Rouses_FB_July_August_2017

the Burger issue

Healthy sidekicks by Judy Walker + photo by Romney Caruso

H ere’s a little secret: It’s easy to make healthier dishes. My daddy didn’t want lower-sodium bacon or low- fat mayonnaise or healthy anything, really. Mama simply served the would-be offenders to him anyway and hid the containers. If you don’t make a big deal out of it, nobody will even know you are improving their diet. Some simple changes can get you to that point. Here are some of my favorites. For years, I made a blue cheese coleslaw that had been featured at a long-closed restaurant in another state. Recently, I’ve been making it with feta cheese instead. Like blue cheese, feta has a ton of tang, but with about 25 percent fewer calories and a bit less fat. Another thing that makes it better for you is using Greek yogurt in place of most of the mayonnaise. This miracle ingredient can be substituted for at least half the mayonnaise and/or sour cream in a variety of recipes. In general, you only need a couple of tablespoons of full-fat mayonnaise, sour cream or even low-fat sour cream to give the dish smoothness and the expected flavor,

everything) add so much fresh flavor that they are worth the effort to buy and/or grow. A platter of thick Creole tomato slices generously sprinkled with fresh herbs, then drizzled with two tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of teaspoons of wine vinegar, plus fancy salt (like pink Himalayan) and freshly ground pepper, is always a good addition to the menu at casual gatherings. Pretty, too. If fresh herbs have the bad habit of turning black in the refrigerator before you get to them, try this: Trim the stems a bit and put them in a small glass of water, then cover the glass with the plastic produce bag the herbs came home in. Put this mini-terrarium back in the fridge in a prominent place, to remind you to use the herbs. Or try chopping twice as many fresh herbs as you need, and package half in a zip-top sandwich bag, pressing out all the air before closing. When you make guacamole two days later, the cilantro is ready to add. The Greek yogurt trick works well with deviled eggs, by the way. And try it with your favorite potato salad recipe and tell me what

while substituting yogurt for the rest of the fattening ingredient. I’ve had great luck with plain Greek yogurt and even nonfat yogurt. Another favorite coleslaw is my adjusted version of my Granny Trower’s old- fashioned staple. Into about a third of a cup of mayonnaise,I stir an equal amount of plain Greek yogurt, a tablespoon or so of seasoned rice wine vinegar, a pinch of Splenda (or sugar or other sugar substitute) to balance the flavor and a generous amount of celery seeds (the old-school ingredient). Pour this over a bag or two of shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, and maybe julienned red and green bell peppers. The lesson from these two dishes is that the feta and the celery seed provide big flavors that make up for the underlying improvements in calorie and fat counts. For years, writers of healthy recipes have preached the virtues of using fresh herbs as seasonings. A tablespoon or three of fresh chopped parsley, basil, cilantro, dill or whatever is growing in your herb patch (in my case, garlic chives that survive

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY JULY | AUGUST 2017