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Explore
healthful alternative dips, spreads
February 09, 2006
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
What’s
a chip without dip?
We like dips, spreads and sauces because they taste great
and add color, moisture and texture to our foods. Trouble
is, the calories can add up, and so can the fat – both
saturated and trans.
If you’re looking for healthier alternatives, you’ve
got plenty of choices. The common denominator in most is that
they’re made primarily from plant sources – fruits,
vegetables, and vegetable oils – and they contain little,
if any, butter, cream, or cheese. When they do contain dairy,
it’s nonfat.
Sound pretty basic? That’s the idea. These are everyday
options that, simple as they sound, may not be the first thing
you think of when you set out a bowl of chips.
Keep these foods in mind when you go shopping so that you
have them on hand at home next time you reach for a topping
for your toast.
Dip tips:
* For starters, you might expand your list of dippers to include
toasted pita points brushed with olive oil, sticks of zucchini
and yellow squash, jicama, Belgian endive leaves, snow peas,
yellow, orange and red bell pepper slices, and chunks of pineapple,
pear and melon, in season.
* Nonfat vanilla yogurt makes a good dip for most fruits.
Add a dash of nutmeg or cinnamon. Another option: Layer yogurt
with fruit salad in a glass dish for a low-cal, healthy dessert.
* Serve chocolate syrup with chunks of angel food cake and
fruit. It’s lower in fat and calories than milk chocolate.
* Make black bean dip with dried bean flakes sold in natural
foods stores. Fantastic Foods and Taste Adventure are two
brands you’ll see. Shake some flakes into a bowl, add
boiling water, stir and cover. Dip is ready in five minutes,
or you can use the mixture to make nachos, bean soup, or burrito
and taco filling.
* Substitute nonfat yogurt for sour cream in most dip recipes
that call for sour cream or mayonnaise. Yogurt is thinner
in consistency, so in some cases, it works well to mix in
a small amount of nonfat sour cream. Another option: Whirl
a cup of nonfat cottage cheese in a food processor with a
couple teaspoons of lemon juice. The flavor and consistency
are strikingly similar to sour cream, and you can use it in
the same ways – in dips or on a baked potato.
* Hummus – a Middle Eastern garbanzo bean dip and spread
– comes in lots of varieties, including plain, garlic,
red pepper, scallion, jalapeno, and spiced. Use it as a chip
dip, with toasted pita points, or with raw vegetables. Find
it in most supermarkets.
* Fresh, homemade guacamole made with mashed avocado, lemon
or lime juice, minced onion and a scoop of salsa is another
healthful dip. Pair it with fruit salsas: peach, mango and
pineapple.
What do you spread on your toast in the morning?
Find a substitute for regular margarine and butter which are
high in trans and saturated fats. Better choices: I Can’t
Believe It’s Not Butter Fat Free, Promise Fat Free,
Spectrum Naturals, Fleischmann’s Light, and Smart Beat.
Look for brands with no more than one gram combined of saturated
and trans fat per serving.
Alfredo sauce on pasta and cheese sauce over nachos are first-rate
artery-cloggers. For some healthful, albeit unconventional,
alternatives, look no farther than The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook
by Joanne Stepaniak (Book Publishing Company, 2005, $15.95
paperback). For example, who knew you could make an American
cheese clone using canned white beans, roasted red peppers
and a little mustard?
Take a dip into something new and try some healthful replacements
to dress up your snacks and morning toast.
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