Fryers' Club

Everywhere I go people ask: “I know I need to eat more yogurt, whole grains, fish, veggies, etc., but I don’t like the taste of any of those things; WHAT SHOULD I DO?” Or they say to me: “All my favorite foods are deep fried and I just can’t give them up; I’M GONNA HAVE A HEART ATTACK IF YOU DON’T HELP ME.”

OK, actually, no one has ever said any of that to me but I suspect it’s all true.

Well, dear readers, I’m about to solve all your problems.

What if I told you that you could work in more healthy foods, including those I just mentioned into your diet by eating more fried foods?

You’re thinking “NO! It can’t be done!”

Oh, but it can. The trick is, instead of frying our foods; we are going to “fry” them.

If the State Fair of Texas has taught us anything, it is that everything tastes better fried – and, often, on a stick. Now I know I posted just yesterday about eating foods as close to their natural state as possible and “fried” foods certainly ain’t natural. But if it helps you avoid eating fried foods and keeps your diet on track toward results, then this is certainly the lesser of two evils. Plus, if you are avoiding salt and cholesterol as part of a heart-healthy diet, you will be pleased to know that you can still have your favorite foods – even a full fish-“fry” dinner without the fat, salt or cholesterol that used to make these meals off limits to you.

To “fry” something, you need to start with the classic wet/ dry set-up. In traditional frying, the wet side is usually a milk & egg mixture while the dry side is flour or corn meal. For “frying” set up a pie pan with a big scoop of plain fat-free yogurt and a couple of tablespoons of soy or almond milk. The dry side is a second pie pan containing crushed granola or whole grain cereal flakes. I like Special K for the protein and the texture, but any unsweetened cereal will work. Then get creative. Take fish, chicken, veggie slices, whatever you like and drop them into the wet side for a few seconds, then transplant to the dry side to coat. Cover a cookie sheet with tin foil, shiny side up, and spray lightly with olive oil. Place the breaded foods onto the cookie sheet and then spray the top with olive oil as well. Bake at 400 till done – times will vary depending on thickness. (That’s what she said.)

Fish “Fry” Dinner

You will need:

Large tub of plain, fat-free yogurt

Box of Special K or other whole-grain, non sugar cereal

Almond or soy milk

Fresh or frozen corn (no or low sodium)

Broccoli slaw or Cole slaw bag mix

Fat-free tartar sauce (no or low cholesterol)

Fat-free Ranch dressing (no or low cholesterol)

Lemons

Fat-Free condensed milk (no cholesterol)

Red onions

Green onions

Tomatoes

Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes

Zucchini, okra, mushrooms or any other veggie you want to “fry”

Sea salt & black pepper (optional)

Cut the veggies you want to “fry” into medallions (round slices.)

Coat the veggies and the fish per the instructions above and put them into the oven.

Dice the potatoes and boil.

Heat the corn in a saucepan.

During last two minutes of potato boiling, add diced red onion.

Put warm corn, a heavy pour of condensed milk, and chopped green onion into a food processor. Grind for 30-45 seconds, until creamy but not liquefied.

Drain and mash potatoes and onion.

Toss bagged slaw mix with fat-free Ranch dressing.

Take “fried” things out of the oven.

Plate everything together, garnishing with additional onion and tomato slices. Add sea salt, black pepper, tartar sauce and lemons to taste.

Traditional fish fry – including deep-fat fried fish, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, Cole slaw:

900 Calories, 40g Fat, 2,150mg Sodium, 250mg Cholesterol (about half from the eggs in the batter mixture)

Fish “Fry” dinner – as shown

575 Calories, 2g Fat, 420mg Sodium, 30mg Cholesterol* (almost 100% from the fish itself)

*Fish, like all animal products, does contain cholesterol, however, heart/ cholesterol patients are encouraged to eat it because the Omega-3 content actually helps lower cholesterol levels in the body.

Another example of "fried" foods - zuccini slices & vinegar-poached talapia with a huge green salad.

Nutritional information calculated from info found at www.caloriecount.about.com