Low Fat Vegan Brownies From the Happy Herbivore. Yum!
Welcome guest poster, Lindsay Nixon of Happy Herbivore, my newest must follow vegan cooking blog. Lindsay, at my request. writes about how you can turn old favorites into low fat vegan, healthier dishes:
When people most hear the phrase “low fat,” images of tasteless cardboard cookies, diet bars and unappetizing salads come to mind—-at least they did for me.
But as I’ve learned, eating a low fat diet—-particularly a low fat vegan diet, isn’t tasteless or limited to watery soups and naked salads. It’s a wonderful approach to eating if you’ve come to a vegan diet, at least in part, for health reasons, you need to lose a little weight, or you want to discover and experience a new way of tasting food.
Years later, I still continue to be amazed at how flavorful low fat cooking is—-and how surprised people are when I tell them the meal they just ate, the dessert they just devoured, was made without fat. It surprises them because most people (and I was one of them) think you can’t have flavor without the fat.
So how to cook without fat?
Replacing fat in cooking is easy.
To cut out oil, saute in a little water (or vegetable broth) instead of oil. For baking, use applesauce or canned pumpkin in place of oil. Generally you can do a 1:1 replacement, but if you want your baked good to stay on the dryer side reduce the liquid by 1 tbsp or more.
Beyond cutting out oil, you can also substitute in low fat ingredients. For example, you can replace eggs with 1/4 cup silken tofu or yogurt, 1/4 cup applesauce for 1/2 of a banana, mashed. Silken tofu is also my favorite substitute for cream, for example, check out how I used tofu to make vegan fettuccine alfredo.
There are also several tools that make low fat cooking a breeze, such as a non-stick skillet and steamer. You can also choose lite and fat-free meat and dairy substitutes such as fat-free or lite soymilk, to help cut down on the fat.
Want to see all these tips in action? Watch me cut the fat in this standard brownie recipe.
Lindsay Nixon and one of her books
Lindsay S. Nixon is a rising star in the culinary world, praised for her ability to use everyday ingredients to create healthy, low fat recipes that taste just as delicious as they are nutritious. Her first cookbook, The Happy Herbivore, was released in February, 2010. Her second cookbook, Everyday Happy Herbivore, will be released in December, 2011. Lindsay’s recipes have also been featured in Vegetarian Times, Women’s Health Magazine and on The Huffington Post. You can learn more about Lindsay and sample some of her recipes at happyherbivore.com.
Editor’s note: I can’t wait to try her vegan feta cheese recipe.
Join the Conversation:
- How have you made your recipes lower in fat and heart happy?
- Made an old comfort food into a vegan treat?
- Gone vegan?
- Have a favorite vegan recipe?
Jasmine says
I love the book The Happy Herbivore… Lots of recipes for fatless foods I love it…
Eddie Daloisio says
Thanks for the write-up. I have usually observed that almost all people are needing to lose weight because they wish to look slim and attractive. Even so, they do not usually realize that there are many benefits just for losing weight additionally. Doctors declare that obese people suffer from a variety of health conditions that can be directly attributed to their particular excess weight. Thankfully that people who definitely are overweight plus suffering from various diseases are able to reduce the severity of their particular illnesses by simply losing weight. It’s possible to see a constant but marked improvement in health if even a negligible amount of weight-loss is attained.