Lynn's Recipes

CREAMY DRESSING

Ingredients:
1 cup fatfree or lowfat sour cream or plain yogurt
2 tablespoons skim milk (to thin)
2 tablespoons chopped scallion
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 fresh chopped dill
Directions:
1 In a small bowl mix the ingredients together well.
Recipe tip:
There is no tip for this recipe.

VINAIGRETTE DRESSING

Ingredients:
yield: 3/4 cup
2 tablespoons parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon chopped dried or fresh tarragon
1/4 cup olive oil
Directions:
1. In a small bowl mix the ingredients together well.
Recipe tip:
There is no tip for this recipe.

STUFFED COLD POTATO SALAD

Ingredients:
This is so good you will no longer wonder what to do with a cooked half or whole baked potato sitting there cold in the refrigerator, never tasting quite right when re-heated.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
1 cooked baked potato, chilled and cut in half
1/2 cup fatfree or lowfat plain yogurt
1/3 cup finely chopped scallion or onion, plus 4 teaspoons
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 teaspoons garlic salt
Paprika
Lettuce to line plates
2 sprigs parsley
Directions:
1 With a slim-bowl tablespoon, scoop out the baked potato filling leaving 1/4 inch next to the skin.
2 Place the filling in a medium-sized bowl and small dice or chop with a knife or pastry cutter but don't mash.
3 Mix the potato pulp with the yogurt, scallions, parsley, garlic salt, and any salt and pepper you wish.
4 Stuff the mixture loosely back into the potatoes, sprinkle paprika on top, a teaspoon of chopped scallions, and poke a parsley sprig in the center.
5 Line the small salad plates with lettuce and place the potato on the leaves.
Recipe tip:
Mix in frozen peas (they defrost quickly in the potato mixture, shredded carrots, cold cooked or canned drained corn kernels and chopped green or red peppers for a more colorful filling.

PEAS AND CELERY SALAD

Ingredients:
A strikingly pretty salad with a creamy style dressing, this is a favorite of one of our testers. She tweaked this until it was just right.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
1/4 cup fatfree or lowfat mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Pinch dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup frozen peas, package banged on counter to separate
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped pimento or red pepper
2 ounces 1/4-inch diced or crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons parsley
Directions:
1 In a small bowl add the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard and sugar and whisk to blend. Add any salt or pepper you wish.
2 Add the peas, celery, onions, and pimento and mix gently to coat.
Gently fold in the mayonnaise.
3 Carefully add the cheese and parsley.
Recipe tip:
Try this with fresh English peas and carrot slices too.

CABBAGE AND KIDNEY BEAN COLE SLAW

Ingredients:
You will be surprised at how nice kidney beans go with this slaw. Let it sit a few hours for best flavor although I can never wait. I always wish I had because I actually had some left over and later that day, it was even better. Beans with all their protein, fiber and very little fat are always a good salad addition. Rinsing them can mean almost no tummy upset.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
1 tablespoons white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup fatfree or lowfat sour cream
1/4 cup fatfree or lowfat mayonnaise
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 small onion, shredded or finely chopped
1 cup shredded carrots
1/4 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes (optional)
1 16-ounce can dark kidney beans, drained
Directions:
1 In a large bowl add the vinegar, sugar, sour cream and mayonnaise and whisk to combine.
2 Add the cabbage, onions, carrots, pepper flakes if using and toss to coat well.
3 Add the kidney beans, gently tossing to coat. Cover and let sit refrigerated for a couple of hours..
Recipe tip:
A tablespoon of fresh poppy or carroway seeds and a handful of raisins or dried cranberries always makes a nice addition to coleslaw.

LYNN'S FLAVOR TIPS

These are quick and easy ways to add lots of flavor to dishes that use canned foods as a base. Canned foods often have extra flavor because they've been cooked (often right in the can) allowing flavors to blend and meld. Adding fresh ingredients freshens and boosts the flavor. Once you get the hang of how to use canned and frozen foods to your advantage time and health-wise, you will no longer spend hours cooking or prepping. Tip 1: Add to bottled Italian dressings to expand the flavor and freshen the taste: half teaspoons of finely chopped onion and minced garlic, freshly squeezed lemon juice, pinch sugar, real olive oil, pinches of sugar, powdered mustard, dried basil and oregano and shake or whisk well to emulsify. Tip 2: Add to bottled pasta sauce (depending upon whether it's mushroom, green pepper, onion etc.), add 1 to 1/2 cup (sautéed in olive oil) sliced mushrooms, green peppers, onions or any of the other vegetables even small amounts sautéed garlic and chopped fresh basil and dried oregano plus a pinch of sugar to the bottled sauce. If you don't want sausage (because of the fat), sauté in a dash of olive oil ground turkey (low fat), forked into tiny pieces along with 1/4 tsp fennel seed (in almost all sausage) pour into the turkey and vegetables the bottled sauce and heat together on medium low for 10 minutes, stirring. Tip 3: Add to 3 - 4 cored and finely sliced Granny Smith apples for a quick and tasty apple side dish or sauce, juice of 1/2 to 1 fresh lemon, 1/2 cup sugar or more (or a blend of sugar and Splenda or other artificial sweetener), a shake or cinnamon and microwave for 10 - 15 minutes, stirring once or twice. Tip 4: Add to canned vegetable soups sautéed fresh vegetables that are already in the soup. You can microwave them instead of sautéing them too. Adding fresh finely chopped onions, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, peas and corn takes away that canned flavor and makes the soup more flavorful and hearty. Tip 5: Add to the bones from a store-bought spit-barbecued chicken for a delicious soup (previously cooked bones make any soup or stew better) lots of sautéed chopped onions, garlic, carrots, celery, add a cup or two of fat free chicken stock or chicken flavor-cube and water and simmer for 1 hour. At the end add pieces of cooked chicken, some fresh chopped parsley and peas and heat for 5 minutes on low. Tip 6: Add to creamed soups such as creamed asparagus, broccoli, tomato, or corn chowder, cooked asparagus, broccoli, tomatoes, corn and diced potatoes (corn chowder usually has potatoes) to enhance the flavor and reduce the "cream". Tip 7: Add to a sauce pan for a quick and delicious creamed pearl-onion side dish made with store-bought bottled pearl onions; 2 cups skim milk, 1/3 cup flour, 3 tbl tub margarine, heat while whisking constantly for 2-3 minutes until thick and very smooth, shake in some white pepper and nutmeg and add the drained pearl onions, stir carefully and heat for another 5 minutes, adding more milk if necessary. You can do the same to make creamed corn. The sauce is simply a low fat white sauce.

LYNN FISCHER'S DELICIOUS LOW FAT THANKSGIVING

This is so easy and so healthy but best of all, it is delicious (and saves about 1,000 total calories for each person).
Menu:
Relish appetizer
Turkey with herbed stuffing
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Vegetables such as squash, green beans, asparagus, sweet potatoes
Pumpkin pie with whipped topping

APPETIZER

Try serving a simple old-fashioned appetizer which serves as a salad too. It's easy on the cook and won't fill up the guests before the main dish. Fill a relish tray (long and thin, about 12" by 3") with cracked ice and place on top, groups of ripe olives, carrots, celery sticks and halved radishes. If you prepare it ahead of time, lightly spray the olives with Pam to keep them glossy.

TURKEY WITH STUFFING

A room-temperature turkey works best. Remove the paper-wrapped giblets from the neck and body, rinse the turkey, drain and paper towel pat the outside. Rub the inside with salt. Preheat the oven as instructed or 400 degrees, cooking according to size.

STUFFING

As far back as five years all stuffing packages called for a stick or two of butter or margarine, but this high saturated fat, high total fat ingredient was never necessary for taste and wasted calories. Using a ready-made stuffing such as Pepperidge Farm's Herb Seasoned Stuffing (made with both white and wheat breads), add no butter or oil (the turkey has plenty). Substituting any amount of butter for water instead (2 tb butter = 2 tb water). Add to the stuffing ½ to 1 cup each chopped onion and celery plus any additional water or fat free broth called for. Sprinkle in ¼ tsp sage, shake or two of salt and add any other ingredient such as chopped dates, chestnuts, pecans, diced giblets (not the liver) oysters etc., and mix well by hand. Remember, the more veggies, the fewer simple carbs. And stuff your bird. The packages always say not to over-stuff, but I always do it anyway and with no ill effects. I push it in as hard and as full as I can. Your call! But put your thermometer into the stuffing to be sure it is also thoroughly cooked. Incidentally, I wrap my birds loosely with well-crimped foil, (so no air gets in) opening it only to brown for the last half hour or so. The foil causes the bird to steam, then brown which better insures a tender bird.

FAT FREE ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS GRAVY

Using a defatting cup (with a low spout) drain all your cooked turkey drippings into the cup, pour off the good stuff, discard the fat that's left, whisk in a couple of tablespoons flour or cornstarch (the latter to cool water or milk first, add skim milk or water, add to a skillet and thicken, stirring over medium heat. Add a jar of fat free gravy into the skillet too if you don't have quite enough gravy to go around.

FAT FREE VEGETABLES

Steam, bake, or boil any vegetables you love and instead of butter or stick margarine, use tub margarine (so low in both total fat and sat fat) or a fat free spray. For asparagus, serve with a few slices of lemon., for squash or sweet potatoes, add a small amount of brown sugar or a couple of little marshmallows.

CRANBERRY SAUCE

Canned cranberry sauce is pretty darned good but making your own is so simple and you can halve the sugar, which helps with calorie reduction. Just follow package directions for sugar amounts and note that you can use Equal or other sugar substitutes for half the sugar (but not all or it will have an off-taste). You can use orange juice for water when cooking raw cranberries, which take only about ten minutes.

PUMPKIN PIE

Just substitute fat free condensed milk, Egg Beaters instead of egg yolks and when served squirt on any low fat whipped topping. Lynn Fischer is the author of seven low fat cookbooks with 1 million in print, including her best seller, "Lowfat Cooking for Dummies."