Raising the (salad) bar!

I've heard from many of you that the biggest problem with The Svelte Gourmet recipes is portion control. I'm flattered that you enjoy my recipes so much! I'm as guilty of portion uncontrol as anyone -- and with the ridiculous portion sizes in most restaurants, it's no wonder that we don't know when to stop.

Sometimes I just need a system reset. A few days of calorie reduced meals to shed the extra pounds of overindulgence. Enter the mighty salad! Salads for lunch and dinner for a few days cut out a ton of carbs from your normal diet and still keep your metabolism moving (unlike skipping meals, which will backfire!). Filling up on mostly veggies really means that you're cutting down on the rest of your portions.

Now here's the kicker. You can bore yourself to death with veggies and store-bought diet dressings, leaving you unsatisfied and with the propensity to overeat later. Or you can completely sabotage your efforts by ordering a salad right off the menu in a restaurant -- sadly, many are WORSE than ordering that cheeseburger. Check out this recent article from Men's Health, titled "Worst Salads In America." Frightening!

So how do we choose between complete boredom and diet sabotage? We don't! If you're having a salad with your meal, try The Svelte Gourmet Signature Salad. At under 100 calories, it's a great way to fill yourself up before digging into that main course and overeating. We have this salad virtually every night with dinner, and it remains Keith's favorite part of the meal. Try it!

So what about the main course? Well, my philosophy is that you can take any type of cuisine and make it into a satisfying, low calorie salad. Again, if you're a purist in your approach to cooking (Greeks wouldn't consider this Greek, or this veggie isn't found in Asia), then you probably won't be a fan of my interpretations. But to me, they taste great, help me to lose weight, and are completely boredom-free. I can have a different salad for each meal and not feel like I'm eating the same thing over and over!

Start with the basics -- lettuce, mixed greens, or spinach. Add cucumbers, tomato and any other raw veggie you like (I avoid potatoes and corn because they're starchy). Then you need a lean protein. If you have a favorite chicken or beef marinade that's calorie and fat conscious, then by all means, use it. For grilled chicken, I like to marinate it for 30 minutes in 2 tbsp melted butter, 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup water, then baste it with a fresh batch of the mixture. Delicious! This is pretty much "Dad's Chicken on the Grill" from the cookbook. For this purpose, London broil or sirloin (both lean cuts!) are great grilled with just salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Now it's time to mix it up! Start with the base of veggies and the protein of your choice (try to stick to 4 ounces cooked and sliced on top). Now add the flavor:

Asian Salad
Sliced green onions
A few chopped peanuts
Red pepper flakes
No sugar added Mandarin orange segments
Dressing of rice vinegar, a few drops of sesame oil and minced ginger to taste

Mexican Salad
Onions (cooked until somewhat soft and browned in just a touch of olive oil)
Sliced jalapenos (you can cook these with the onions, leave them raw, or use the pickled kind)
Less than one ounce finely shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
Dressing is simply the tomato-based salsa of your choice -- as much as you want!

Greek Salad
Red onion
Less than one ounce crumbled feta cheese
One tablespoon sliced or chopped calamata olives
Dressing of red wine vinegar, lemon juice and dried oregano

See? Easy, right? And trust me, you'll feel like you're eating a different meal every night. No more boring salads!

For more variations, try different proteins -- shrimp, fish like salmon, or tuna mixed with 1 tbsp light mayo and chopped pickles/celery/onions. I often use whatever protein I have left from a meal for a salad the next day. Just watch your portions -- try to stick to 4 ounces. If you follow these rules, each of these salads has between 250 and 350 calories -- in the whole meal!

My rule of thumb for dressings is simple. If the traditional version is vinegar- and oil-based, just skip the oil or replace the oil with water to cut down on the harshness of the vinegar. If it's a creamy dressing, use plain yogurt or fat-free buttermilk (or a combination of both) instead of sour cream or mayonnaise. Using fresh herbs, vinegar and garlic will work great for a ton of flavor. If you're not that motivated, even those powder dressing packets work great in a pinch! The Italian dressing packet that comes with the glass carafe is great if you fill the vinegar to the V line, then use water to both the W (water) and O (oil) lines. If you're making ranch with the dressing/dip mix, simply replace the sour cream/mayo with the yogurt/buttermilk as aforementioned. Using these tricks will make your vinegar-based dressings have virtually no calories and your creamy dressings will have about 10 calories per tablespoon. Can't beat that! Just watch the salt and be on the lookout for MSG if you're using a store bought "packet" of anything!

If you're eating out, order mixed greens and veggies with grilled chicken or fish. Skip the bacon, cheese, and whatever else comes on that salad -- if you see something on the ingredient list that wouldn't fit into a diet at home, don't order it on your salad! The lettuce does not automatically make it healthy! Skip the prepared dressing and ask for the oil and vinegar carafes -- and just use the vinegar!

I challenge you to raise the (salad) bar. I promise it doesn't have to be boring. Mix it up and you'll see results without the traditional "salad diet" boredom. Enjoy, and please let me know what versions you use! I would love some new ideas!

The Svelte Gourmet: A Month of Main Courses cookbook is available at www.thesveltegourmet.com/products.html.

Recipe Makeover #3 - Egg Rolls!

Here in my neck of the woods, we've just celebrated The Fourth of July -- American Independence Day. And what's more American than egg rolls? Huh? What?!

Actually, there's some truth in this. Italian, Mexican, Chinese and other international cuisines are all influenced by our American ways. Some good influences, some bad (portion sizes, for one!), and some just different.

So our cousins Tony, Julie and their daughter Sirona come to visit us from Arizona every year at this time. Julie and I are having a blast in the kitchen, preparing dinners, discussing menus and having companionship as we wash the mountains and mountains of dishes in the sink (4 adults, 3 kids, a revolving door of visitors, 2 dogs, 2 cats and a tortoise make for a lot of dishes!). Anyway, I love it -- the chaos, the family bonding, and the cooking!

Julie and I were talking about some of our vices, and she asked me how bad egg rolls really are. "Wait, never mind -- I don't want to know. It's not going to stop me from eating them." Oh, Julie. You can't bait me like that and not expect me to go on a research mission to find the answer -- good or bad!

Well, it turns out that the answer is "it depends." An egg roll, basically, is pork (or chicken or shrimp), eggs, vegetables and lots of Chinese flavors rolled into a wrapper and deep fried. I did some searches, and from what I can tell, you're looking at around 200 calories (never mind the fat, salt and MSG) for a standard sized "take out" egg roll. So that's not too bad, right? Well it depends. If you eat two egg rolls and stop, then you're not doing too badly (this being a vice and all). However, at least in the Chinese take-out places here, the egg rolls come in pairs and are meant as an appetizer. Then you add the entree, and all bets are off.

So I told Julie that she and her egg rolls could be Recipe Makeover #3. I'd never attempted them before, but you know I like a challenge. And lest you think I just automatically know how to cook all this stuff, here's my method -- I go to my favorite recipe sites, write down the flavors (ingredients and spices) from the ones that seem the most "authentic," eliminate all the really unhealthy parts (the deep frying, for example), and mix and match to taste until I find a flavor/texture/method that gives us "authentic" flavor without all the fat and calories.

I put "authentic" in quotes because of my original point. Though I've traveled throughout my life, I've never been to China. Therefore, my only frame of reference is what I read or order here. So forgive me if I've butchered the egg roll! Or, even better than forgiving me, teach me!

Tony, Julie and Sirona were here for a while, then left to visit a friend for a few days. I told Julie I'd have her egg rolls ready for testing when she got back. Well. The recipe I came up with makes 16 egg rolls....and I managed to salvage two for her. TWO. Keith ate eight and I ate five. Yes, I can do math -- the last one was a casualty (I'm clumsy). They were SO good. Julie agrees! And at only 87 calories each, go ahead and eat five for dinner -- just not as an appetizer! I made sweet and sour sauce and duck sauce for them, but Keith and I both agreed that these were best with plain soy sauce (low sodium, of course!)

The Svelte Gourmet Egg Rolls
Makes 16

Meat:
6 oz pork loin, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic

Veggies:

1 cup matchstick carrots
1 cup chopped mushrooms
2 chopped green onions
1/2 head napa cabbage, cut into thin 2-inch strips

Cooking & Assembly:

3 tsp olive oil, divided
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
16 sheets phyllo dough, thawed if frozen (I use 9"x14" rectangular sheets)
1 egg white

Preparation:

Marinate pork cubes in soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger for at least 30 minutes. Mix vegetables in a large bowl. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a wok or large skillet. Add eggs, either scrambling or cooking into a large pancake that can be cut into pieces later. Remove cooked eggs from wok and set aside to cool. Heat another teaspoon olive oil. Stir fry pork AND marinade for 2 minutes. Remove meat with a slotted spoon, leaving juices in wok. Heat last teaspoon of oil, adding vegetables and stir frying for 3-4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from wok, place into a colander over a bowl and allow to drain and cool for 15-20 minutes. Chop pork and eggs and add to vegetables.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Working quickly so the phyllo doesn't dry out, gently fold 1 sheet of dough in half. Place a couple tablespoons of filling on the first 3rd of the sheet and fold over bottom and sides. Brush exposed phyllo with egg white and continue to roll up until the edge seals to the roll. Place seam side down on a baking sheet misted lightly with olive oil. Repeat process with remaining phyllo dough and filling. Brush tops of all egg rolls with egg white and bake for 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Enjoy!

The Svelte Gourmet: A Month of Main Courses cookbook is available at www.thesveltegourmet.com/products.html.