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Cooking healthy meals is a good way to start the New Year, especially if you’ve overindulged during the holidays. All those cookies, special drinks and nibbles can pack on the pounds, as well as upset your digestive system. Get back on track to healthy eating with one simple trick.

Use spices and herbs instead of salt.  You might not realize it but most Americans consume double the amount of salt they require.  If you eat one fast food burger you’ve consumed all the salt for the day, half the calories you require and all the fat.  Only 15 percent of the salt most people eat is consumed by salting their food while eating or cooking.

Cut down on the salt by reading labels.  Did you know one serving of a popular canned chili has 30 percent of the salt you’re allowed for the day? And a serving isn’t the entire can it’s one cup.  Make your own chili and freeze it in meal-size portions.  Pick up low sodium cheese and use no-added sodium roast deli beef for sandwiches.

Most people have an acquired taste for salt. Parents actually salt their purchased baby food because the food tastes flat to them.  The baby of course, not being used to eating salt, doesn’t mind the taste. The easiest way to readjust your taste buds is to go cold turkey for three or four days. That means not only not adding salt, but preparing meals from salt-free ingredients.  It will take some extra time but at the end of the time period you’ll recognize just how salty most food is. You might even lose a few pounds because you can’t eat fast food that’s loaded with salt and fat.

Replace the salty flavor with strong tasting herbs such as rosemary, basil, dill or oregano.  Add heat instead of salt by adding in diced fresh jalapenos, cayenne pepper or even hot pepper sauce.  Boost flavor with spices such as fennel seed, cumin or cinnamon.  Try cinnamon in meat dishes such as chili or meatloaf.

Make your own dips using fat-free yogurt instead of sour cream and mayonnaise. A quick and easy dip that can be thinned with apple cider vinegar to use as a salad dressing is to mix one cup of fat-free yogurt with 1 tablespoon of dill seed, 1 teaspoon of dried onion flakes or 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder (not onion salt), 1/4 cup of chopped scallions, 1/4 cup of minced cucumber, throw a tablespoon of fresh chopped dill if you have it.  You won’t miss the salt or the extra calories in purchased onion dill dips with this recipe.

The Italians have a way to turn pasta into perfection. A fresh tomato sauce bathes pasta accented with peas, basil and sprinkled with a smidge of Parmesan cheese. Chop one medium fully ripe tomato for each serving of pasta. For example if you’re feeding four for dinner, chop four tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and set aside. Cook your choice of pasta until it’s nearly done. Add 1/2 cup frozen peas for each serving of pasta and add to the pasta just a minute or two before you remove from the heat. Strain the pasta and the peas. Chop a handful of basil leaves. Add the chopped tomatoes with their juice and basil leaves to the pasta and peas and toss well. Sprinkle each serving with one tablespoon of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

November 8, 2011

Presentation is critical at a spa for several reasons. Garnishes take up space on the plate tricking you into thinking that there’s more food than there really is. If you’re creating an at home spa experience for a fast weight loss program, then do what the experts do and use garnishes.

Contrasts between colors and textures, say a glistening ruby red strawberry against juicy orange slices set off by a dark green curly kale leaf increases the appreciation of the food.
Thinly sliced lemon slices alternating with springs of Italian parsley is another easy to do garnish. A radish rose offset by three cucumber slices is a pretty bouquet. Use your imagination when garnishing a plate.

The garnishes don’t have to be edible, although they shouldn’t be toxic of course. Raw kale with its dark green ruffled leaves makes a lovely garnish but in its raw state it’s too bitter to actually eat. Edible flowers make beautiful garnishes. A curled strand of lemon, grapefruit, or orange peal isn’t edible, unless you’re desperate, but does add scent from the essential oils in the peel and color to the plate.

Arrange the food artistically on the plate. For example: one chicken breast can be cut into three slices horizontally, or 6 slices vertically, and then overlapped on the plate. It looks like considerably more food. Place a fruit slice between each slice of chicken, or an herb sprig for even more color and appeal.

Whether it’s a crystal glass with a slice of lime on its rim, a soup bowl with a paprika sprinkle or a dinner plate with wreath of herbs, garnishes are a spa standby.

Use undersized plates when serving spa cuisine, a lunch plate and a small salad bowl instead of a large dinner plate. Use a contrasting charger, a large oversized plate, under the lunch plate for a look of luxury. The servings will look like more. In the same vein, serve courses. Garnish each course. An appetizer, salad, soup, and entrée take longer to serve and eat than an entrée with a cup of soup. Your stomach needs 20 minutes to signal your brain it’s full. If you serve an appetizer and then salad, by the time you’re finishing the soup, your tummy is saying you’ve had enough, so you won’t overdo on the entrée. Keep portions tiny so you don’t overdo the amount of food you’re eating at the meal.

If you’re stuffed with stuffing and your turkey has trotted its last, you might be in the mood for a few weight loss tips. Instead of eating — drink instead.

Take the time to use the good dishes, silverware and glasses. Seltzer water straight from the bottle is fine for slaking your thirst after a workout, but it is so much more elegant when served in a crystal glass and garnished with a mint sprig. And that’s another trick. Use herbs to flavor the water without adding calories. Don’t stick with just mint. Lavender adds a floral note, basil and tarragon add a taste of licorice. A cucumber slice with a bit of dill is a refreshing change from sweet beverages.