6 Low-Fat Cooking Tips You Haven't Heard Before

Reader s Digest Magazine

1. You shouldn't need cream in a properly made risotto
There are two tricks to making a great risotto; patience and the right rice. Don't ever attempt to make this ancient dish with regular long-grain rice because it will turn mushy, not creamy, when cooked in this manner. Second, use a heavyweight pot that distributes heat evenly. Melt the butter, oil, or fat slowly, add the rice, stir, and don't add any liquid until all of the grains are coated with fat. The very minute that the rice stops absorbing liquid, you'll know that it's done.

2. Use carrot juice in salad dressings
For low-fat salad dressings with tons of flavor, replace one-fourth of the oil with carrot juice.

3. Bananas are the secret to complex-tasting muffins
For complex-tasting blueberry muffins with less fat, replace the butter in your favorite recipe with a mixture of mashed bananas and vegetable oil.

4. Use peas in guacamole
To make low-fat guacamole, puree peas and use them to replace some or all of the avocados in your favorite guacamole recipe.

5. Use yogurt for tender low-fat muffins
Replace half of the liquid in the batter with yogurt. The acidity of yogurt helps to enhance tenderness in the absence of fat.

6. Use mustard instead of egg to bread
Mustard's claim to fame is as a condiment, usually on hot dogs, hamburgers, and sandwiches. But many chefs, when preparing lower-cholesterol breaded cutlets, replace egg with mustard, since bread crumbs adhere to mustard even better than they do to beaten egg. Plus, mustard's fat and cholesterol counts are virtually nil. Use this technique anytime you make cutlets, stronger-flavored fish, and even fried eggplant.

Plus, other low-fat cooking tips you need to know.

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