taste of a favorite home-cooked meal. “It’s all about retraining the taste buds, and that can take some time,” she says. “People have to grow into a healthier taste. It requires a change in mental attitude.”

Here are some suggestions for updating two traditional recipes with a healthier remix.

By Janan Talafer

To find out more about nutrition programs at Baylor Grapevine, call (817) 329-2569.

	Old-Fashioned Southern Fried Chicken		Oven “Fried” Chicken		Traditional Garlic Mashed Potatoes		Traditional Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Chicken legs and/or breasts 2 C. buttermilk cooking oil 1 T. bacon grease 1½ C. flour 2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper Wash chicken, pat dry and place in bowl. Cover with buttermilk and refrigerate 2 hours. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add bacon grease. Remove chicken from the buttermilk and dredge in mixture of flour, salt and pepper. Place chicken in frying pan. Cook for 10 minutes, turning once.		Chicken legs and/or breasts with skin removed Crushed corn flakes Low-salt, skim buttermilk Fat-free cooking oil spray Cover the chicken with buttermilk; then roll in corn flakes. Coat a baking pan with cooking oil spray. Bake chicken in the oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until tender.		Potatoes, peeled and diced ½ to 1 head garlic, peeled and mashed 6 tsp. butter ½ to ¾ c. heavy cream Place potatoes in water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are forktender. Drain and set aside. Heat butter in pan and add cream (don’t let it curdle—remove from heat when it starts to boil). Mash the potatoes, beating in the butter and cream mixture along with the mashed garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste.		Potatoes, peeled and diced ½ to 1 head garlic, peeled and mashed Low-fat margarine Skim milk Cook potatoes the same as at left. Drain and mash with skim milk, margarine and garlic until light and fluffy. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Top with chopped chives.