Skinny French Dinner: Bifteck Haché with Tarragon-Shallot Potato Salad

Nearly every dinner I cook has some sort of theme, usually by region. I like being able to eat food from several different countries all within days. I love going out to dinner in the city and trying cuisine from a country I've never been to (Ethiopia) , or even a country where I've been and can't wait to go back to (France). But my favorite part, is going home and trying to recreate the dishes (and make them healthier, of course) so I can eat them whenever I want.

Making skinny versions of my favorite French dishes has been challenging. Anyone who's ever read Mastering the Art of French Cooking will know that (aside from being seriously hard to cook), most of these recipes call for a ridiculous amount of butter. One recipe I read online this week for bifteck haché called for 10 tablespoons of butter. That's 30 Weight Watchers points, and about 110 grams of fat. Not skinny at all...I have no idea how those French people stay so thin (yes I do...moderation). Luckily, there are so many other great flavors in French cooking, I've managed to come up with a few skinny dishes which take advantage of those ingredients.

Bifteck Haché is basically a fancy French hamburger, and is so very easy to make. I served it with a Bordelaise, but you can use any sauce you like. I'm also posting a recipe for a French potato salad using two of my favorite flavors, tarragon and shallots. I served this with a simple salad of mixed greens (skinny dinner tip: fill half your plate with salad) which I drizzled with a tiny bit of olive oil and vinegar (skinny dinner tip #2: if you salt and pepper your salad, you won't need as much dressing). Serve this dinner with a nice bottle of wine, and if you want to be truly French, take 3 hours for dinner, and slowly enjoy every bite.

Skinny Bifteck Haché (with Skinny Bordelaise)

Adapted from Saveur

Serving Size: 1 Patty (about 1/6th recipe)

WW PointsPlus Value: 5

2 teaspoons light butter

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

3/4 lbs ground beef (I calculated for 85% lean, 15% fat)

1 egg

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 shallot, minced

1/2 cup red wine

1/2 cup fat free beef stock

salt and pepper

Directions:

• Melt 1 teaspoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, 10 minutes. Transfer to bowl, cool, then add beef, egg, salt, and pepper. Stir together, then divide and form into 6 patties.
• Put flour in a dish, and dredge patties, making sure to shake off excess.
• Spray skillet with cooking spray, and cook patties over medium-high heat until nice and brown. Cook a few minutes on each side, or to your desired level of doneness. Transfer to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
• Melt the remaining teaspoon of butter in the skillet and add shallots, stirring for about a minute. Then add beef stock and red wine, and simmer until reduced by about half. Season well with salt and pepper, then pour over patties in the platter.

Skinny Tarragon-Shallot Potato Salad

Adapted from Saveur

Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe

WW PointsPlus Value: 3

1 1/2 lbs baby potatoes, quartered

3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 shallot, minced

3 Tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped

Salt and pepper

3 Tablespoons nonfat Greek yogurt

1 Tablespoon mayo

Directions:

• Boil potatoes in large pot of salted water for 20 minutes, until tender. Drain and transfer to a bowl.
• Whisk together all other ingredients and gently toss with potatoes.
• Don your finest beret, pour a large glass of wine, and enjoy your French dinner.

Skinny Sour Cream Pancakes

I'm not the biggest fan of sweet breakfast dishes. I don't really consider doughnuts or danishes to be a legitimate breakfast. I want omelettes filled with meat, cheese, and vegetables...and home fries...and hey, can I get an extra side of meat with that? But about once a month, I wake up and just feel the need for pancakes. These pancakes are perfect for me because they're filling, and not too sweet while still being just as fluffy and delicious as a pancake should be.

Skinny Sour Cream Pancakes

Adapted from Can You Stay for Dinner

Serving Size: 3 Pancakes

WW PointsPlus Value: 5

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

2 Tablespoons sour cream

1 Tablespoon nonfat Greek yogurt

Directions:

• Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Whisk milk and egg together in small bowl, then add to dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.
• Add sour cream and Greek yogurt and gently stir in.
• Pour 1/4 cup batter onto a skillet (coated with butter flavored cooking spray) over medium heat. Cook a few minutes until bubbly, then flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes until done.
• Serve drizzled with maple syrup and a side of colorful fruit.

Skinny Patatas Bravas con Chorizo

The Spanish have the right idea about so many things. Siesta. Sangria. Tapas. They've just got it all figured out. A couple years ago (after many mojitos) I stumbled into this restaurant in Barcelona and had a plate of life-changing patatas bravas. The potatoes were perfectly fried, the brava sauce was tangy and spicy, and it was served with a cool, garlicky aioli. I had dreams about these potatoes, they were that good. About a year later, I went to the same restaurant, eager to eat the delicious patatas. They had changed their menu, and no longer offered the dish I'd eaten the year before. The new patatas bravas was served "con chorizo." For those of you who don't speak Spanish, con chorizo translates to "with delicious, delicious sausage." It. Was. Amazing.

Unfortunately, fried potatoes with fatty meat and a mayonnaise-y sauce don't really fit under the "skinny eating" category, so I've come up with a (somewhat) lighter version that would be great as the star of a tapas themed dinner.

Skinny Patatas Bravas con Chorizo

Serving Size: 1/4 Recipe

WW PointsPlus Value: 6

The Main Bit:

1 large potato

1 fully cooked chorizo sausage

1 Tablespoon olive oil

The Brava Sauce:

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

Pinch of each of the following: onion powder, cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt, pepper, oregano

Red pepper flakes to taste

Dash of hot sauce

The Aioli:

1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon mayo

Directions:

• Parboil the potato in vinegar spiked water, then remove and let cool.
• Combine all ingredients for the brava sauce in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
• While the brava sauce is cooking, combine all ingredients for the aioli in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• When the potato is cool enough to handle, cut into cubes.
• Heat olive oil over high heat in a frying pan, then throw the potato cubes in and mix them around, coating them evenly with the oil. Cook until nice and crispy on the outside, then add the chorizo until heated through.
• Put the potato/chorizo mix into a serving platter, and top with warm brava sauce and cool aioli.
• Enjoy with a selection of tapas and a nice glass of red wine. Or a cold beer. Or some sangria...Honestly, these taste good with anything.

Skinny Sriracha Aioli

I love Thai food. I love all the unique flavors that combine together in Thai cuisine. I try and keep staples of Thai cooking in my fridge and pantry at all times: Fish sauce, soy sauce, rice noodles, limes, curry pastes, and of course, Sriracha hot sauce. For those of you who don't know, Sriracha has become super trendy in the past few years, showing up everywhere from articles in the New York Times to tattoos on hipsters. It's a spicy, tangy chili sauce which tastes good on pretty much anything, which is why foodies have been touting it as "the new ketchup." It even has its own cookbook.

This is a great recipe which exploits the versatility of Sriracha, and uses one of my favorite "skinny" tricks: Any time a recipe calls for mayo, I use a mixture of nonfat Greek yogurt and full fat mayo. I usually use a ratio of about 3:1. Nonfat Greek yogurt is a great tool to use when you're watching your weight. It's thick, creamy, and works in both sweet and savory dishes. Plus it's packed with protein. The reason I use full fat mayo is because I'm using so little, and the yogurt takes on that flavor, so it tastes like you're eating something much more indulgent than you actually are.

I tried this on a hot dog, but it would really taste great on anything!

Skinny Sriracha Aioli

Serving Size: 1 Tablespoon

WW PointsPlus Value: 0

2 Tablespoons nonfat Greek yogurt

2 teaspoons mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon (or more to taste) Sriracha hot sauce

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients well, and chill until ready to use
• Spread/pour/drizzle onto your food of choice
• Enjoy!

Skinny(ish) Homemade Oreos

Now these are by no stretch of the imagination healthy, and should absolutely be eaten in moderation (should your willpower allow...mine did not, so I'll be taking this batch into work). But they are a bit lighter than the original recipe, thanks to a few tricks I've learned in my many many years (actually about 6 months) of (somewhat) successful "skinny" baking. I've adapted the recipe from one of my absolute favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen.

Skinny(ish) Homemade Oreos

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen (who adapted it from Retro Desserts, Wayne Brachman)

Serving Size: 1 Oreo (2 cookies + 1/2 tsp of cream)

WW PointsPlus Value: 4

The Cookie Bit:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup white flour

1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 sticks softened light butter

1 large egg

The Creamy In-Between-The-Cookies Bit:
1 stick softened light butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat to 375°F.
• Mix the flours, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. With an electric mixer on low, add the butter, and then the egg. Mix just until they're all combined.
• Place rounded teaspoons on paper-lined baking sheets, and with wet hands, gently flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes.
• While they're baking, mix the butter, sugar and vanilla with the electric mixer. Then put on some Devo, and whip it good for a couple minutes, until it's nice and fluffy.
• Once the cookies have cooled completely, you can assemble them into final oreo form. Put the cream in a large ziplock bag and cut a corner off (like a ghetto pastry bag), then squeeze out about a 1/2 teaspoon onto a cookie. Top with another cookie, and press to disperse cream evenly. Repeat until all cookies are assembled. Any misshapen cookies go into the reject pile for quality control and taste testing.
• Commence quality control taste test.