do you have any low fat side dish recipes to share?

greeneyes

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 9:31 am

My DH was recently told by his doctor that he needs to limit his fat and cholesterol intake right now. So although I always tried to cook healthfully, now I really have to focus on being even more health conscious, and especially to cut back on fat.

I find thinking of creative shabbos meals to be difficult though, particularly when we have guests. If you open up any cookbook, most of the recipes are full of oil, margarine, sugar etc. I do have a couple of lower fat cookbooks, which I have been using, but I'm still looking for more ideas. I find coming up with side dish ideas to be the trickiest part. Do you have any low fat side dish recipes or ideas to share?

Thanks!!

cassandra

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 9:47 am

You have to think outside of kugels and toward side dishes that are mostly vegetables, whole grains, brown rice, even potatoes cooked very simply. Everything tastes better this way too.

greeneyes

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 10:00 am

I do cook lots of vegetables, grains etc. The problem is when I want to make it a bit more interesting when I'm having company on shabbos.

Yesha, what vegetables do you roast?

Thanks for the ideas, keep 'em coming!

BeershevaBubby

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 10:02 am

Onions, zucchini, carrots, fresh mushrooms, fresh whole garlic cloves. Sometimes thawed, frozen cauliflower.

I toss with a little bit of oil, black pepper and salt and stick it under the broiler for a few minutes.

Tomatoes and peppers would also go quite well with this.

Last edited by BeershevaBubby on Tue, Aug 12 2008, 10:03 am; edited 1 time in total

greeneyes

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 10:08 am

If it's just me, my husband, and 1 guest, I feel silly making something just for the guest. Plus, I want to make things interesting for my husband too!

Yesha, thanks! Sorry for so many questions, but I like having exact instructions when I cook. So you don't bake the veggies for a while, you just stick them under the broiler for a few minutes? Do the carrrots take longer to roast than the other veggies? Does this reheat well for Friday night dinner?

DefyGravity

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 10:11 am

You can completely substitute apple sauce for oil in cake and kugel recipes.

You can also use eggbeaters or eggwhites instead of the entire egg.

NEVER use that Rich's non dairy creamer - use fat free soymilk instead.

I always use half splenda instead of the whole amount of sugar in cake recipes. In most kugels I'll use all splenda.

Many kugel recipes DON'T NEED the margarine that's in the recipe. For instance - broccoli kugels that call for margarine really don't need it. I never use it. I put apple sauce into a broccoli kugel that I made recently and a tablespoon of low fat mayo.

My side dishes on shabbos usually consist of:
green beans
broccoli kugel
cauliflower kugel
couscous with mushrooms, celery, and onions
kishka (from scratch)
pumpkin kugel

Google is your best friend. Everytime I want to make a specific dish, I always google "low fat" or "fat free".

The other night I needed a recipe for low fat pie crust, so I googled it and found something that was nearly fat free.

BeershevaBubby

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 10:20 am

greeneyes wrote:

Since these are all veggies that can be eaten raw, I suppose it depends on how crunchy you want them.

If you want it thoroughly cooked, steam or bake them covered until soft and then stick under the broiler for a few minutes to char a bit.

And it reheats quite nicely.

Fabulous

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 10:28 am

I make a delicious broccoli kugel recipe.

1 32 oz. bag broccoli florets, boiled in water till ready (about 1/2 hr to 45 min after boiling). Either use hand blender for mushy kugel or potato masher for chunky.

1/2 cup of the lowest fat mayon (I use Hellman's Reduced fat. It's like 20 calories & 1 or 2 grams of fat)

the recipe calls for 5 eggs because it is an Atkins style recipe, but I usually use 3 eggs and 3 or 4 egg whites.

a few tablespoons of onion soup mix

a ton of fresh garlic minced (either cubes, jar, or actual fresh is best)

salt and pepper to taste. very little salt because the onion soup mix is salty.

Mix all together and bake for about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs on 400 degrees uncovered in either the half of the 9 x 13 or two of the really small pans.

It is really good of you to try so hard, I hope your husband appreciates you.

freidasima

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 12:13 pm

As I only cook low fat we stick to whole grains : barley, brown rice, kasha, quinoa. As dh doesn't like most cooked veg I make a soup with lentils and barley and carrots and potatoes and onions and just take out the carrots, he eats everything else and it is hot and hearty and can be used as gravy for the starch.

Forget kugels, why need the extra eggs or starch? And you can grill veg without any oil as well, they are just somewhat dry...

Shimmysmom

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 2:08 pm

I have also eliminated the kugels, I just make a lot of veggie side dishes when it is just us. when I have guests I make kugel but dh is very careful and won't eat it/ takes a tiny piece and I make a small one so that he is not tempted by the leftovers.
I don't agree with a lot of the above mentioned methods of making kugel "low fat". its just a fattening food and substituting doesn't really help all that much.
I find that if I make a lot of salads, and vary them every week then it doesn' get boring.
a nutritionist also advised us to stay away from cold cuts. only sliced turkey which I buy every week is ok.
good luck, hope this helps u!

greeneyes

Wed, Aug 13 2008, 9:34 am

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas and recipes! Very Happy

Shimmysmom, what kind of salads do you make? I find that many salad recipes are also full of oil, sugar, croutons, chips etc.

I'd still love to hear more ideas!

Shimmysmom

Wed, Aug 13 2008, 9:41 am

greeneyes wrote:

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas and recipes! Very Happy

Shimmysmom, what kind of salads do you make? I find that many salad recipes are also full of oil, sugar, croutons, chips etc.

I'd still love to hear more ideas!

a lot of old classics are healthier! for example if you make old fashioned cucumber salad all you add is water, vinergar and splenda. . .
coleslaw is similar.
no pasta sald/carbs salads- those just don't help
for something more unique I often just use all of those new cookbooks but and try to use the ones with less oil/sugar and remember that even if a recipie calls for 1/4c of oil or sugar that is usually for the entire salad and I have leftover dressing. if you use olive oil/canola which is healthier I figure that each person isn't really getting that much. I guess I just dress salad lightly.
also, I often leave out/use much less of the croutons/chips. but remember that if you aren't serving potato kugel and this is your shabbos meal, four croutons aren't going to hurt you!
this is just my theory- does that make sense?

BeershevaBubby

Wed, Aug 13 2008, 9:46 am

Cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
Pitted, sliced green or black olives, drained
Onion, diced
Pine nuts
Lemon juice
minced garlic
olive oil
black pepper

Toss together, chill and serve.

I use just a scant splash of oil for this.