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Favorite Healthy Recipes From 'The Recipe Doctor'

Elaine Magee presents her picks for best lightened-up appetizer, main dish, salad, breakfast, and dessert recipes.

By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD
WebMD Expert Column

Some people are passionate about sports, or gardening, or the latest best-selling novels. But those honorable interests just don't float my boat. Instead, I'm positively passionate about doing recipe makeovers. There's little that's more exciting to me than the challenge of taking favorite recipes and creating new, healthier recipes that are just as great-tasting.

I enjoy comparing nutrition information for the "before" and "after" versions of the recipe and calculating how many calories, grams of fat and saturated fat I've saved and how many grams of fiber I've added. But the biggest thrill comes when people who have tried a recipe tell me that their family loved it. That's the ultimate reward.

While it's always fun to create healthy recipes, I have a few that I have to say are among my all-time favorites. Try them, and maybe they'll become your favorites, too.

Best Healthy Appetizer Recipe

Here is one of my favorite appetizer recipes. It's always popular at parties (even kids love it). I also like how you can make it ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve it.

Light 7-Layer Dip

(85 calories and 2 g fiber per serving)

Keep it light by serving with reduced-fat tortilla chips (homemade or store-bought) or reduced-fat crackers. Use

1/2 cup store-bought guacamole or make homemade by blending the following together in a small food processor:

Ingredients:

Guacamole:

1 avocado peeled, pitted, and diced

2 teaspoons lime juice, fresh or bottled

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons salsa

Garlic powder or garlic

Salt to taste (optional)

Black pepper to taste

Dip:

8 ounces fat-free sour cream

1-ounce packet taco seasoning mix

15-ounce can fat-free or vegetarian refried beans

1 cup diced tomatoes, drained

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

2 cups shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese blend (i.e. Jack and cheddar)

2 1/4-ounce can sliced black olives (optional)

Preparation:

Make guacamole, if you're not using store-bought, and set aside.
In small bowl, blend sour cream with taco seasoning.
Spread the refried beans in the bottom of a deep-dish pie plate (you can warm the beans up in the microwave briefly to make them more spreadable.)
Top the beans with the sour cream mixture, then top that with the guacamole.
Spread the tomatoes on top, then sprinkle the green onions over the top, followed by the shredded cheese and black olives, if desired.
Serve with reduced-fat tortilla chips or reduced-fat crackers.

Yield: 16 appetizer servings

Nutritional Information: Per serving (dip only): 85 calories, 5.2 g protein, 6.4 g carbohydrate, 4.4 g fat (1.9 g saturated fat, 1.9 g monounsaturated, 0.3 g polyunsaturated fat), 7 mg cholesterol, 0.7 g fiber, 258 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 46%.

WebMD Weight Loss Clinic Members: Journal as: 1/2 cup of hearty stew, chili, starches soup

OR 1/8 cup starches without added fat + 1/2 oz. fat free or low-fat cheese + 1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt or artificially sweetened with fruits.