Healthy Decadence
Technically, our friends Chris and Kitty did not know we were experimenting on them. But, that is sort of what we did.
When I first started dieting, I turned to the Food Network for solace. Sometimes just watching Nigella Lawson heat butter in a pan was enough to dull the cravings.
Fit TV -- that network almost totally populated by people in spandex -- has its own late-night food program that also tries to give you want you desire, this time without the fat and calories.
Healthy Decadence with Devin Alexander takes all those yummy fast food recipes and makes them a little more diet friendly.
The poor thing is up against Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network (that is the guy with the spiky hair who eats French fries and burgers for half an hour). But Alexander, who also penned the Biggest Loser Cookbook, somehow manages to make the stuff look halfway decent.
We tried her version of fried chicken, a cheesy mashed potato thing and the double chocolate brownies.
The great thing about the recipes is that they forced me to use a greater variety of fresh spices than I would normally try (someone please tell me -- do you really have to pull all those little leaves off the tyme, or can you just throw the little sticks in there?)
Dinner was pretty decent. It cuts out all kinds of fat and calories by using reduce fat cheese and buttermilk. Joe noted that there really is no replacement for actual fried chicken, but it was yummy anyhow. Chris and Kitty will definitely come back for dinner another night.
But the dessert got an A+ as far as I am concerned. They are moist and delicious and only one gram of fat a serving. Of course, I ate about half the pan by Sunday night. Still, that's only about eight grams of fat and 500 calories in like, say, four sittings.
OK, so maybe I need to work at the portion control.
Comments (3)
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Nah, I expected you to try out healthy recipes on us when you invited us. It was good!
Posted on February 12, 2008 12:39 PM
Uh, I'm no expert on thyme, but I think you probably only want the leaves. Why don't you just buy a little spice jar of thyme? Stock up on all sorts of spices like thyme, oregano, parsley, cumin, basil, etc. I probably only had cinnamon in my pantry before I started cooking healthy. The spices really add flavor to your meals where you're losing the fat.
Posted on February 12, 2008 1:27 PM
you can throw the hole thing in there but you'll need to go fishing for it after its cooked. and be prepared to bite into mini-branches if the food is/was moved around during cooking. The dried spices are more concentrated than the fresh spices. the fresh spices along with parsley or whatnot add color to the dish. Personally, I don't need anything green on or around my fried chicken unless its collard greens. also, with fried chicken, just remove and toss the skin after cooking. there is where the bad stuff is located. My favorite show on there is Guy's Big Bite. Needless to say, I don't stick to the healthy.
Posted on February 12, 2008 3:18 PM