How can I cook old recipes in the nonfat way?

Look at those old recipes with new eyes. Wherever it says melt butter or warm oil in the pan to start the cooking process, erase that phrase from your mind. Start instead with vegetable stock. Instead of sautéing onions in oil, cook them in stock. Instead of frying green beans with garlic, cook them in stock. When you need something creamy to hold a brothy sauce together, forget the cream and remember nonfat yogurt. Want a vinaigrette that clings to the salad? No, the answer is no longer olive oil, it’s nonfat yogurt or tomato puree. Most of your favorite recipes can be adapted - you don’t have to start over.

Your basic pantry will change somewhat. You’ll no longer need oils, canned soups, prepared salad dressings, and bottled sauces. You will still keep canned tomatoes, vinegars, spices, and herbs, but new items will appear in the cupboard. Dried mushrooms that can be soaked in hot water and added to soups and sauces for richness of flavor; nonfat dry milk; an ample supply of dry pasta, rice, couscous, polenta, and cracked wheat will join dried beans. You will now keep batches of vegetable stock in the refrigerator (and freezer) along with nonfat yogurt, in various degrees of thickness, and tofu. Egg whites will be collected and the yolks discarded or given away. And believe it or not, you will not feel hungry because you can eat as much as you want of these grains, legumes, fresh vegetables, and fruits. And, if you take the time to cook well for yourself, you won’t feel emotionally hungry either. Will you need any new cooking equipment? Not much. If you don’t have any nonstick sauté pans, get a few. If you don’t have a steamer or steamer rack that fits comfortably in another pan, this is a wise investment. The best multileveled steamers are available in hardware stores with a large Asian, especially Japanese, clientele. Will you need new cookbooks? Well, along with this one, books on Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Mediterranean cooking will give you recipe ideas that you can play with. When you read, “Heat a wok with oil,” think vegetable stock. You see ghee, think stock - or yogurt. We all need new inspiration after cooking the same dishes over and over. And cookbooks can provide the impetus to try something new and adapt many dishes to your new methods.