Amazing 600-Calorie Meals (with Wine!)
By Kristin Donnelly, Senior Food Editor, Food & Wine
While living in Paris, I performed an unintentional experiment with the French paradox: I ate cheese, pâté and bread almost daily but still lost 10 pounds. Walking miles along the Seine helped, but I'd also started eating the French way: smaller portions of better-tasting food, often with wine. Drinking wine isn't necessarily the key to losing weight, but as countless studies have shown, a glass-a-day habit can increase your life span. Now I live in New York City but still eat the French way, with low calorie, wine-friendly dishes like runny eggs baked over mushrooms and spinach, for instance, and a root-vegetable salad with sliced beef. Add a five-ounce glass of wine (at 110 to 130 calories) and the total calorie count is still under 600. And sometimes, there's enough wiggle room for cheese.
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Warm Shrimp Salad with Kamut, Red Chile and Tarragon Paired with a Minerally Rosé
"Kamut is an heirloom variety of wheat with a sweet, almost buttery flavor. I like pink wine with pink shellfish. Minerally Provençal rosés are especially good with my tarragon-scented shrimp."
INGREDIENTS
1 cup dried kamut or spelt berries4 ounces haricots verts, cut into thirds
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large shallot, halved and thinly sliced
Salt
2 teaspoons minced fresh red chile
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/4 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon
Lemon wedges, for serving
DIRECTIONS
1. In a heavy medium saucepan, toast the kamut over moderately high heat until fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over moderately low heat until the grains are tender, 1 hour 10 minutes; drain off any excess water.
2. In a medium, deep skillet, combine the haricots verts with 1/4 cup of water. Cover and steam over moderately high heat, stirring, until crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain.
3. Wipe out the skillet. Melt the butter in the oil over moderately high heat. Add the shallot, season with salt and cook, stirring, until softened, 2 minutes. Add the chile and cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add the shrimp, season with salt and cook, stirring, until just pink, 3 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the kamut and haricots verts and cook until hot. Stir in the tarragon, season with salt and serve with lemon wedges.
Notes: One Serving 330 cal, 6 gm fat, 2.2 gm sat fat, 40 gm carb, 6 gm fiber, 30 gm protein.
Whole Fish Roasted and Potatoes Paired with an Unoaked, Lemony White
Calories per recipe serving: 388
"Roasted fish recipes as simple as this one can showcase crisp whites with some complexity. I go for a Sancerre." View recipe.
Roast Beef with Root-Vegetable-and-Green-Peppercorn Salad Paired with a Cabernet Franc
Calories per recipe serving: 407
"Brined green peppercorns aren't particularly popular, but Kristin Donnelly loves them in a dressing for sweet roasted fall vegetables and roast beef." View recipe.
Eggs Baked Over Sautéed Mushrooms and Spinach Paired with a Light, Fruity Red
Calories per recipe serving: 323
"Drinking wine with eggs at lunch always feels so French to Kristin Donnelly, likely thanks to Elizabeth David's famous essay, 'An Omelette and a Glass of Wine.'" View recipe.
Chicken and Noodles in Spiced Broth Paired with an Off-Dry Riesling
Calories per recipe serving: 277
"Alternative healers use star anise to fight cold and flu symptoms. Melissa Rubel Jacobson combines the licorice-scented spice with cinnamon and ginger-both stomach soothers-to flavor a restorative chicken-noodle soup." View recipe.
