Low-Fat
394 recipes found
Winter Squash and Walnut Spread
This dish is inspired by the filling for the coiled Greek winter squash pie featured a few weeks ago.
Oranges and Arugula
Tonics and Teas From My Pantry
There is a lot going on in this lovely infusion, with the tart lemon and pungent ginger. Turmeric contributes beautiful color, along with its nutritional benefits – it has been shown to have powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant attributes -- and the tiny pinch of cayenne packs a small punch. If you feel a sore throat coming on I highly recommend this tea.
Coconut Dukkah
Adding coconut to dukkah introduces a sweetness to the nutty/spicy Middle Eastern mix. Serve it with crudités and flatbread, or sprinkled over a carrot purée.
Roasted Corn and Tomato Salsa
Grilling tomatoes, jalapeños and corn makes for a nice mix of flavors. The sweetness of the corn contrasts well with the charred and picante flavors of the salsa. I’ve added corn to salsa fresca before, but this time, eyeing generous ears of corn on the cob in the market, I imagined it grilled or roasted in a roasted tomato salsa. I used as a starting point the renowned chef Rick Bayless’s terrific roasted jalapeño tomato salsa with fresh cilantro, from a book he published in 1998 called “Salsas That Cook.” After I had grilled the tomatoes and jalapeño under a broiler (you could also cook them on a grill), I grilled an ear of corn, also under a broiler. The kernels take on a beautiful color, and their sweetness contrasts nicely with the charred and picante flavors that run through this salsa. The corn also contributes crunch. The salsa is great with tacos, chips, and grains, and is particularly good with chicken.
Pan-Fried Zucchini With Fresh Corn
Chocolate Cocoa Cake
Rose Petal and Vanilla Tea
This is a sweet infusion with nothing more than dried rose petals, a vanilla bean and honey. You can find dried rose petals in Middle Eastern markets.
Pumpkin Seed Dukkah
Because I associate pumpkin seeds with Mexican food, I decided to add some mild chili powder to this mix. You can substitute Aleppo pepper if you want to keep with the Mediterranean theme. I love this mildly spicy, nutty dukkah with everything, including on its own.
Salsa Fresca with Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi, with its crisp texture, is a pleasant surprise diced into this tomato salsa. It goes well with chips, nachos, tacos and quesadillas, or with fish and chicken. For the past month, I’ve been a guest on the New York Times’s Motherlode Blog, helping out Renee Ruder and her family in Bend, Ore., put more vegetarian meals on the table using produce they receive in their community-supported agriculture basket each week. She received kohlrabi one week and was at a loss as to what to do with it. I had some suggestions for ways to use the vegetable in main dishes, and now I’ve come up with a way to use it in a side. The kohlrabi has a crisp texture much like that of jicama, with a nice cruciferous flavor. This salsa fresca would be welcome with just about any tostada, nacho or taco, with chips, or as a condiment with fish or chicken.
Cucumber Mint Soup
Barberry and Orange Tea
I have in my pantry a rather large bag of dried barberries, bought at my Persian market, and I had been using them up slowly. Now I know where much of what remains of these sour, zingy vitamin C-rich dried fruits will go.
Carrot Purée
You can serve the carrot purée on its own on croutons or pita triangles, or as a dip with crudités. You can also accompany it with garlicky yogurt seasoned with mint, as it would be served in Greece or Turkey.
Spicy Egyptian Dukkah With Chickpea Flour
Dukkah is very popular in Egypt, where it is made with chickpea flour, sesame seeds, sometimes dill seeds, and spices. I like to toast the chickpea flour. I use the mixture, which is adapted from a dukkah in “The Arab Table,” by May S. Bsisu, not only as a condiment for vegetables and bread, but also as a coating for fried fish or vegetables.
Puréed Broccoli and Celery Soup
Celery adds a new dimension to the flavor of this soup and harmonizes with the broccoli. When you cook broccoli for more than 8 to 10 minutes the color fades, so I add a little spinach at the end of cooking to brighten up the color.
Blender Cucumber Yogurt Soup With Cumin and Paprika
This is so refreshing that I like to pour it into a glass and drink it as I would a lassi.
Parsnip and Carrot Soup With Tarragon
A fragrant soup that lets the flavor of the vegetables shine through. Parsnips contribute sweetness and texture to this fragrant soup. I used water, not stock, and the flavor of the vegetables shines through.
Light Lentil Soup With Smoked Trout
This is inspired by a traditional French combination of lentils and fresh salmon. I decided to make something a little simpler: a very basic lentil soup garnished with smoked trout, either canned or packaged. I use the Parmesan rind in the bouquet garni to add some umami flavor to the lentils, which would traditionally be paired with sausage or cured pork.
Yogurt or Buttermilk Soup With Toasted Barley
I was cleaning out the refrigerator as well as my pantry when I put together this refreshing summer soup. If you can’t get organic or Greek yogurt, free of gums and stabilizers, use buttermilk.
Turnip, Leek and Potato Soup
A simple French soup that works well regardless of which vegetable gets the emphasis. This is a simple French soup. If you want to vary the proportions of vegetables you can; it works well whether you emphasize the turnips, as I do here, the leeks or the potatoes. Turnips have a slightly bitter edge, and tarragon makes a lovely sweet garnish. Chives would also work.
Celeriac, Potato, Leek and Apple Soup
A sweet and savory mixture that works well as a soup. I’ve always loved the combination of celeriac, potatoes and apples, which I first tasted in France as a celeriac, potato and apple purée. The sweet and savory mixture works very nicely as a soup. I like to strain this soup after I purée it to get a velvety texture.
Hazelnut, Orange and Honey Biscotti
Orange, hazelnut and honey make a wonderful combination in this whole wheat biscotti. The hard cookies should be sliced thin, which will yield a lot of cookies! They are wonderful dipped in tea.
Cherry Balsamic Iced Tea
Melon Sorbet
I’ve learned a lot about making sorbets from Jacquy Pfeiffer, the founder and dean of student affairs at the French Pastry School in Chicago. He taught me to use a small amount of corn syrup – about 5 percent of the weight of the fruit – to prevent the sorbet from developing ice crystals. A very small amount of honey will also work. I asked him what the least sugar I could get away with is, and he said it depends on the fruit, but as a general rule he uses 15 to 20 percent sugar. I decided to factor the corn syrup and honey into that weight, and my sorbets were beautiful, with great texture. You can use yellow or green melon for this as long as it’s really ripe and sweet.