How to Cook Light Recipes

More and more people are concerned about fat intake. Too much fat in the diet contributes to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Once someone gains a significant amount of weight, other health problems can manifest as well. When you eat out, there's no way of knowing how much fat you're consuming, or if the fat you're eating is saturated fat (the worst kind of fat to eat). You can avoid this and enjoy delicious cuisine by preparing your meals at home and in a way that will we be healthful. If you cook light you'll eat right.

Instructions

1. Trim as much fat as possible off of meat when you're preparing to cook a meat dish. Animal fat is saturated fat and not something you want to include in your diet.

2. Use soybean products when creating light recipes. Soy cheese has about half the calories of real cheese, without the saturated fat. Soybean patties can be cooked on a grill in place of chop meat, and you won't have to be concerned about animal fat.

3. Make a pasta dish lighter by cutting calories and carbohydrates. Add less pasta to your recipe so you'll have more room for low-calorie vegetables. Sauté 1/2 cup of cut zucchini, 1/2 cup of chopped tomato, ¼ cup of chopped onions and a thinly sliced clove of garlic in three tablespoons of light olive oil. Toss together with a cup of cooked pasta and season with salt and fresh basil for a light and healthy recipe.

4. Bake your food instead of frying it. Many foods can be baked without compromising taste. A recipe for breaded chicken cutlets, for instance, can be baked instead of fried. Dip two chicken cutlets in egg, then bread crumbs. Add 2 tbsp. light olive oil to a baking pan, place your chicken cutlets in pan to coat bottom of cutlets with oil, turn chicken cutlets over and place pan in a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake until chicken cutlets are cooked through. When you bake rather than fry, you use much less fat in the process.

5. Poach chicken by placing chicken breasts in a pan of water or chicken stock, making sure liquid just covers the chicken breasts. Heat until the liquid boils, then reduce heat and skim any foam off the top and discard. Add cut vegetables such as carrots, zucchini and onions if you desire and simmer breasts and vegetables for 20 to 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. When chicken is done, let cool and serve with vegetables. There's no fat and very little carbohydrates in this light recipe.

6. Cook one pound of shrimp on a grill and serve on a bed of rice for a light dish you'll enjoy. Before putting the shrimp on the grill, clean the shrimp, then brush them with a mixture of ¼ cup of soy sauce, ¼ cup of teriyaki sauce, ¼ cup of chicken broth, ¼ cup of white cooking wine and 2 tbsp. of wasabi powder. Blend ingredients well and coat shrimp with this mixture before and during the grilling process.

Tips & Warnings

• When you have a recipe that calls for oil or butter, use less oil or butter than what you've been told to use. You won't really notice a difference in taste, but you will be healthier for it.

• Buy light food products when you go shopping and include them in your recipes. Adding skin milk to a recipe as opposed to whole milk will cut down on your fat intake. Use light sour cream in place of regular sour cream.