1,000 Low-Calorie Recipes

Reduce to enhance. The technique of reduction—simmering to thicken a liquid—is meant to concentrate flavors

When you can, embrace ingredients that boast high amounts of umami along with low calories, like fully ripened tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, naturally brewed soy sauce, and green tea. Be sure your tomatoes are fully ripened. That means don’t refrigerate them! When it makes flavor and technique-sense in a recipe, add a splash of naturally brewed soy sauce instead of adding salt; you’ll basically be getting umami with your “salt.”

Look for some unusual color sources, like pickled turnip—it’s fuchsia from beet juice! And consider creating color by incorporating various hued vegetables into otherwise bland-colored foods.

Hint: Opt for more colorful vegetable varieties to add interest. Pick purple produce whenever possible, as in Soft Scrambled Eggs with Purple Potato and Chives, Purple Potato Pancakes, and Asian Angel Hair with “Confetti”.

For instance, try blue or purple potatoes or red quinoa instead of lighter versions at least some of the time

Color your plate happy. Vibrant naturally occurring colors make foods seem richer.

Hint: Create an intriguing creamy pasta sauce with the combination of pureed white beans, vegetable broth, and heavy cream instead of straight heavy cream, as in my inspired “Alfredo” Sauce. Or use pureed black beans as a clever creaming and binding agent in chocolaty baked goods, as Fudgy Superfood Brownies.

Greek yogurt creates tangy lusciousness in creamy salads, scrambled eggs, risottos, and fluffy frostings. No-salt-added white beans boost satiety while providing velvety texture when pureed into foods, and can marry so well with other flavors since they’re so mild.

Savor creaminess without the cream. There are good-for-you ways to create the mouth-feel of creaminess. Whirl or puree Greek yogurt, beans, tahini, silken tofu, banana, mangoes, avocado, or potatoes into soups, sauces, spreads, smoothies, and beyond.

Hint: Instead of arranging or tossing together a salad or side, layer it artfully for impressive effect, as in the spectacular Caprese Salad “Lasagna”. Or for family-friendly flair, blend fresh herbs into your food to make it unexpectedly green, as is deliciously done in “Green” Eggs and Ham.