Clever Cooking: Your guide to adapting recipes

Once you get into the swing of it, making healthy food choices is easy. This guide will help you adapt your favourite recipes and make the right choices with the food you eat.

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How to reduce fat

Fat in the diet is essential for good health. However, too much fat can contribute to you being overweight, developing heart disease and some cancers. On average, Australians consume around 50 percent more fat than is considered healthy.

When adapting recipes, you can use the same quantity of a low-fat ingredient to replace a high-fat ingredient – and save on calories and fat. You can also prepare and cook foods in ways that reduce fat content.

Ingredient	Alternative
Full cream milk	Skim milk
Yoghurt	Low-fat yoghurt
Cream	Skim evaporated milk Low-fat ricotta cheese blended with skim milk
Coconut milk/cream	Low-fat coconut milk Low-fat evaporated milk with coconut essence
Sour cream	Low-fat natural yoghurt Buttermilk Low-fat ricotta cheese blended with low-fat yoghurt
Cream cheese	Low-fat cream cheese Low-fat ricotta cheese
Cheddar cheese	Use low-fat varieties in smaller servings Use 1 Tbsp of parmesan cheese to replace half a cup of full-fat cheddar cheese as it has a stronger flavour, so you need less
Chicken	Remove the skin Control portion sizes (100g, uncooked, per person without bones, 200 g with bones)
Meat	Trim all visible fat Choose lean cuts Control portion sizes (100 g, uncooked, per person)
Bacon	Trim off all the fat Use lean ham or mid-eye bacon instead Use 97 per cent fat-free varieties
Butter, margarine	Choose low-fat spreads Use apple puree in baking to keep cakes moist
Oil	Cooking spray Use apple puree in baking to keep cakes moist
Mayonnaise	Low-fat natural yoghurt Low-fat or no-fat mayonnaise

How to reduce sugar

It’s not a sin to occasionally enjoy sugary foods. The problem is that Australians consume, on average, around 40 kg of refined sugar each year, or some 22 teaspoons everyday. Only 25 percent is added sugar. The rest is hidden in processed food products such as soft drinks, confectionery, biscuits, cakes, sauces, canned fruits, icecream, jelly and breakfast cereals.

On average, sugar contributes an extra 440 calories each day – enough to make the difference between a person being normal or overweight. Reduce sugar in your cooking and save calories!

Ingredient	Alternative
Sugar - white or raw	Artificial sweeteners in a liquid or powder form Reduce sugar in recipes by half.

How to increase fibre

Increasing fibre in your diet is much easier if you substitute whole-grains for white or refined grains, such as white flour and white rice. As well as containing valuable fibre, whole-grains are a nutritious source of vitamins, trace minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals.

Ingredient	Alternative
White flour	Wholemeal flour Half wholemeal and half white flour.
White rice	Brown rice
White pasta	Wholemeal or vegetable pasta
White bread	Wholemeal or wholegrain breads
Breadcrumbs	Use wholemeal breadcrumbs or natural bran
Fruits and vegetables	Leave the skin on where possible

Alternative cooking methods

Where possible, use cooking methods that result in less fat. Here are some ideas for cutting back on fat when cooking:

Conventional method	Alternative methods
Sauté or shallow frying	Use a non-stick pan Use a cooking spray Grill or barbecue instead Dry-fry on medium heat, stirring continuously Use stock or water for sautéing instead of oil Microwave food first, then crisp it up in the oven or under the grill
Deep frying	Bake in the oven on a lightly greased tray Partly cook in the microwave and allow to brown in the oven
White sauce	Reduce the amount of butter or margarine you normally use by half Thicken with cornflour Use skim milk
Thickening sauces with flour	Boil rapidly to reduce the amount of liquid Thicken with extra pureed vegetables or tomato paste Add natural bran Use 1 Tbsp of cooked lentils

Recipe Adaptation Examples

Here are two examples of recipes where the high-fat ingredients have been substituted with low-fat alternatives.

Savoury beef rolls
Serves 4
Original recipe: 545 calories per serve
Modified recipe: 250 calories per serve
Save 295 calories (1235 kj) per serve

Ingredient	Modification
1 kg rump steak	Too much meat for four people. Reduce to 500 g.
90 g cream cheese	Use low-fat ricotta
1 Tbsp oil	Reduce by half
2 Tbsp cream	Use low-fat evaporated milk
½ tsp mixed herbs Flour, salt & pepper 1 tsp soy sauce ½ cup beef stock 2 tsp parsley	Use as stated

Tomato and basil quiche
Serves 6
Original recipe: 485 calories per serve
Modified recipe: 245 calories per serve
Save 240 calories (1005 kj) per serve

Ingredient	Modification
Pastry:
1 cup plain flour 1 Tbsp lemon juice	Use as stated
90 g butter	Reduce by half or replace with low-fat spread
1 egg yolk	Omit. Add more water if necessary.
Filling:
30 g butter	Reduce to 5 g (1 teaspoon) or use reduced-fat spread
300 ml cream	Use 150 ml skim milk blended with 150 g ricotta
¾ cup grated cheese	Use ½ cup of low-fat cheese
2 eggs 1 leek Salt, pepper 3 small ripe tomatoes ¾ cup basil ½ cup parsley	Use as stated or replace eggs with egg substitute

Last updated: May 20th, 2006

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