Light Food

Why are finger foods so appealing? Is it because we all secretly like to eat with our hands, or does it have more to do with those tangy, flavored dipping sauces like barbecue, honey mustard or homemade chipotle mayo? I like finger foods because they come in bite-sized pieces. I can have a taste of everything without feeling stuffed and even have seconds of the things I enjoyed most.

So what's the ultimate finger food? I'd have to say chicken fingers. In my career as a professional cook, I have made hundreds -- no, thousands -- of juicy, homemade chicken fingers.

Some are coated with Parmesan bread crumbs or crushed golden butter crackers, others dipped first in thick buttermilk and Tabasco, then coated in crunchy, crushed cereals. They are perfect for kids and even better for entertaining, as I found out when my neighbors devoured them during our monthly movie get-together.

Buttermilk chicken fingers always disappear first, but I also love to convince my veggie-hating friends to dip nutrient-rich vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower into the sauce of their choice. That's why I've collected a private stash of recipes that are healthier, but just as tasty.

Get Jennifer's recipes and warm weather entertaining tips after the jump.

I like to have a sweet treat from time to time, especially if it is a homemade cookie or a lavish dessert made from scratch in one of my favorite New York City restaurants. But even if you don't splurge every day on dessert, you might be getting a lot more sugar than you should.

But how much is too much? And is sugar really bad for you as they say?

Historically, sugar consumption is on the rise -- here are some sugar shock stats (PDF). In 1970, each American was eating on average 123 pounds of sugar a year and today that number is up to 152 pounds -- which means three pounds in just one week, a little under one cup a day. Nutritionists say to limit sugar to around 13 teaspoons a day so we are getting almost four times the recommended daily amount from a variety of sources.

A lot of people are wondering if there is a healthy form of sugar: Since most of the sugars trigger the same rise in blood sugar, there is no real difference between them except for how quickly that sugar spike hits the system. This is where eating more complex carbohydrates and beneficial fruits is a great way to slow that blood glucose change and deal with the daily crave for sweets.

As in my last post, I still think it's OK to enjoy other forms of sugar in moderation; we all like our treats from time to time, especially on holidays and special occasions. But if you're looking for low-sugar treats, try my recipes for avocado chocolate milkshake, brown sugar ice cream or rugelach.

After the jump -- chewing the fat on "diet" food.

When it comes to soul-satisfying food, people just can't get enough of the creamy textures of comfort food dishes. Mac and cheese, fettuccini, chowders and cream soups top many people's list of favorite indulgences, along with ice cream and milkshakes. But do things have to be loaded with fat to be creamy and taste good?

My short answer is an emphatic "No!" I've developed a few easy ways to keep the creaminess in and the fat out, starting with my method for making savory, velvety corn chowder. This is the perfect soup for this time of year, when you're yearning for something that reminds you of warm weather, like chowder at the beach side -- but which will still warm you up on chilly March evenings.

Here are three skinny secrets that you can use in any of your favorite recipes or even add to store-bought items to ramp up the creaminess and lower the fat.

Tips and corn-chowder recipe are after the jump.

Just this past week I was hanging out with my friend Joy Bauer, the nutritionist for the Today Show and best-selling author of books like "Food Cures" and "Joy's Life Diet".

While I was preparing her recipes to go out on the set of "The View," she was sharing smart advice on how to eat inexpensively and trim your waistline at the same time. Her tips included some of the cheapest produce, drinks, bulk items and many of the foods you eat each and every day.

Joy and I have worked together on several book projects over the years and we've had fun times cooking together. I have learned so much about nutrition working with her -- not just because she is a goldmine of knowledge, but because her energy is so infectious. I think the reason she has been able to help so many people is because she eats exactly what she preaches and she's passionate about teaching people how to be healthy.

Read on for a few terms that not only describe her personality, but also her eating habits.

When people think of chefs and restaurant food, the work "skinny" usually doesn't pop into their minds. While the food is often delicious and satisfying, it can be high in calories and fat.

I dine out each week, but I know there's a downside to indulging every day. When I worked in New York City restaurant kitchens, I learned something really valuable -- cooking techniques that I could apply to make healthier versions of those meals, so I could enjoy them more often. I also learned how to fit restaurant food into a balanced lifestyle.

My mission as the Skinny Chef is to recreate those flavors and experiences by making food that can be enjoyed guilt free, more often, at home. While I discovered great ways to maintaining a healthy weight, I chose the name Skinny Chef to remind us that food can be fun, flavorful, beautiful, satisfying and healthy at the same time.

Sharing my knowledge and love of food with others has completely changed my life and put me in touch with so many wonderful people I might have never had the chance to meet. I want to hear more about you and your food experiences, so that we can start together our journey to easy, fun ways to cook tasty nourishing meals.

Responses to questions from last post's comments are after the jump.

Meet Slashfood's newest blogger, Jennifer Iserloh, a.k.a. The Skinny Chef. Twice a week, Chef Iserloh will be sharing smart, savory ways to make your favorite dishes healthier, without sacrificing flavor.

I was raised in a small town outside of Pittsburgh in my Granny's little brick house, complete with a large dine-in kitchen. Granny is an amazing cook and almost all our meals were from scratch. ­ She began passing all her knowledge and cooking traditions on to me when I was tall enough to reach the counter. Cooking became an integral part of my life, but overeating and serious weight issues were another, unfortunate part of my family's heritage.

As I grew older, I steadily gained weight from my teen years into my early 20s. I felt a real dissatisfaction with the way I looked, and more importantly, being overweight really hurt my self-confidence. I knew that I had to make changes, and I began to learn about nutrition - mimicking my slender female friends' healthy habits. I started to lose weight, but I never lost my love for food.

After I moved to New York City, I finally had the courage to follow my dream to become a chef and truly honor my passion. After graduating, I studied with the masters of New York City restaurants. As my professional scope widened, I experienced food on many levels, working as a private chef, learning how to style foods for photo shoots, and starting a career in food writing. To this day, I combine my best experiences from the food world into delicious, healthy food that is also beautiful.

When I was a kid, eating raw fish was considered bizarre, and admitting a love for the stuff was comparable to outing oneself as a tree-worshipper or part-time sword swallower. In its own, strange way, it was cool, but it also put one in the same category as the classmate who ate paste or the kid who sometimes set fire to things.

My parents, who had lived in Asia, were huge fans of sushi and sashimi, which meant that much of my childhood was spent traveling from one squalid Japanese restaurant to another in search of honest-to-goodness fresh fish. My sisters and I usually crunched tempura while my parents gobbled down morsels of hamachi, toro, sake, and saba, rating the various venues and moaning about how good the stuff was. As time went on, the claims that this was "grownup food" started holding less and less water; by the time I was ten, the whole family was in love with raw fish.

I know that's a rather fattening-sounding name, but this recipe is under the "Light & Healthy" category over at Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. Hmmm...I'm not so sure. Yeah, they're made with unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder and egg whites and light cream cheese, but still. Maybe "lighter" and "healthier" is a better phrase.They sound pretty darn good.

I have always been a fan of root beer. When my sister and I were kids, our intake of sugary drinks was actively monitored by our mom and so there wasn't much in the way of soda in our house. When we'd go out to eat, my dad would often get a root beer while we had to content ourselves with milk. We'd beg for sips from his glass on those occasions and so I associate root beer with comfortable family outings and special treats.

When I heard that Thomas Kemper, craft brewer of quality sodas (out of my hometown of Portland, OR) had developed a low calorie root beer that was sweetened with Splenda and honey, I was really excited to taste it. The box arrived last week with three artfully arranged bottles of soda and I popped the whole thing into the fridge to chill.

A couple of hours later it was cool and ready to taste (I must say that drinking soda out of a glass bottle is far more satisfying than out of a can). Twisting off the cap, I took a long pull and swallowed. It was nice and fizzy, but sadly didn't live up to the flavor profile of Thomas Kemper's sugar version of root beer. It is missing the sharpness that root beer typically delivers. This product is totally drinkable and for those folks who are watching their calorie and sugar intake, I would say that it's a terrific option. But personally, I would rather have a single, sugar-based root beer once a month than drink this version on a more frequent basis.

This root beer is available starting this month, and they will be following it up with low calorie versions of their ginger ale and black cherry soda in April.

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I know it's difficult to find a really tasty and easy dessert that's also good for you. It's so much easier to go with something prepared or that's known to be crowd pleaser. Unfortunately, those dishes are usually high in calories and fat/sugar. Here's something else you can try.

While you have the grill going anyway (if you are planning on grilling out), why not grill up some pineapple slices? If you're not going grill out for your Super Bowl party, you can always broil the slices. Dress the fruit up with some kind of tasty, low cal cream and you've got a great super bowl dessert. There's a great idea for this offering from the folks over at EatBetterAmerica. They have a recipe for a delicious sounding ginger cream that would pair fabulously with the pineapple.

I know that grilling vegetables and fruit has grown in popularity lately. I think this should be added to the repertoire for most people, especially at big gorge-fests like a super bowl party. It's simple and it tastes as good as it is good for you (well, it's way better than cupcakes, for example).

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