Low-Fat
394 recipes found
Aperol Granita
Forget the spritz. This refreshing granita is yet another way to use up that bottle of Aperol. This recipe, from Balena in Chicago, freezes Aperol with gelatin, grapefruit and orange juices. At that restaurant, it tops a grapefruit sundae, but you can have it on its own, on a warm summer day.
Chilean Cabbage and Avocado Slaw
Coleslaw meets guacamole here in this utterly simple mix of shredded cabbage, salt, lemon, and puréed avocado. The chef Iliana de la Vega, who was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, served it at a delicious Latin-themed lunch she prepared at the “Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives” conference this year at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley. I couldn’t get enough of it. I sat with Iliana at the lunch and asked her about the salad. “Just salt the cabbage, let it sit for a while, then add lots of lemon juice and the mashed avocado,” she said. That really is all there is to it. Shred the cabbage thin and for best results let it sit, after salting generously, for an hour or more, to tenderize it and draw out strong-tasting juices.
Scallops on a Bed Of Red Onions
Black Cod Broiled With Miso
Black cod with miso was not invented by Nobu Matsuhisa, the chef at Nobu in TriBeCa, but he certainly popularized it. His time-consuming recipe, which calls for soaking the fish in a sweet miso marinade for a couple of days, is a variation on a traditional Japanese process that uses sake lees, the sweet solids that remain after making sake, to marinate fish. If you broil black cod with nothing but salt, you already have a winning dish. If you broil it with miso – the intensely salty paste made from fermented soybeans – along with some mirin and quite a bit of sugar, you create something stunningly delicious. And no long marination is necessary.
Rice With Tomatoes and Black Olives
Polenta With Sausage and Tomato Pepper Sauce
Chicken Strips With Rice, Oranges And Dried Cherries
Oats With Amaranth, Chia Seeds and Blueberries
Fresh blueberries are not in season at the moment, so I put my frozen organic wild blueberries to good use in this hearty mix. The chia and the amaranth pump up the nutritional value of this cereal -- both are high in calcium, amaranth is high in protein, and chia seeds are a great source of healthful omega-3s. They also contribute texture. For even more great texture, top the cereal with chopped toasted hazelnuts or almonds.
Radish Salad
Radish salad is something you see in places around the world (in the last couple of years, I have been served it in similar guises in both Mexico and Turkey), but almost never in this country. Salting the radishes first reduces their harshness while accenting their crispness. At that point, they can be dressed with a traditional vinaigrette or the more tropical (and oil-less) version here. The only trick is to slice the radishes thinly. For this, a mandoline is best.
Pico De Gallo
The strong flavors of scallions, cilantro and jalapeño complement the sweet juiciness of summer tomatoes in this traditional salsa. It makes the perfect accompaniment to grilled steak or tortilla chips.
Blueberry Oatmeal
You can make this oatmeal, which will take on a purple hue once the blueberries begin to burst, on top of the stove or in the microwave. It only takes about 10 minutes on top of the stove (five minutes in the microwave).
Broccoli, Quinoa and Purslane Salad
Slice the raw broccoli very thin for this delicious salad. If you can’t find purslane you can substitute mâche.
Teff and Oatmeal Pancakes
Teff is a tiny, nutrient-dense grain native to Ethiopia. Its calcium content is higher than that of any other grain, and it’s an excellent source of vitamin C. It has a low glycemic index and is gluten-free, though these pancakes are not. I grind the tiny grains into flour in my spice mill, but you can also find teff flour in whole-foods stores.
Summer Pasta with Tomatoes and Chick Peas
My penchant for summer pasta dishes with uncooked tomato sauces continues here, with this simple, high-protein combination. You can also make this with fresh tomato sauce if you want a cooked sauce.
Enfrijoladas
This is one simple dish you can make if you have corn tortillas in the freezer and black beans in the pantry. Enfrijoladas are comforting enchiladas made by drenching corn tortillas in creamy, coarsely pureed black beans, folding them into quarters, and serving them in more of the black bean sauce. The authentic ones are garnished with Mexican queso fresco, but they are delicious without cheese. Cilantro or epazote is optional – I didn’t have any; it is the black beans that make this dish what it is.
Whole-Wheat Buttermilk Scones With Raisins and Oatmeal
You may be accustomed to the gigantic, sweet scones in coffee shops in this country. They are nothing like the diminutive, light scones that originated in Britain and Ireland. This is a whole-wheat version, only moderately sweet -- the way I think scones should be. You can always top them with jam or honey if you want more sugar. The whole-wheat flour brings a rich, nutty flavor to the scones.
Date Smoothie With Brown Rice and Almond Milk
This is inspired by Bryant Terry’s recipe for date-sweetened almond milk, which I came across in his wonderful cookbook “Afro-Vegan.” You could use commercial almond milk, but it will taste much richer if you make your own. Blanch and skin almonds (it goes quickly), soak overnight, blend and strain. The smoothie is a simple one, subtly sweetened by the dates, and mildly nutty. If you want to introduce another flavor into the mix add a half banana. I liked it both ways but I think I prefer the simpler version, so I have made the banana optional.
Pear Smoothie With Spinach, Celery and Ginger
This began as a “clean out the refrigerator and (aging) fruit bowl” smoothie. I salvaged some spinach that had seen better days and finally used up the last of the pears I’d bought a few weeks ago for another set of recipe tests. I went out to my garden and grabbed some bolting arugula and some mint. I’ve been drinking kefir, a fermented milk product much like yogurt but thinner and tangier, so that went in, giving the smoothie a pleasantly acidic edge. The two ingredients that the drink needs in order for it to taste like something other than a bland green drink are the half banana and the ginger. If you let your bananas ripen completely, then freeze them, they’ll contribute not only flavor, sweetness and texture but also ice to your smoothies.
Blueberry Kefir Smoothie With Greens
This green smoothie is really more blue than green, as the color of the blueberries predominates. But the greens are there, so in my mind it’s still a green drink. Half a banana wasn’t quite enough to punch up the flavor of the drink, but I found that a whole banana did the trick. I used a baby greens mix that included baby kale, chard (red and green), and spinach.
Pineapple Banana Mint Smoothie
This tangy, minty smoothie may have more adult appeal than kid appeal, but it’s certainly one of my favorites. I particularly like it made with almond milk. The pineapple in this drink will give you your daily requirement for manganese, and it’s a good source of vitamins C, B1, B6, copper and dietary fiber.
Oven-Baked Millet
Deborah Madison, in her wonderful new cookbook, “Vegetable Literacy,” put a new spin on millet that may have changed my millet-cooking life forever. She suggests cooking the grain as you would a polenta, which it kind of resembles when it’s cooked, with most of the grains breaking down to a mush while others remain crunchy. I’d always been a bit flummoxed by this uneven cooking and the texture of the broken-down millet (it’s a bit chalky). But serving it like a polenta makes perfect sense. You can serve it soft, right after it’s cooked, or let it set up and then slice it and crisp the slices or use them in gratins, as I do with cornmeal polenta. I was so taken with this idea that I decided to cook the millet in the oven, the way I do for my easy cornmeal polenta, after first toasting it in the pan. It worked beautifully.
Mango Buttermilk Smoothie
This mango-banana-strawberry smoothie is inspired by lassi, the creamy yogurt drinks popular throughout India. It's as easy to make as a smoothie should be. Just toss everything into a blender – the flesh of an entire mango, a handful of strawberries, half of a banana, a cup of buttermilk, a bit of honey and a few ice cubes – then blend to cool and creamy perfection. If you don't have fresh mango, frozen works just as well, and if you don't have buttermilk on hand (who does?), plain old yogurt will do just fine. Add a splash of milk to loosen if it gets too thick.
Strawberry Muesli Chia Smoothie
I noticed a bottled strawberry/lime/chia drink in the refrigerator section of Trader Joe’s recently, and thought I’d use the strawberry/chia combination in a smoothie. I added muesli for bulk and geranium syrup for flavor.
Fennel Rice
This is a simple Greek recipe, traditionally served at Lent, that works as a main or side dish. it calls for rice but can also be made with bulgur for a nuttier, heartier flavor.