Nearly fat-free menu: Barbecue chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and cornbread
Friday night I invited some friends of ours over for dinner, with the caveat that it would be almost entirely fat-free (due to my recent gall bladder surgery), I would be testing new recipes, and I couldn't guarantee the taste. And yet, they still showed up.
After discovering that barbecue sauce is fat-free, I decided to make barbecued chicken breasts, an easy but great main item.
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
* Trim fat from skinless, boneless chicken breasts.
* Place in ovenproof pan and brush with barbecue sauce. (My preferred method is dumping a ton of barbecue sauce on and spreading it around with a brush.)
* Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, turning and basting the chicken halfway through.
I surfed through one of my new favorite sites, FATFREE: The Low Fat Vegetarian Recipe Archive, looking for recipes that might taste like dishes I make a lot. Two looked promising -- chunky mashed potatoes and cornbread.
Since I don't have a pressure cooker, I adapted the recipe to suit my needs.
* Cut up potatoes into small chunks and place in a large pot. Cover potatoes in fat-free chicken broth (available at the grocery store in large boxes).
* Add 1 large head of garlic, broken into cloves and peeled, along with two bay leaves and salt and pepper to taste.
* Bring to a rolling boil, then turn heat down to a light boil until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.
*Remove from heat and strain the potates and garlic, reserving the broth. Be sure to remove the bay leaves.
* Mash the potatoes and garlic together, gradually adding the broth by the ladle until potatoes are at the desired consistency.
The cornbread recipe appealed because of the creamed corn and applesauce. It was also similar in nature to my normal recipe, which is fairly sweet.
I also made corn on the cob because they were so pretty and appealing in the grocery, and at 10 for $2, I couldn't pass them up. After Christy mentioned that they made a fat-free butter substitute (I had no idea!), the corn on the cob was perfect.
* Trim extraneous leaves from the corn, leaving the husk intact. Place four cobs on a microwaveable plate.
* Place in the microwave for 10 minutes on high, turning them over once halfway through.
* Chop the extra cob off the end of the corn. Using potholders, peel the husks and cornsilk off, which should come off extremely easily.
And the verdict? Everyone was extremely happy with the meal. While eating, we all kept mentioning how amazing it was that you couldn't tell the recipes were fat-free at all. The cornbread was right up there with my normal cornbread, and the whole pan was gone by the next day. My friend liked it so much, she has been bugging me to get this blog post up so she could make it herself! (Happy now?)
This sort of success makes me think the next month or so isn't going to be so bad after all.
ETA: RC's right -- I forgot about the chicken breast having three grams, and the amount was negligible for the corn, so I didn't count. But 4 grams is still pretty good!
Comments (4)
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Good job on cutting down on fat and finding recipes that actually look and sound good!!! But can I be picky? My fat counter book shows half of a skinless baked chicken breast has 3 grams of fat. The book also shows the combination of corn on the cob and creamed corn you used would add another gram of fat.
Four grams. Still remarkable! .... RC (who tends to read the fat counter book instead of use it .. LOL)
Posted on May 17, 2006 9:37 AM
Thanks for putting me right -- I edited the post to reflect that.
Posted on May 18, 2006 3:41 PM
Your low-fat dinner sounds yummy! Here's a tip for corn on the cob, sounds odd, but try it--delicious. Instead of butter or butter substitute, squeeze a bit of fresh lime on the cob and roll in cayenne pepper or white pepper.
Something about that combination really works. I don't miss the butter at all and the corn flavor really comes through.
Enjoy!
Pat the Healthy Gourmet
Posted on May 19, 2006 5:16 PM
Hmm. I might have to give that a try. Sounds delish!
Posted on May 19, 2006 5:58 PM