Broil

Pat: When the grill is fired up for dinner—as it often is in our house—these toasts make great appetizers. The grilled vegetables and vinegar create an appealing relish that’s the perfect foil for Gorgonzola cheese. The pungent, savory flavors are a fantastic kickoff to a juicy grilled steak and a killer bottle of red wine.

Even though there is no sugar in the custard part of the recipe, I did decide—after experimenting with every sugar substitute out there—that it would be okay to use unrefined Demerara sugar for the brûlée part of this dessert. Considering that the fat grams are down to less than 3 from 50, I gave myself a pass.

This was a tough one. Everyone loves cheesy garlic bread, but between the white bread, the butter, and the cheese, it’s a tough sell to the health-conscious. The task was to figure out how to get whole-wheat bread to respond like white bread. Toasting the bread first, then dipping it in chicken broth before topping it with a generous amount of low-fat cheese, and finally broiling it did the trick.

Although white rice is always included in the fast-food version of this dish, I left it out here. It would have added about 100 calories per serving, and these burritos are really good without it—even better, I think. If you can’t find corn salsa, buy fresh refrigerated salsa and stir in some low-sodium canned corn.

“Jumbo” and “shrimp” aside, there’s another oxymoron at work in this recipe. How about a basket of hot, crispy fried shrimp and tartar sauce—and no eater’s remorse? The key to the crispy coating is a short blast in a hot oven, not a dunking in a tub of hot oil. A word to the wise: Lobster is really delicious with this preparation, too.

When I was young, I worked at a resort in the Poconos on the weekends. The way they made Shrimp Scampi was to simply let peeled shrimp sit in very large vat of warm garlic butter until an order came up. After many years of high-end cooking, I realized that wasn’t such a bad method after all—unless you were interested in living past the age of fifty. In this version, quick-broiled shrimp and broccoli, in a butter-free lemony, garlicky sauce spiked with fresh oregano, is every bit as good.

Almost all of the fat in this dish comes from the salmon. Fish fat is a “good” fat, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to reduce cholesterol and the risk of heart disease. While this specific dish may not be an American classic yet, salmon sure is, and it’s a wonderful ingredient to include as a staple in your diet. Its rich flavor, ease of use, and availability make it a perfect three-times-a-week feature. Dijon mustard, citrus, and spinach are some of my favorite flavors for salmon. You can cook this in minutes under a broiler or on a grill.

This pizza is so good, I could eat it every day—and at 218 calories per serving, that wouldn’t be a bad thing! It takes more effort than most of the dishes in this book, but few things are as satisfying as making your own pizza from scratch. If you are deterred by the concept of making your own dough, there are alternatives. Boboli makes a very good prepared whole-wheat crust (although it is loaded with sugar and is made from a mix of whole-wheat and white flours, unlike this all-whole-wheat version). Mix and match the toppings for variety.

Po’ boys are a kind of sub sandwich from the sultry state of Louisiana, consisting of fried meat or fish served on a crispy French-style baguette. Traditionally they are made with fried shrimp or oysters, though soft-shell crabs, catfish, crawfish, Louisiana hot sausage, and roast beef have been known to make an appearance. Served hot, the shellfish, fish, or meat is dressed with some combination of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, pickles, onions, and mustard or a spicy mayo. In this version the fat and calories are reduced to a fraction of the original by faux frying the shrimp, using low-fat mayonnaise, and replacing the traditional white-flour baguette with sprouted-grain bread.

As basic as a grilled cheese sandwich is, there are ways to make it badly (I’ve had a few of those) and ways to make it beautifully. This is how it should be: The bread should be toasted and crispy (hence the broiling), the cheese should be warm and melted but not running out of the sides, and there should be a little something extra to truly take it over the top. Here, a little orange marmalade adds a touch of sweetness to the otherwise savory elements.

Everyone loves a good croquette. It almost doesn’t matter what’s in them—as long as they’re filled with something juicy and fried, we like ’em. I think high-quality canned fish such as sardines, tuna, and salmon is underappreciated, so I designed this croquette recipe with canned salmon in mind. To keep it tasting light and fresh, it’s mixed with fresh salmon and one of the best jarred foods out there: fried peppers.

Oysters Rockefeller was created in New Orleans at the turn of the last century. It was named for John D. Rockefeller, the richest man in America at the time, because he and the dish had something in common. If you don’t overcook them, oysters are juicy and creamy and taste luxuriously rich. Without changing too much from the classic recipe (aside from reducing the loads of butter), the fat content went from 22 grams to just under 6 grams—with most of that coming from the oysters themselves. This dish is a fabulous throwback that won’t set you back. Oysters Rockefeller are baked in piles of coarse salt not just to anchor the liquid in the oyster shell but also because salt is an excellent conductor of heat.

At almost 1,200 calories and 33 grams of fat (for an appetizer!), the original version of this favorite starter is incredibly naughty—and, admittedly, incredibly tasty. With apologies to Monty Python, these coconut shrimp have lost their naughty bits but are none the worse for having done so.

When I lived in Israel I became a huge fan of falafel—a warm pita filled with hot, crispy balls of golden chickpeas, rich sesame dressing, and cool tomatoes. It has so many great flavors—and a lot of fat. This version calls for the falafel to be baked rather than fried—and served as a salad rather than a sandwich.

Most crab cakes are made of breadcrumbs and crab-flavored mayonnaise. And while I agree that mayonnaise is damn good, I just wish it wasn’t so fattening. By broiling instead of pan frying, and using low-fat mayo with some green veggies, this very lean version of crab cakes is a new kind of good.

Fried calamari and tomato sauce is one of the great food combinations. Fried calamari is sweet and crispy, and tomato sauce is slightly acidic—that’s a culinary trifecta! Without the fat and calories of the original, you get to eat a lot of this. Use as a spicy fra diavolo pasta sauce as you can handle—the heat will make the dish feel bigger and richer.

Although artichokes are delicious, don’t try to take down a fresh one. Even chefs have a hard time with them. Instead, use the best quality canned or jarred artichokes you can find. Just stay away from oil-packed artichokes, unless you want to turn this classic dip back into a high-fat dish. Using water-packed artichokes gives us wiggle room to use astonishingly tasty Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

At most chain restaurants, just one serving of this very popular appetizer (I love them!) can register between 500 and 1,000 calories, half of which come from fat. The fat content in this version has been reduced from 36 grams per serving to a paltry 5.3 grams per serving. The combination of a reduced-fat cheddar cheese and baking instead of deep-frying is the secret. Jalapeños bake so nicely, I wonder why poppers were ever deep-fried in the first place!

No bread crumbs and it’s not fried. Eat two portions. Life is good.