As a nation, we’re embracing low-calorie foods more and more with many changes in the way we look at healthy eating. French chef Harry Eastwood has some of our favorite dishes that will satisfy your craving for healthier dishes that are still packed with plenty of flavors.
Roasted chicken
Here’s a great twist on free-range chicken that will change your concept of what stuffing is really used for. Most of us think of chicken stuffing as being a great side dish that is delicious and filled with lots of bread crumbs and spices. This stuffing also serves as a tenderizer for your chicken, since this is free-range chicken. Instead of being finished off in a saucepan, this stuffing is marinated underneath the skin of your chicken.
This is somewhat awkward if you don’t have much experience pulling the skin away from a whole chicken. The trick is to start at the base of the neck and slowly work your way down the breast. When you’ve reached the hind legs (drumsticks), then you’re ready to start adding the stuffing underneath the skin. This stuffing mixture includes roughly chopped wild mushrooms, parsley, lemongrass, tarragon, minced garlic, and sliced prosciutto.
Kung Pao chicken
Who doesn’t like Chinese food with lower calories and is much tastier if you prepare this meal in a traditional wok. What is not mentioned is how old your wok must be nor how much of the wok has buildup flavor. If you are unaware of wok cooking, you aren’t supposed to clean the inside surface of your wok. This helps to preserve seasonings that were built up from previous wok dishes.
Typically, you use a paper towel to wipe away any oil and leftover food within the wok itself. What’s left is a surface that includes seasonings that are lining the surface of the steel. Because you’re using free-range chicken, this is cut into thin strips and placed into a tablespoon of cornflour and then one tablespoon of water is added to this. This helps make a paste that covers the chicken strips. These are added immediately to a hot wok.
The marinade is added right after this with other ingredients, and then finally the vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce to thicken this mixture further. After it gets thick, it gets served with rice and chopped cilantro on top.
Gourmet lamb burger
Everyone likes a great hamburger and what better way to enjoy hamburgers than to add a different type of hamburger meat. This version uses a lean lamb with only 20% fat content, so it’s going to give you plenty of flavors and lower calories. Harry likes to add chopped mint, parsley, dill, Dijon mustard, dried chili flakes, finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.
What gives this burger a real kick in the mayonnaise sauce with minced garlic, finely chopped cilantro, smoked paprika powder, and a dash of fresh lemon or lime juice. The final touch is grilling fresh Halloumi cheese. This classic Greek cheese is made from goat or sheep and gives the lamb tempting and tasty squeaky cheese flavors. This gives your lamb burger more salt with a fine creamy aftertaste.
Top this burger off with purple onion slices and a sweet chili marmalade or jam. Be sure to buy top-quality burger buns that are fresh and not the typical store package variety.
Gratin Dauphinois
While we’ve saved the best for last, this southern French recipe is just the perfect side dish that is enjoyed with just about any kind of meat. Now this version of Gratin Dauphinois requires waxy potatoes that are Charlotte potatoes that need to scrubbed rather than peeled. They’re sliced thinly into coin size slices using a mandoline slicer. You can do this by hand if you like, but a mandoline makes slicing them evenly a lot easier.
It’s important to get your bring your skim milk to a slow simmer beforehand so these potatoes don’t start to brown. In this recipe, you’re also adding a whole bulb of garlic that is bashed and peeled. When the potatoes are soft but not totally cooked, these are strained and then added to your casserole dish with grated Gruyére cheese and 3 tablespoons of crème Fraiche, then baked in an oven for 20 minutes until it’s golden brown on top.
The remaining milk can also be saved and used as a base for garlic-flavored béchamel for other sauces if you like. Bon Appétit!
