America's Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt: Cut the Calories, Keep the Taste of Your Favorite Restaurant Dishes
By Ron Douglas
3/5
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About this ebook
Ron Douglas has wowed home cooks across the country by uncovering the best recipes from hundreds of popular restaurants, including Applebee’s, California Pizza Kitchen, Chili’s, Olive Garden, P.F. Chang’s, and T.G.I. Friday’s. America’s Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt once again features delicious restaurant meals that can be enjoyed at home. But with the help of registered dietician and nutrition expert Mary M. Franz, Ron has created more than 150 amazing reduced-calorie versions. Take Bahama Breeze’s Jamaican Jerk Grilled Chicken, which usually contains approximately 960 calories. By using boneless, skinless chicken breasts, the entire family can enjoy generous, flavorful half-pound servings and save 590 calories. Or how about Dave and Buster’s Steak Fajita Salad? A restaurant portion contains a whopping 1,408 calories per serving, but Ron’s home-cooked version has 489. And for dessert? Macaroni Grill’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cake has 635 calories per slice. Home cooks can easily trim that calorie count down to 435. Ron will show you how! Each recipe includes nutritional details, the number of calories you will save, and easy tips on how to prepare your favorite restaurant food without feeling the guilt. The book also features a section on restaurant alternatives, as well as a nutritional guide detailing the overall dos and don’ts when it comes to healthy eating. Experience the pleasure and satisfaction of cooking fun, delicious food for your family while also keeping them fit! Watch your wallet get fat and your tummy get flat!
Ron Douglas
Ron Douglas is the New York Times bestselling author of the America’s Most Wanted Recipes series, which includes, most recently, America’s Most Wanted Recipes At the Grill. He is a former finance director at JP Morgan and founder of the #1 copycat recipe website, RecipeSecrets.net. He lives in New York with his wife and two children.
Read more from Ron Douglas
America's Most Wanted Recipes: Delicious Recipes from Your Family's Favorite Restaurants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America's Most Wanted Recipes Just Desserts: Sweet Indulgences from Your Family's Favorite Restaurants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5More of America's Most Wanted Recipes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America's Most Wanted Recipes At the Grill: Recreate Your Favorite Restaurant Meals in Your Own Backyard! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America's Most Wanted Recipes Kids' Menu: Restaurant Favorites Your Family's Pickiest Eaters Will Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
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Reviews for America's Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt
5 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Doesn’t work at all !! They just want your money and this should be illegal and a criminal business. Takes over two weeks for them to get any help or answer to your existing problem. Disgusting work from: where on earth - country
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Ron Douglas' cookbook makes me feel guilty about wasting my money. All of his books should be kicked to the curb!
Book preview
America's Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt - Ron Douglas
Also by Ron Douglas
America’s Most Wanted Recipes
More of America’s Most Wanted Recipes
This book features a compilation of recipes and cooking tips based on personal interpretation of the foods listed. Through trial and error, each recipe was re-created to taste the same as, or similar to, its restaurant/brand counterpart, but it is not the actual recipe used by the creator or manufacturer.
Several products displayed and mentioned in this book are trademarked. The companies that own these trademarks have not participated in, nor do they endorse, this book.
The brand or restaurant names for the recipes have been included only as an aid in cataloging the recipes and do not imply authenticity or endorsement by the creator or manufacturer. All restaurant and company names are trademarks of their respective owners. Please see the Trademarks section at the end of this book for detailed trademark credits.
Each of the recipes in this cookbook is adapted from or inspired by its restaurant/brand counterpart. For the actual and authentic versions of the food products listed in this compilation, please see the Restaurant Web Sites section at the back of this book and patronize the individual restaurants or manufacturers.
ATRIA PAPERBACK
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Copyright © 2011 by Verity Associates LLC
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Atria Paperback edition October 2011
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Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Douglas, Ron.
America’s most wanted recipes without the guilt : cut the calories, keep the taste of your favorite restaurant dishes / Ron Douglas.
p. cm.
1. Low-calorie diet—Recipes. 2. Cooking, American.
3. Restaurants—United States. 4. Cookbooks. I. Title.
RM237.73.D68 2011
641.5’635—dc23 2011012512
ISBN 978-1-4516-2331-4
ISBN 978-1-4516-2335-2 (ebook)
Troy Escalade
Jackson
January 11, 1976–February 20, 2011
CONTENTS
Preface
The Obesity Epidemic
Portion Distortion
Navigating the Restaurant World
The Benefits of Cooking at Home
APPLEBEE’S™
Baby Back Ribs
Chicken Quesadilla Grande
Crispy Orange Chicken Skillet
Deadly Chocolate Sin
Santa Fe Chicken
Santa Fe Chicken Salad
Spinach Pizza
BAHAMA BREEZE™
Jamaican Jerk Grilled Chicken
Seafood Paella
BENNIGAN’S™
Baked Monte Cristo Sandwich
BOSTON MARKET™
Macaroni and Cheese
Meat Loaf
Vegetable Stuffing
BUCA DI BEPPO™
Chicken Saltimbocca
Chicken with Lemon
CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN™
Chicken-Tequila Fettuccine
CARRABBA’S ITALIAN GRILL™
Chicken Bryan
Meatballs
Rigatoni Campagnolo
Stuffed Mushrooms Parmigiana
THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY™
Banana Cream Cheesecake
Cajun Jambalaya Pasta
Louisiana Chicken Pasta
Oreo Cheesecake
Pumpkin Cheesecake
CHI-CHI’S™
Baked Chicken Chimichangas
Salsa Verde Chicken Kabobs
Steak and Mushroom Quesadillas
CHILI’S™
Baby Back Ribs
Beef Fajitas
Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie
Margarita Grilled Chicken
Southwestern Chicken Chili
CRACKER BARREL™
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Banana Pudding
Cherry-Chocolate Cobbler
Chicken Salad
DANIEL™
Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine
DAVE AND BUSTER’S™
Blackened Chicken Pasta
Cajun Shrimp Alfredo
Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
Steak Fajita Salad
FAMOUS DAVE’S™
Shakin’ the Shack Potato Salad
GOLDEN CORRAL™
Banana Pudding
Bourbon Street Chicken
Rolls
Seafood Salad
HARD ROCK CAFE™
Baked Potato Soup
Blackened Chicken Penne Pasta
Chili
Love Me Tenders with Sauce
Nice and Easy Chicken ’n’ Cheesy
Pulled Pork
Shrimp Fajitas
HARDEE’S™
Cinnamon Flake
Biscuits
Peach Cobbler
HOUSTON’S™
Spinach and Artichoke Dip
IHOP™
Colorado Omelet
Cream of Wheat Pancakes
Pancakes
THE IVY™
Shepherd’s Pie
JOE’S CRAB SHACK™
Crab Cakes
Étouffée
Harvest Bay Mahimahi
KFC™
Original Recipe Fried Chicken (Baked)
LUBY’S CAFETERIA™
Baked Corned Beef Brisket with Sour Cream New Potatoes
Fried Catfish (Baked)
Smothered Steak with Mushroom Gravy
MACARONI GRILL™
Baked Creamy Seafood
Chicken Scaloppini
Chocolate Cake with Fudge Sauce
Farfalle di Pollo al Sugo Bianco
Insalata Florentine
Pasta Gamberetti e Pinoli
Polpettone alla Montagona (Italian Meat Loaf)
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cake
Shrimp Portofino
NOBU™
Red Snapper Tempura
Shrimp, Oyster Mushrooms, and Sugar Snap Peas in Wasabi Butter Sauce
O’CHARLEY’S™
Potato Soup
THE OLD SPAGHETTI FACTORY™
Spaghetti with Browned Butter and Cheese
OLIVE GARDEN™
Cheese Ravioli with Vegetables
Chicken Crostina
Chicken Marsala
Chicken Scampi
Italian Sausage—Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Herb and Parmesan Cheese Sauce
Pasta Frittata
Risotto Milanese
Shrimp Cristoforo
Tuscan Garlic Chicken
OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE™
Aussie Cheese Fries
Mac a Roo ’n’ Cheese
PANDA EXPRESS™
Garlic Chicken Breasts with String Beans
Spicy Chicken
PANERA BREAD™
Apple-Sausage Patties with Sage
Broccoli-Cheese Soup
Chicken Breasts with Herbed Crust
P.F. CHANG’S CHINA BISTRO™
Chicken-Lettuce Wraps
Chicken with Black Bean Sauce
Ginger Chicken with Broccoli
Spicy Chicken
Stir-Fried Spicy Eggplant
PLANET HOLLYWOOD™
Cap’n Crunch Chicken
RAINFOREST CAFE™
Blue Mountain Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Crab Cakes
RED LOBSTER™
Clam Chowder
Shrimp Scampi
RED ROBIN™
Banzai Burger
BBQ Chicken Salad
Burnin’ Love Burger
RUBY TUESDAY™
Chicken Quesadillas
Shrimp Pasta Parmesan
Sonoran Chicken Pasta
SBARRO™
Baked Ziti
Chicken Francese with Lemon Butter
Rigatoni alla Vodka
SHONEY’S™
Chicken Stir-Fry
Strawberry Pie
STEAK AND ALE™
Bourbon Street Steak
Hawaiian Chicken
TEXAS ROADHOUSE™
Legendary Sirloin Beef Tips
Texas Steak Rolls
T.G.I. FRIDAY’S™
Au Gratin Potatoes
Broccoli-Cheese Soup
Bruschetta Chicken
Lemon Chicken Scaloppini
UNION PACIFIC™
Apple Pancakes
Grilled White Pekin Duck Breast
UNO CHICAGO GRILL™
Classic Deep-Dish Pizza
WHITE BARN INN RESTAURANT™
Warm Chocolate Cake with Warm Chocolate Sauce
Health and Nutrition Guide
Sources
Trademarks
Restaurant Web Sites
Index
PREFACE
The America’s Most Wanted Recipes cookbook series has become well known for providing accurate copycat recipes of your favorite restaurant dishes. People really love having the option of saving money by re-creating restaurant-quality meals at home whenever they want—so much so that we’ve developed a huge following, with more than 1 million books in print and over 1.9 million monthly views of our Web site, RecipeSecrets.net.
Now, in America’s Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt, we’ve focused on providing reduced-calorie versions with the same great taste that you’ll find at the most popular restaurants in the country. Yes, you can enjoy your favorite foods without the guilt!
America’s Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt was inspired by my childhood friend and neighbor Troy Escalade
Jackson, who passed away in his sleep in February 2011 at age thirty-five. Troy was a legendary athlete from Queens, New York, and had thousands of adoring fans and friends. He was a class act and will truly be missed.
In the wake of my friend’s sudden passing, I decided to make America’s Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt more than just a cookbook. I felt an obligation to use the success of my cookbooks as a platform for educating readers on how to eat more healthfully as a better way of life instead of as just a temporary diet.
We’ve enlisted the help of licensed, registered dietitian Mary M. Franz to provide nutritional details and healthy tips throughout this cookbook. We’ve also worked with Mary to provide you with a comprehensive health and nutrition guide, located at the back of this book.
For each recipe in America’s Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt, we’ve included simple ways to make your favorite restaurant meals healthier, along with the number of calories saved by doing so. We hope that our examples help readers learn how to choose healthier options in their everyday meal planning.
THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC
It is no secret that Americans are getting heavier. Chances are good that you know someone who is struggling to lose weight, or maybe you are battling your own weight problem. If so, you know how incredibly difficult it can be to lose even a few pounds. And maybe, like many others, you have just given up and resigned yourself to living with your excess weight.
The facts are stunning. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 34 percent of American adults are either overweight or obese, and 6 percent are classified as extremely obese.
In addition, nearly 20 percent of American kids aged two to seventeen are now obese. Childhood obesity is of special concern because it often leads to poor health very early in life. For example, over half of obese kids have at least one risk factor for heart disease, such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol. In addition, children who are obese tend to be obese as adults.
People who are obese experience many negative effects on their health and well-being. In addition to having less energy and a poor self-image, obese individuals have higher rates of serious health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and some kinds of cancers, and experience physical ailments such as arthritis and back pain.
Reasons for Obesity
Why are we so heavy? There are many reasons for the explosion in the rate of obesity, but two of the main ones are an inactive lifestyle and poor eating habits. The past century saw a dramatic drop in the amount of exercise we get. Many jobs are now sedentary, in contrast to the active physical work such as farming that once employed most people. In addition, driving has replaced walking for nearly all of our errands and activities, so far fewer of the calories we consume are being burned. As for kids, cuts in school athletic programs, less outdoor play, and increased television-watching and video game use are to blame.
Our poor eating habits are just as troubling.
Skipping meals: Busy schedules and long commutes cause about 40 percent of Americans to skip breakfast; in addition, about one-third of people trying to lose weight skip meals regularly. However, missing meals, particularly breakfast, has been shown to lead to overeating later in the day, especially of high-calorie foods such as sweets and salty snacks.
Bigger portion sizes: If you eat out in restaurants, you have probably noticed that the amount of food on your plate is increasing. Your eyes are not deceiving you! Over the past twenty years, restaurant portions have doubled and tripled in size, resulting in hundreds, if not thousands, of extra calories. This so-called portion distortion (discussed later on) is thought to be one of the main drivers behind the obesity epidemic.
Eating more empty-calorie foods
: Empty-calorie foods are processed foods that contain large amounts of calories, fat, sugar, and salt, but little nutritional value. You know what they are: chips, cookies, cake, pie, fries, candy, soda, and doughnuts. Because these calorically loaded foods are now available on nearly every corner (from convenience stores, franchise coffee shops, and vending machines), we have the opportunity to eat more and more of them—and we do.
Not enough fruits and vegetables: Because fruits and vegetables are naturally low in calories and high in fiber, they fill us up and can help us lose or maintain weight. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 recommends eating 2 cups of fruit and 2½ cups of vegetables each day (about nine servings all together). However, less than 30 percent of Americans meet this goal.
Restaurant dining: Another possible reason for the increase in overweight and obesity is the number and types of meals eaten away from home. About 25 percent of Americans now eat fast food at least once a week, and many families have replaced dinners at home with take-out food or meals eaten at sit-down restaurants.
Although quick, convenient, and tasty, restaurant food tends to be high in calories, fat, sugar, and sodium. An average meal consisting of a cheeseburger, medium fries, and a medium soda in a fast-food restaurant comes in at around 1,100 calories, 50 grams of fat, and 1,300 mg of sodium, while a steak dinner with an appetizer and dessert at a popular restaurant chain can rack up 2,000 calories, over 100 grams of fat, and 4,000 mg of sodium. Such numbers are surprising even to veteran nutritionists, including Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, who finds the sky-high calorie counts in restaurant foods to be astonishing.
For someone like me who thinks that she knows about these things, I’m stunned by the number of calories in fast foods. I had no idea.
Why is restaurant food so fattening? The answer lies in the cooking methods as well as the ingredients that are used: butter, fats, oils, cream, cheese, heavy sauces, and sugar and other kinds of sweeteners.
One of the biggest culprits in boosting the calories in restaurant meals is fat, particularly butter, shortening, and frying fats, which contain high levels of saturated and trans fats. Because fat is a flavor carrier
(meaning it enhances the taste and other sensory qualities of food), restaurant chefs often add it in large amounts to provide customers with the delicious dining experience they are seeking. Consider this: Nearly half of the fat in the aforementioned steak dinner is added during cooking, building in hundreds of extra calories.
Of course, fat is not the only culinary demon here. Soft drinks, shakes, and desserts are often loaded with sugar. A large fast-food shake may contain 145 grams (36 teaspoons) of sugar, pushing the calorie count to 1,100!
Fortunately, a new federal law now requires restaurants with twenty or more locations to post calorie counts for all of their menu items. This legislation was designed to help consumers make informed choices about what they are eating when dining out. Although many restaurant chains provide this information on their Web sites, they must now list calorie counts right on their menus. However, it may take many restaurants some time (perhaps a few years) to get up to speed with this new law.
PORTION DISTORTION
Americans like big things, and our restaurant meals are no exception. Throughout the past twenty years, restaurant portions have doubled and even tripled, leading to sky-high calorie counts for many restaurant dishes. And although many of us have come to accept these enormous portions as normal, the truth is that a typical restaurant meal often provides enough food for two or three people. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has coined a term for this phenomenon: portion distortion.
Our dinner plates have also increased in size, from 9-inch diameter to 12-inch diameter since 1960; and many restaurant plates are even larger than that. It’s a no-brainer: Bigger plates mean more food—as much as 30 percent more than half a century ago—and with it, more calories. Unless we burn those excess calories off, we will store them as fat.
Here’s what you can do to combat portion distortion:
1. Take the quizzes on the NHLBI Web site (www.nhlbi.nih.gov) to find out how much you know about healthy portion sizes, and how much exercise you need to burn off excess calories from oversize portions. Some of the answers may surprise you!
2. Avoid all you can eat
buffets. They are practically an open invitation to overeating.
3. Supersized means just what it sounds like: a huge portion with out-of-control calories. Avoid at all costs, even if the price is enticing.
4. Split appetizers and entrées with a fellow diner. You will still be full, but not uncomfortably so.
5. Look for smaller-sized entrées on the menu. Many restaurants are beginning to offer these.
6. Make a meal of appetizers, known as tapas in Spanish. Combining a variety of small appetizers and side dishes can lead to a satisfying meal that is much lower in calories. In fact, restaurants that serve only appetizers are rapidly becoming one of the hottest dining trends.
7. Use a smaller plate at home and fill it with food. After a few meals, you will get used to the smaller plate size and probably won’t notice that you are eating less food.
NAVIGATING THE RESTAURANT WORLD
If you enjoy eating out and would like to make it a healthier experience, the following tips and guidelines may be helpful.
Restaurant Red Lights
These descriptions of restaurant dishes are clues that they have been prepared with large amounts of fat, and should be considered deal-breakers.
Fried/deep-fried/pan-fried: All three terms mean that the food has been cooked in hot oil, butter, or another type of fat. Creamy/creamed: Butter and/or cream has been used to make the dish.
Scalloped: The dish has been baked in a cream sauce.
Au gratin: The food, often potatoes or a vegetable, has been topped and baked with a crust made of flour, butter, and/or cheese.
Battered/breaded: The food has been dipped in egg or some sort of fat, and then coated with flour, a batter, or bread crumbs before cooking.
Smothered in: The term is usually followed by the word cheese, sauce, or cream.
Stuffed: This means just what it sounds like—the food has been packed with a high-fat or starchy filling.
Crispy: The food has been breaded or battered and then fried.
Drizzled: The surface of the food has been covered with a layer of sauce, oil, or melted butter.
Restaurant Green Lights
The following cooking methods are lowest in added fats and may greatly reduce the calories in a restaurant meal.
Steamed: Cooked over hot steam from boiling water.
Poached: Covered and cooked in a liquid, usually broth, wine, or juice. Seared: Usually refers to meat; means that it has been cooked very quickly over very high heat with little or no added fat; done to seal in juices and flavor.
Broiled: Cooked directly under very high heat, so that the fat in the food can drain away.
Grilled: Similar to broiling, except that the food is cooked directly above the heat