Meals that save on time and on calories
Fast & Fit
By Ellen Haas Hatherleigh Press, 256 pp., $16.95
I'll confess: There aren't a lot of diet books on my shelves. (Although I do have books that tell you how to spend four hours preparing a minuscule appetizer for two, a sort of diet.) I'm a slow eater and a slower cook, and I've never been much for measuring out oil by the teaspoon.
So "Fast & Fit," by Ellen Haas (a former US agriculture undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services), with its message of speedy, low-fat deliciousness, had some convincing to do in my kitchen.
But as I was still working off the pounds from my review of "A Baker's Odyssey," it seemed prudent to keep an open mind. I steeled myself for a week of small portions and modest flavors.
Zesty lemon chicken cutlets worried me: a quarter-pound of chicken per diner? Haas was being pretty literal about the USDA's serving sizes - meat portions the size of a deck of cards. But the prep was easy, and the flavors were bright with lemon and capers ("zesty lemon" turned out to basically mean "piccata"). Haas made judicious use of cider vinegar in a cucumber dill salad and again in a black bean, fresh corn, and red pepper salad (which my husband threw together in half an hour). The balance of sweet and tart was finely calibrated, though I thought it could've been done without resorting to corn syrup. Curried rice pilaf, though boring to behold, made a simple and effective foil for more assertive flavors.
I didn't see how 1 pound of pasta could feed six as advertised, but lemon-pepper fettuccine with asparagus and shrimp almost pulled it off. The shrimp were garlicky, the asparagus plentiful, and five champion eaters (ages 1 to 75) sat smiling and satisfied afterward. Despite being seasoned with soy, ginger, and garlic, stir-fried beef with sugar snap peas and baby carrots wasn't as flavorful as a more traditional Chinese stir-fry (with, say, black beans and sesame oil) would've been. But with a pot of rice, it transformed a small amount of flank steak into a nearly full-size dinner.
Although every recipe worked well in concept and in flavor, some could've used beta-testing. Broiled wild salmon with dill mustard sauce was a puzzler: There's simply no way to puree 1/4 cup of dill - that's like 3 sprigs - in a food processor. The dill just hangs out on the side of the bowl laughing at the whizzing blade below. I had to add the rest of the ingredients before I could achieve a sauce, which turned out to be delicious.
Broccoli saute with orange zest and almonds came out tender only because I divided it into very small florets beforehand, which Haas never mentions you need to do.
I didn't notice until halfway through cauliflower saute with red pepper and walnuts that the list of ingredients read "cauliflower florets, blanched" - a 15-minute step that should have been detailed in the instructions (I saved it by pan-steaming). Oven "fried" squid - floured, egged, and cornmealed - took an hour from start to finish. No big deal, but not what I'd call "fast" for a sauceless appetizer.
Despite these issues (and occasionally wishing there was about 15 percent more on the plate), I had rather gotten to like "Fast & Fit." So I was disappointed that desserts turned out to be mostly of the dressed-up fruit variety. I'm sorry, but banana with yogurt and granola is not dessert - that's breakfast. I settled on the only one that looked vaguely decadent, chocolate cranberry clusters. And OK, I dropped them by the tablespoon instead of by the teaspoon and completely ignored the recommendation to just eat two.
In the end, I had to conclude that "Fast & Fit" has an abundance of good ideas to offer, if none are strikingly original. I was glad that Haas recognizes that generous seasonings - garlic, herbs, citrus, etc. - contribute few calories but incomparable taste. Fast and fit, meet slow and laid-back. We might have something in common after all - give or take 15 percent.
