O.K…so, ‘fast’ and ‘junk’ foods are ‘No-Nos’, but...
... I still ‘crave’ and Love my favorites!..Is there a Way I COULD have my cake and eat it too?’
Well, dear seekers, there are several ways!...Read this:
Fast Food Fixes: Same Taste, Less Fat & Calories!
By John McGran, eDiets Editor-in-Chief
Updated: May 10, 2006
Mr. Bad Food has a new best friend. I like to call her Miss Fast Food, but she's better known as Chef Devin Alexander, author of the tastefully done Fast Food Fix (Rodale).
So how would you like to whip up and enjoy your favorite fast foods -- everything from Big Macs to Cinnabons to Kentucky Fried Chicken -- at home for far less than it costs to corral at the local burger joint or chicken coop? Well, now you can enjoy the fast food flavors you love without the guilt... thanks to Chef Devin and her dead-on recipes and food makeovers.
Digest Devin's breezy new book and you'll not only be amazed at the taste and cost benefits, but just wait until you sink your teeth into the fat and calorie savings too!
Mr. Bad Food had the pleasure of linking up with Chef Devin this past Monday. Partly because of my love of fast food -- and partly because of Devin's delightful personality -- we spent a long time chatting about the food that drives America. Yes, I'm talking about fast food.
Whether it's burgers from Burger King or subs from Subway, the vast majority of us will frequent a chain eatery this week... at least once. Don't be ashamed to admit you are part of this car pool.
There's a reason a fast food joint (or five) is parked just off every interstate highway exit across America -- they serve up good-tasting grub. And they do it fast!
I know I'll probably receive a few emails from angry readers who'd prefer Mr. Bad Food steer his readers to fresher, healthier meals and to the restaurants that serve such food. In a perfect world, I would do that.
But in case you've missed the news lately, the world just ain't perfect. And neither are our diets.
"Middle America wants fast food," Devin says. "They eat for a reason. Not just because it's fast, but because they like it. Fast food is part of our culture..."
But why make your own fast food when you can get it faster at the local drive-thru? Good question. There are three good answers: you'll save fat, you'll save calories, and you'll save money!
Besides, when was the last time you hit a drive-thru at dinnertime and actually "zoomed" through in under 15 minutes? Add the time it took you to reach the restaurant -- and to drive home with your stash of soggy fries and messy burgers -- and the experience isn't as fast as we'd like to think.
And that brings me back to Fast Food Fix. It may not be The Joy of Cooking but it is a book of the times... a book that promises to deliver more than 75 "amazing recipe makeovers of your fast food restaurant favorites."
Chef Devin wasn't born to create fast food makeovers. Heck, she never even set out to be a chef. A love of scriptwriting took her West from Reading, Pennsylvania to Hollywood, California. But since she did not want to wait tables while she awaited her big break, Devin made ends meet catering parties.
As word of her culinary talents spread, Devin began penning articles for well-known magazines like Women's Health, PREVENTION and Men's Health.
When a long-time love affair with fast food could no longer be contained, Devin dove into the world of comfort and calories. After months of painstaking research that she swears did not include fast food binging, Miss Fast Food had a smash hit -- not to mention a lot of special sauce -- on her hands.
If you've slain the fast food beast and fear a return would result in weight gain... RELAX! Chef Devin admits to weighing 55 pounds heavier as a teen. She stopped eating fast food in 1987, but she says it was her desire to keep the fast food flavors alive for others that led to whipping up the healthier recipes found in the pages of her book which is selling like hotcakes!
Each recipe includes the nutritional info to show you how much fat and calories you'll save by preparing your personal favorite fast foods at home.
And now, Chef Devin is revealing the secret recipe behind one of your favorite fast foods: the McDonald's Big Mac.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is excerpted from Fast Food Fix. Be sure to grab yourself a copy and see if you can fool your friends or family members into thinking they are eating the real fast food meal deal!
The key to re-creating the Big Mac is obviously perfecting the sauce. Some say it’s simply Thousand Island, but the clever folks at McDonald’s deserve much more credit for this masterpiece we crave.
In order to re-create the sauce, I had to ensure that I had a supply that I could taste on its own -- away from the other great flavors this burger stacks. So I requested “extra on the side.” The friendly woman behind the counter didn’t flinch. She quickly produced a sundae cup half-filled with the neon, salmon-colored sauce.
When I took a big sniff, all I could smell was a chemicalesque aroma. Tasting, on the other hand, yielded that wonderful flavor. Several tastings and I was convinced.
The secret ingredient? Mustard. Simple yellow mustard. Add that and a pinch of sugar to a Thousand Island–style sauce, and you’ll be surprised how closely it resembles the real deal.
The Big Mac
3 ounces 96% lean ground beef (about 1/3 cup)
2 pinches of salt
1 sesame seed hamburger bun + 1 bun bottom
1 slice (1/2 ounce) 2% milk yellow American cheese
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon McDonald’s Big Mac Sauce (see below)
1 teaspoon finely chopped white onion
1/3 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
2 rounds dill pickle
Divide the beef in half. On a sheet of waxed paper, shape each half into a 4" patty. Season both sides with salt. Transfer the waxed paper to a plate. Place, uncovered, in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until drops of water sizzle when splashed on the pan. Place the patties in the pan. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until no longer pink.
Meanwhile, place the bun top and bottoms, cut-sides down, in the pan. Cook for about 1 minute, or until toasted. (If the pan is not large enough to hold the patties and the buns, first cook 1 patty with the bottom bun and then start assembling the sandwich while the others cook.) Just before the patties are cooked, place the cheese on 1 patty.
Place 1 bun bottom on a plate. Spread on 1 tablespoon sauce. Place the cheeseburger, cheese-side down, on the bun. Spread 1 teaspoon sauce on the second bun bottom and place, sauce-side down, on the cheeseburger. Top with the remaining 1 tablespoon sauce, the onion, lettuce, pickles, the remaining burger, and the bun top.
Makes 1 serving. Each serving is 386 calories, 26g protein, 44g carbohydrates, 11g fat, 3g saturated fat, 2g fiber.
Compare to Original McDonald’s Big Mac: 560 calories, 25g protein, 47g carbohydrates, 30g fat, 10g saturated fat, 3g fiber.
McDonald’s Big Mac Sauce
1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons dill pickle relish
2 teaspoons ketchup
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon finely chopped white onion
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, sugar, and mustard. Stir to blend well. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 month. Stir in the onion just before serving.
Makes about 2/3 cup, enough for 4 servings. Each serving: 49 calories, trace protein, 6 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat, trace saturated fat, trace fiber.
Drive-Thru
It’s easy to throw together a Big Mac–like burger in minutes once you have the sauce made. So to save time, make a big batch of the sauce, omitting the onions (they are the only ingredient that will spoil quickly). Refrigerate the sauce in a plastic container for up to 1 month. When you’re ready to enjoy a burger, simply add the correct quantity of onion to the amount of sauce you’re using. ---
Even Better
Save time and calories by omitting the second bun bottom and simply making 1 patty instead of 2 with the 3 ounces of beef. This way, you’ll need only 1 1/2 tablespoons of sauce. You’ll be left with a more nutritionally balanced burger. Plus, you’ll still have room for some fries or a side salad, all the while still enjoying that great Big Mac flavor... in minutes.
The revised version will have 310 calories, 24g protein, 31g carbohydrates, 9g fat, 1g saturated fat, and 1g fiber. You’ll save 250 calories, 21g fat, and 9g saturated fat over the original.
A few of the other popular makeovers of the fast food faves found in Chef Devin's new book:
• Wendy's Big Bacon Classic
• McDonald's McChicken Sandwich
• Burger King Chicken Tenders
• KFC Popcorn Chicken
• McDonald's Filet-O-Fish
• Subway Meatball Marinara
• Steak 'n Shake Frisco Melt
• Arby's Curly Fries
• McDonald's French Fries
Hungry yet? I know I am... So, for more about Chef Devin, get your copy of "Fast Food Fix".
Well, dear seekers, there are several ways!...Read this:
Fast Food Fixes: Same Taste, Less Fat & Calories!
By John McGran, eDiets Editor-in-Chief
Updated: May 10, 2006
Mr. Bad Food has a new best friend. I like to call her Miss Fast Food, but she's better known as Chef Devin Alexander, author of the tastefully done Fast Food Fix (Rodale).
So how would you like to whip up and enjoy your favorite fast foods -- everything from Big Macs to Cinnabons to Kentucky Fried Chicken -- at home for far less than it costs to corral at the local burger joint or chicken coop? Well, now you can enjoy the fast food flavors you love without the guilt... thanks to Chef Devin and her dead-on recipes and food makeovers.
Digest Devin's breezy new book and you'll not only be amazed at the taste and cost benefits, but just wait until you sink your teeth into the fat and calorie savings too!
Mr. Bad Food had the pleasure of linking up with Chef Devin this past Monday. Partly because of my love of fast food -- and partly because of Devin's delightful personality -- we spent a long time chatting about the food that drives America. Yes, I'm talking about fast food.
Whether it's burgers from Burger King or subs from Subway, the vast majority of us will frequent a chain eatery this week... at least once. Don't be ashamed to admit you are part of this car pool.
There's a reason a fast food joint (or five) is parked just off every interstate highway exit across America -- they serve up good-tasting grub. And they do it fast!
I know I'll probably receive a few emails from angry readers who'd prefer Mr. Bad Food steer his readers to fresher, healthier meals and to the restaurants that serve such food. In a perfect world, I would do that.
But in case you've missed the news lately, the world just ain't perfect. And neither are our diets.
"Middle America wants fast food," Devin says. "They eat for a reason. Not just because it's fast, but because they like it. Fast food is part of our culture..."
But why make your own fast food when you can get it faster at the local drive-thru? Good question. There are three good answers: you'll save fat, you'll save calories, and you'll save money!
Besides, when was the last time you hit a drive-thru at dinnertime and actually "zoomed" through in under 15 minutes? Add the time it took you to reach the restaurant -- and to drive home with your stash of soggy fries and messy burgers -- and the experience isn't as fast as we'd like to think.
And that brings me back to Fast Food Fix. It may not be The Joy of Cooking but it is a book of the times... a book that promises to deliver more than 75 "amazing recipe makeovers of your fast food restaurant favorites."
Chef Devin wasn't born to create fast food makeovers. Heck, she never even set out to be a chef. A love of scriptwriting took her West from Reading, Pennsylvania to Hollywood, California. But since she did not want to wait tables while she awaited her big break, Devin made ends meet catering parties.
As word of her culinary talents spread, Devin began penning articles for well-known magazines like Women's Health, PREVENTION and Men's Health.
When a long-time love affair with fast food could no longer be contained, Devin dove into the world of comfort and calories. After months of painstaking research that she swears did not include fast food binging, Miss Fast Food had a smash hit -- not to mention a lot of special sauce -- on her hands.
If you've slain the fast food beast and fear a return would result in weight gain... RELAX! Chef Devin admits to weighing 55 pounds heavier as a teen. She stopped eating fast food in 1987, but she says it was her desire to keep the fast food flavors alive for others that led to whipping up the healthier recipes found in the pages of her book which is selling like hotcakes!
Each recipe includes the nutritional info to show you how much fat and calories you'll save by preparing your personal favorite fast foods at home.
And now, Chef Devin is revealing the secret recipe behind one of your favorite fast foods: the McDonald's Big Mac.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is excerpted from Fast Food Fix. Be sure to grab yourself a copy and see if you can fool your friends or family members into thinking they are eating the real fast food meal deal!
The key to re-creating the Big Mac is obviously perfecting the sauce. Some say it’s simply Thousand Island, but the clever folks at McDonald’s deserve much more credit for this masterpiece we crave.
In order to re-create the sauce, I had to ensure that I had a supply that I could taste on its own -- away from the other great flavors this burger stacks. So I requested “extra on the side.” The friendly woman behind the counter didn’t flinch. She quickly produced a sundae cup half-filled with the neon, salmon-colored sauce.
When I took a big sniff, all I could smell was a chemicalesque aroma. Tasting, on the other hand, yielded that wonderful flavor. Several tastings and I was convinced.
The secret ingredient? Mustard. Simple yellow mustard. Add that and a pinch of sugar to a Thousand Island–style sauce, and you’ll be surprised how closely it resembles the real deal.
The Big Mac
3 ounces 96% lean ground beef (about 1/3 cup)
2 pinches of salt
1 sesame seed hamburger bun + 1 bun bottom
1 slice (1/2 ounce) 2% milk yellow American cheese
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon McDonald’s Big Mac Sauce (see below)
1 teaspoon finely chopped white onion
1/3 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
2 rounds dill pickle
Divide the beef in half. On a sheet of waxed paper, shape each half into a 4" patty. Season both sides with salt. Transfer the waxed paper to a plate. Place, uncovered, in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until drops of water sizzle when splashed on the pan. Place the patties in the pan. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until no longer pink.
Meanwhile, place the bun top and bottoms, cut-sides down, in the pan. Cook for about 1 minute, or until toasted. (If the pan is not large enough to hold the patties and the buns, first cook 1 patty with the bottom bun and then start assembling the sandwich while the others cook.) Just before the patties are cooked, place the cheese on 1 patty.
Place 1 bun bottom on a plate. Spread on 1 tablespoon sauce. Place the cheeseburger, cheese-side down, on the bun. Spread 1 teaspoon sauce on the second bun bottom and place, sauce-side down, on the cheeseburger. Top with the remaining 1 tablespoon sauce, the onion, lettuce, pickles, the remaining burger, and the bun top.
Makes 1 serving. Each serving is 386 calories, 26g protein, 44g carbohydrates, 11g fat, 3g saturated fat, 2g fiber.
Compare to Original McDonald’s Big Mac: 560 calories, 25g protein, 47g carbohydrates, 30g fat, 10g saturated fat, 3g fiber.
McDonald’s Big Mac Sauce
1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons dill pickle relish
2 teaspoons ketchup
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon finely chopped white onion
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, sugar, and mustard. Stir to blend well. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 month. Stir in the onion just before serving.
Makes about 2/3 cup, enough for 4 servings. Each serving: 49 calories, trace protein, 6 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat, trace saturated fat, trace fiber.
Drive-Thru
It’s easy to throw together a Big Mac–like burger in minutes once you have the sauce made. So to save time, make a big batch of the sauce, omitting the onions (they are the only ingredient that will spoil quickly). Refrigerate the sauce in a plastic container for up to 1 month. When you’re ready to enjoy a burger, simply add the correct quantity of onion to the amount of sauce you’re using. ---
Even Better
Save time and calories by omitting the second bun bottom and simply making 1 patty instead of 2 with the 3 ounces of beef. This way, you’ll need only 1 1/2 tablespoons of sauce. You’ll be left with a more nutritionally balanced burger. Plus, you’ll still have room for some fries or a side salad, all the while still enjoying that great Big Mac flavor... in minutes.
The revised version will have 310 calories, 24g protein, 31g carbohydrates, 9g fat, 1g saturated fat, and 1g fiber. You’ll save 250 calories, 21g fat, and 9g saturated fat over the original.
A few of the other popular makeovers of the fast food faves found in Chef Devin's new book:
• Wendy's Big Bacon Classic
• McDonald's McChicken Sandwich
• Burger King Chicken Tenders
• KFC Popcorn Chicken
• McDonald's Filet-O-Fish
• Subway Meatball Marinara
• Steak 'n Shake Frisco Melt
• Arby's Curly Fries
• McDonald's French Fries
Hungry yet? I know I am... So, for more about Chef Devin, get your copy of "Fast Food Fix".
posted by Jacques Girard, Ph.D. at 6:16 PM
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