Get Healthy

Ingredients

Applesauce:
1 tablespoon butter
3 apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped (about 4 cups chopped)
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

Pork:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 (5-ounce) center-cut pork chops
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
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This photo taken Oct. 12, 2009 that this holiday season you can bypass the typical fat and calorie laden fare and tempt your guests with this Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Red Grapes and Thyme. The pork can be served hot or warm from a chaffing dish, making it perfect for a buffet. (AP Photo/Larry Crowe)

Keeping your holiday buffet healthy doesn’t doom you to celery stalks and carrot sticks. There are plenty of options that are indulgent without leaving your guests feeling buffet-grazing remorse.

Shrimp are always popular and a healthy choice (unless you wrap them in bacon, of course). They are inexpensive, come ready to serve, and are low in both fat and calories.

Healthy dips such as hummus are great, but even sinful choices like a creamy blue cheese dip can be made better by avoiding the chips and serving them with veggie sticks.
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Ingredients

4 (4-ounce) boneless sirloin steaks, trimmed (about 1 inch thick)
3/8 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (8-ounce) package sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
4 Idaho potatoes
1/3 cup chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
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By taking control of the amount of sodium and oil, a home-made Chinese dinner will give you the enjoyment of take-out with a healthier twist. (Photograph by Larry Crowe/The Associated Press.)

Chinese takeout is always a treat, but it can be hard to sort out whether it’s a healthy one.

Of course, with egg rolls, spareribs and fried rice, there’s not much guessing. But when it comes to the vegetable stir-fries and noodle dishes, the answer isn’t as obvious as we’d like.

In principle, most Chinese stir-fries and noodle or rice dishes should be nutritionally sound. Lots of vegetables and carbohydrates and smaller amounts saturated fat from meat. But those ingredients usually are accompanied by plenty of oil and sodium in the wok.
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Fruit purees can lower fat content

By going with a few healthier ingredient choices, like substituting some white whole-wheat flour for white flour, an indulgent treat like this Pumpkin-cranberry Spice Cake is less guilt and more pleasure. (Photograph by Larry Crowe/The Associated Press.)

A slice of cake is always a pleasure, but it doesn’t have to be a guilty one.

When baking cakes, there are a few things you can do to give most recipes a healthy makeover. This pumpkin-cranberry spice cake, for instance, is an indulgent but healthy treat that uses tricks easily applied to other recipes.

First, half of the all-purpose flour is replaced with white whole-wheat flour, which significantly increases the cake’s whole grain count without adding the astringent flavors some people associate with more conventional whole wheat.

White whole-wheat flour has the same nutrition as standard whole-wheat flour, but with a lighter color and milder flavor. It’s milled from a hard white winter wheat berry, rather than the hard red spring wheat berry of traditional whole-wheat flours.

Like standard whole-wheat flour, white whole wheat requires additional moisture and some recipes intended for all-purpose flour will require some adjustments if making a substitution.

Second, canned pumpkin puree does double duty by providing a classic flavor and replacing all but 1/3 cup of the oil. This combination keeps the cake moist and tender, while keeping down the fat.

For many cake and quick bread recipes, especially richly flavored ones such as chocolate and gingerbread, you also can use fruit purees to replace up to three-quarters of the fat.
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Ingredients

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
3 large shallots, peeled (equal one cup)
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1/3 cup dry sherry
1 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
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Ingredients

6 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, undrained
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
6 tablespoons (about 1-1/2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
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As the autumn landscape turns to brown, and the sky to gray, orange orbs begin to dot the patches of farmland across the barren wasteland of fall. Although we have fond memories of jack-o’-lanterns, pumpkin pies and munching on seeds in the Octobers of our youth, we may often overlook the nutritional value of the pumpkin. In fact, these beautiful bulbs of blazing orange pack a punch when it comes to health.

The fleshy part of the pumpkin, called the meat, can be cooked down for soups, pies and other baked goods and is loaded with carotenoids. Together with lutein and zeaxanthin, the meat makes up a powerful blend of antioxidants that neutralize free radicals, aid in preventing cataracts, and reduce the risk of macular degeneration in the eye.
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Ingredients

1/ teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 (6-ounce) walleye fillets
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons capers, drained
4 lemon wedges
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Ingredients

1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup minced onion
1/3 cup white wine or apple cider
1 cup chicken broth
1 small golden delicious apple, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (lower fat with light margarine)
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