Reviewing: “Secrets of Skinny Cooking,” by Victoria Dwek. Artscroll/Shaar Press, Mesorah Publications Ltd., 288 pages. 2017. ISBN-10:1-4226-1898-6.
When it comes to eating, we live in a perpetual conflict. We all crave delicious food, which usually includes copious amounts of fat and sugar, while wanting to look like we subsist on air. Victoria Dwek, food editor of Ami Magazine, has tried to marry these opposing desires with her cookbook, “Skinny Cooking.”
Dwek achieves good taste with fewer calories largely by ditching fat, minimizing sugar and upping the use of herbs and spices. Her visually appealing, easy-to-use cookbook offers techniques and strategies that can be integrated into your cooking repertoire in addition to the specific recipes she has created. She takes on each food category—appetizers, soups, salads, meat and dairy mains, sides and desserts—and gives the standards a lowered calorie makeover.
I tried out several recipes on my family over a few months, never telling them that the source was a cookbook with low-calorie recipes. One of the best was for Moroccan-style fish, a dish usually made with a lot of oil. This recipe had none. The fish—I used only salmon though the recipe calls for a variety—is poached in a tomato-based sauce, with vegetables and spices. I’m not a fan of skin so I nestled the filets in the sauce, skin side up, and removed the skin halfway through the cooking process when it slips right off. I then spooned sauce over the now exposed fish and continued poaching.
Dwek’s eggplant parmesan uses a creatively conceived cauliflower cream to give the dish some luxurious mouth feel. The eggplant slices, usually breaded and pan or oven fried, were simply broiled with spices. Assembled like the usual version, with a made-from-scratch marinara sauce, it was quite good but I missed the crunch of crumbs.
I am a fan of both yogurt and omelets but never thought to put them together. Dwek’s egg white omelet with a savory yogurt base makes an excellent protein-rich breakfast, using only cooking spray to coat the pan. The sprinkled herbs add taste and color to the otherwise very white combination of omelet on yogurt.
Desserts, that beloved yet feared repository of mega calories, get their fat and sugar trimmed but not eliminated in “Skinny Cooking.” I have used applesauce or even prune butter as a substitute for oil, but Dwek introduces a new one for her brownies—baby food sweet potatoes—and uses much less sugar than usual. Nothing can replace chocolate, but using unsweetened cocoa lets you control the sugar a little more. The brownies were moist and fluffy, a very pleasing texture.
Fans of lemon meringue pie will love Dwek’s lemon curd napoleon. The big difference is substituting sugar- and cinnamon-coated wonton wrapper crisps for the pie crust. The crusts can be used as a base, layered as in a napoleon or added as a garnish to the lemon curd, served mousse style in a cup. The meringue topping is whipped up until it is creamy and tops the lemon curd. Dwek cautions that it must be frozen or served immediately. I didn’t do either and regretted it. By the time I served my lemon cups, the meringue had fallen. It was still delicious but not as good as when first made. I would have loved to give it a quick trip under the broiler but that wasn’t possible on Shabbos. When I make this again, I might add some whipped topping to stabilize the egg whites but that would also add calories.
Skinny Cooking does a great job of showing us how to reduce calories in what we cook. Portion control, however, is still part of the equation. And tasting counts, especially when you cut one itty bitty corner of a tray of brownies, fresh from the oven, and then decide you must even out the line, nibbling as you go. Skinny eating is a different skill to master.
Yields 6 servings.
Yields 12 servings
Pareve
129 calories per serving
You can also serve this mousse-style, by combining the meringue and curd in a dessert glass. Use the wonton crisps and berries as garnish.
The wonton crisps and lemon curd can be prepared ahead. Meringue must be prepared fresh shortly before serving. You can also assemble curd and meringue in cups and freeze; add fruit and crisps before serving.
By Bracha Schwartz
