There's nothing like a heaping plate of mac and cheese, a steaming mug of hot chocolate or a crispy grilled cheese sandwich to take the chill out of the long winter season. (In fact, there's a scientific explanation for why we crave these foods during the colder months.) Comforting or not, though, those classics are typically loaded with butter, milk, heavy cream and refined carbohydrates, piling on pounds that can stick around long past the winter thaw.
But you don't have to give up on your favorites just yet. We spoke to three nutritionists -- Cheryl Forberg, R.D., a James Beard award-winning chef and the nutritionist for The Biggest Loser; Heather Bauer, R.D., author of Bread is the Devil and founder of Bestowed.com; and Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., author of The Flexitarian Diet -- to get simple tips and recipes to lighten up your favorites.
Read through, then tell us: How do you make your favorite recipes healthier?
Healthier Versions Of 8 Winter Comfort Foods
Healthier Versions Of 8 Winter Comfort Foods
Mac And Cheese
Nothing quite warms you from the inside out like a warm bowl of cheese, cream and refined carbohydrates. But, believe it or not, there are ways to lighten up even this hearty classic. "For the pasta, try using whole wheat, whole spelt or brown rice pasta. They have a high fiber content that can help on the digestion of the fat in the cheese," Bauer wrote in an email to HuffPost Healthy Living. "And for the cream, use olive oil, low fat milk and American cheese instead of cheddar."
You can also add mashed cauliflower or pureed butternut squash to the pot, Blatner says.
For a new, lighter take, try Forberg's "MacQuina and Cheese" recipe, excerpted from her book
Cooking with Quinoa For Dummies -- it clocks in at 594 calories per serving (the recipe cooks up four), 28g of fat (12 saturated), 56 mg of cholesterol, 700 mg of sodium and 28 g of protein.
Ingredients
Cooking oil spray
8 ounces dry quinoa pasta elbows
2 teaspoons, plus 2 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
2 tablespoons quinoa flour
2 cups low-fat milk
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons gluten-free Worcestershire sauce
21⁄2 cups shredded, reduced fat Cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
1⁄2 cup cooked white quinoa, for topping
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese, for topping
Directions
1. Lightly coat a 2-quart casserole or a 9 x 9-inch pan with cooking oil spray. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you don’t have cooked quinoa on hand, cook the quinoa, following the package directions.
2. Prepare the quinoa macaroni according to the package instructions, cooking for approximately 7 minutes. (Be careful not to overcook.) Drain well, rinse with cool water, and gently toss with 2 teaspoons of the oil. Set aside.
3. In a 4-quart saucepan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the flour and whisk until bubbly, about 1 minute. Slowly pour the milk into the flour-oil mixture and continue whisking until a sauce begins to thicken. Reduce the heat to simmer.
4. Whisk in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and 2 cups of the cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and add the cooked macaroni, stirring well to combine. Transfer the macaroni to the prepared baking dish.
5. In a small bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, the remaining 1⁄2 cup of cheddar cheese and the Parmesan cheese. Mix well and sprinkle the topping evenly over the macaroni. Bake until golden
and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.
Excerpted from Cooking with Quinoa For Dummies. Copyright (c) 2013 by John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. Excerpted with permission of the publisher.
