A menu to help get the waistline you want

Chefs rejoice! Spring has sprung and brought a bounty of new fruits and vegetables all just waiting to be steamed, sautéed and stir-fried. And the best thing is – these recipes won’t wreck your waistline. Accomplished chef Kathleen Daelemans, author of "Getting Thin and Loving Food," shares the slimming dishes.

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Taco Salad with Chicken and White Beans
Fast-food taco salads can have 850 calories, 52 grams of fat, and who knows what else layered into them. I’d rather do that kind of calorie damage with a slice of cake than with a meal I thought was supposed to be good for me. Monster-size portions of high-calorie foods can do you in, nutrition-wise. But there’s no reason you can’t enjoy your favorite flavors in a salad you control.

Serves 6

Ingredients
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound ground chicken breast
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
1 mango, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced
1 tomato, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup peeled and shredded carrots (or half a 10-ounce bag of pre-grated carrots)
3/4 cup canned white beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup scallions, diced
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup store-bought salsa
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
4 pickled jalapenos
3–4 servings baked tortilla chips

Directions
In large nonstick skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add ground chicken, cumin, and chili powder and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and transfer chicken to a large bowl.

Add lettuce, mango, avocado, tomato, onion, carrots, beans, scallions, and lime zest and juice. Toss until mixed well. Garnish with salsa, sour cream, jalapenos, and tortilla chips and serve.

From Mom’s Lips
Ask the butcher to grind your chicken breast when you buy it to ensure you don’t get ground chicken meat that has added dark meat and fat. Alternatively, cube boneless, skinless chicken breast and grind it yourself in a food processor. It’s not the same, but it will do in a pinch.

Sidebar
I eat this without the tortilla chips most of the time, because I’m always scrimping and saving to spend my calories on dessert. If you’re a chip person, read the recommended portion size and nutrition facts on the package and then decide how many chips everyone gets. I didn’t give you an amount, because the only one who knows your calorie savings-account balance is you.

Thai Shrimp
The temptation to order carryout lessens when you master a few super-quick meals, and this is definitely a quickie. Challenge yourself to come up with five fast meals and then keep the ingredients around all the time.

Don’t forget to fix at least one salad and veggie with this entrée. Try microwave-steamed baby bok choy if you’re thin on time.

Serves 4

Ingredients
1/2 pound rice-stick noodles
1 tablespoon roasted peanut oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon Vietnamese chili paste
1/4 cup sugar
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup loosely packed, coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions
Prepare rice noodles according to package instructions. Set aside. Place remaining ingredients except shrimp and cilantro in a 10-inch nonstick pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and add shrimp. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until shrimp are tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove shrimp from pan and place over cooked rice noodles in a serving bowl. Add cilantro to sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings, pour sauce over shrimp and noodles, and serve.

Shortcut Chef
Before you leave for work in the morning, whisk together in a Mason jar or measuring cup all the ingredients except the shrimp and cilantro.

Sidebar
If you like your sauce a little thicker, reduce it to the desired consistency before you add the cilantro.

Roasted Salmon and Beet Salad with Spinach and Orange Vinaigrette
Actual sections of any orange, tangerine, or clementine at its peak would be great in this salad, a summer entrée that you can serve year-round. You can use their juices in the dressing too.

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 pound beets, peeled and cut into small wedges
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse-grained salt and cracked black pepper
1 pound salmon fillets, skin on
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1/4  teaspoon cayenne pepper
5 ounces baby spinach (half of 10-ounce bag)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place beets and olive oil in a plastic bag and shake until well coated. Pour onto a cookie sheet, season with salt and pepper, and roast for 20 minutes. Turn and roast for 15 to 20 minutes more, or until golden and cooked through. Remove and set aside.

When you turn the beets, place salmon in a nonstick pan with an ovenproof handle and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until firm to the touch.

In a large salad bowl, whisk together orange zest, juice, vinegar, sesame oil, and cayenne pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt. Add spinach and beets and toss until well coated. Divide salad among four serving plates. Remove skin from salmon and divide salmon into 4 portions. Top each salad with salmon and serve immediately.

From Mom’s Lips
The beets take about 40 minutes to cook, so put the salmon in the oven 15 minutes before you think the beets are due to come out. That way, everything will be hot at the same time.

Morph
If you want to stretch the salad to make it more substantial, roast a pan of asparagus and/or baby red potatoes, using the same cooking method described for the beets.

Ham, Cheese, and Asparagus Frittata
Here’s a particularly gorgeous frittata that is especially nice for a springtime brunch. My friend Rainy took this as a take-along dish for her family’s Easter brunch in upstate New York; it travels well. It’s got lots of stuff in it, so it makes a substantial Sunday- or any-night supper too.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
8 large egg whites
2 large eggs
Coarse-grained salt and cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound asparagus, very thinly sliced
1/2 pound ham, cubed
4 cups coarsely chopped baby spinach
1/2 cup loosely packed grated cheese, such as extra-sharp white cheddar or Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions
Preheat broiler. In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, eggs, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet with an ovenproof handle over medium-high heat. Add asparagus and cook, stirring often, until just done, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add ham and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

Add egg mixture and spinach to pan. Using a heatproof spatula, slowly stir eggs in a figure-eight motion until just beginning to set at edges. Reduce heat to medium-low. Continue cooking, occasionally sliding spatula around edges of pan to allow raw egg to flow underneath, until frittata is set on bottom and almost set on top, about 4 minutes.

Sprinkle cheese over frittata and broil just until top is set and cheese is golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve hot or warm.

Sidebar
Get your ham from the deli counter. Ask for extra-thick slices you can cube.

Morph
Add freshly shelled peas in the spring or frozen peas at any time of the year.

Cook Once, Eat Twice
The recipe calls for a pound of cooked asparagus. If you slice the asparagus thin enough, you can cook it right in the pan with a little oil. I’ve used both roasted asparagus and leftover steamed. When you’re making asparagus this week, do some extra to throw into this frittata.

Dark Chocolate Soufflé Cake
When I prepare this cake, it’s because I’ve planned for these calories by trimming a wee bit here and there and by upping the cardio a little.

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup grapeseed or canola oil
6 ounces mini chocolate chips (about 1 cup), plus optional 1/3 cup more
2  teaspoons Grand Marnier or vanilla  extract
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
6 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Confectioners’ sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, sift together flour and cocoa powder and set aside.

Place oil and chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave on medium until just melted, about 2 minutes. Add Grand Marnier or vanilla and orange zest and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

Place egg whites in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until frothy. With mixer running, add sugar in a slow, steady stream, or about 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat to soft peaks.

Add flour mixture to melted chocolate mixture and stir until incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, fold in one fourth of the egg whites. Once incorporated, fold in remaining egg whites. Very gently fold in walnuts and mini chocolate chips, if using.

Pour batter into a 9-inch nonstick spring form pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a crust forms on top and cake is mostly firm, but with a slight wobble in the center. Run a knife around sides of cake, remove pan sides, and cool slightly. Dust top with confectioners’ sugar and serve immediately.

Up the Chocolate
I love to fold in an extra 1/3 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate with the walnuts. When you cut into the cake, the chocolate oozes out ever so perfectly. (The cake is nice without the extra chocolate too.) When I want gooey, I cook the cake about 10 minutes less and serve it almost immediately to enjoy the rich, molten center at its peak.

Shortcut Chef
Use a large bowl to melt the butter and chocolate, because you’ll be adding the cocoa mixture and egg whites to this bowl. You don’t have to do it this way, but you’ll end up with fewer dirty bowls if you do.

Rhubarb-Apple Cake
This is simply irresistible, especially warm from the oven, and it’s a creative way to get the troops to eat more fruit. I make the cake in a spring form pan set on a cookie sheet, because I like to be able to serve it on a platter. The cookie sheet catches the fruit sauces, which can then be drizzled right over the cake.

Serves 8

Ingredients
1 pound rhubarb, thinly sliced
2 apples, peeled, cored, and diced
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, combine rhubarb and apples with 2 tablespoons sugar. Toss until well coated. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, whip butter and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, blending after each addition, and vanilla. Fold in flour and stir until just combined.

Pour fruit into a 9-inch nonstick spring form pan. Spread batter evenly over fruit and bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Run a knife around sides of cake, remove pan sides, and cool slightly. Serve warm.

From Mom’s Lips
Spring form pans can leak. Place the spring form pan in the center of a large piece of foil. Stretch the foil up the sides, smoothing as you go, and over the rim.

Sidebar
The batter is kind of doughy, so you’ll probably end up spreading it over the fruit with your hands.

If you don’t have self-rising flour, you can make your own. For 11/2 cups of homemade self-rising flour, mix together 11/2 cups all-purpose flour, 21/4 teaspoons baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.