We all look forward to the carefree summer months. It's time to put away those winter comfort foods for some summer fare. Warm weather meals often include chilled salads, grilled meats, and fresh veggies from the garden.

While salads sound light and refreshing, that may not be the case. Summer salads are usually rich with mayonnaise, sour cream, and/or salad dressings. A cup of a mayonnaise-based potato salad, for instance, can have as many as 400 calories and 30 grams of fat!

Many of the "lite" or low-fat products are great substitutes for their high-fat counterparts. But if you are looking for that real mayonnaise flavor, light or low-fat mayo just doesn't make it. We have had much better results using a combination of the very low fat mayonnaise (such as Hellmann's Just 2 Good) with a little regular added for that unmistakable flavor.

Sour cream is an ingredient in many potato salad recipes. It adds a delicious tangy flavor. The fat-free sour cream works well in chilled dishes. We frequently use drained nonfat plain yogurt, however, to replace sour cream in heated dishes. Line a sieve or colander with paper towels and place it over a bowl. Put the nonfat plain yogurt into the sieve and let it drain in the refrigerator for about an hour or until it's the consistency of regular sour cream.

You have a lot of really good choices when it comes to lower fat salad dressings. There are many delicious light dressings on the market that work beautifully in any salad. Many of the regular oil-based dressings are low enough to be considered "lite" (up to 9 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons). In the Mediterranean Rice Salad recipe below, we used a regular Italian salad dressing because the amount in the recipe only added 1 gram of fat to each serving.

Try rehabbing your favorite salads this summer or send your recipes to us to rehab. The address is:

Recipe Rehab
P.O. Box 58100
Cincinnati, OH 45258

Have a healthy, happy summer. 

For Your Information:   Heart-Healthy Fats? Small amounts of unsaturated fats should be part of a heart-healthy diet. Many oil-based salad dressings are made with canola or olive oil for a little added health benefit.

  
Low Fat Cooking

 
This is not your typical chilled salad. It is delicious with many layers of flavor. 

1 box Wild Rice mix, prepared with the seasoning packet 2 tablespoons Italian salad dressing, such as Wish-Bone Italian 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 cup drained diced bottled roasted red bell peppers 1/4 cup medium pitted ripe olives, drained, halved 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano 1 can (14 ounces) quartered artichoke hearts, drained

Prepare the rice mix according to package directions, omitting the margarine. Put cooked rice mix into large bowl. Add salad dressing to hot rice mix; stir well; cool. To cooled rice mix, add garlic, peppers, olives, chives, basil, oregano, and artichokes. Mix well. Chill. 

Nutrition Information for Mediterranean Rice Salad: (Nutrients per serving)

Calories 149 Sodium 693 mg  Total Fat 2 g Carbohydrate 27 g Cholesterol 0 mg Protein 5 g