500 More Fat-Free Recipes

In her latest attack on the fat-filled American diet, Schlesinger (500 Fat-Free Recipes; 500 Fat-Free Pasta Recipes) slashes recipes down to one fat gram or less per serving. Her ploys include eschewing oils, meats and egg yolks; enhancing flavors through generous applications of herbs, spices and other assertive tastes; and sauteing aromatics (onions, garlic, etc.) in small amounts of chicken broth rather than fat. She also brings real ingenuity to unusual combinations. Schlesinger suggests such innovative fare as Strawberry-Spinach Salad with a nonfat yogurt, lemon and honey dressing; Baked Onion Rings battered with egg white, skim milk and flour and then dipped in corn flake crumbs; and Dijon-Corn Soup, a corn-and-potato potage aggressively intensified with mustard, garlic, honey and cayenne. Ethnic influences abound, from Thai Rice bright with ginger root, lemongrass, jalapeno, coriander and turmeric to Burritos with Black Bean-Corn-Raisin Stuffing. Salads are as simple as Mixed Green Salad with Balsamic Vinegar (no oil) and as piquant as Potato Salad with Pickle Relish, in which relish mixes with nonfat mayonnaise and yogurt. Snacks include Steamed Vegetable Dumplings made with wonton wrappers and Bean-Stuffed Eggs, deviled eggs without the yolks. Desserts are largely fruit-based breads, cookies and cakes. Home cooks serious about avoiding fat won't find a more appetizing cookbook. Nutritional analyses are given for each recipe. (Feb.)