Making a diet-friendly dinner does not have to be expensive, time-consuming or boring. Keep it simple and stick with low-fat cooking methods, such as broiling, grilling, baking and stir-frying. Instead of making meats and starches the focus of the meal, load up on low-calorie vegetables, steamed or grilled. Variety will keep your taste buds from getting bored and help you stick to your plan.
Grilled Chicken
Grilling is a low-fat, healthy cooking method that adds a new dimension in flavor. You can grill just about any meat such as lean beef, skinless poultry and fish, and vegetables such as eggplant, summer squash, corn and/or sweet bell peppers. According to Eating Well, you can make your own diet-friendly marinade for chicken with reduced-sodium soy sauce, lime juice, chili powder and canola oil. Marinate skinless chicken breast or chicken tenders in this for 30 to 60 minutes and cook on an oiled grill over medium-high heat until the chicken cooks through, about two minutes on each side.
Sprinkle chopped, fresh cilantro over the chicken. Serve with lightly-oiled grilled vegetables and a green salad for a quick, tasty and healthy meal. The chicken dish alone provides about 275 calories, 12 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 34 g protein and 3 g carbohydrates.
Veggie Pizza
If you think pizza is something forbidden as a diet dinner idea, think again. Make your own and choose toppings wisely. Fitness Magazine's spinach-mushroom pizza is one of seven recommended fat-fighting meals. Start with a 12 oz. whole-wheat pizza crust, and top with 1/4-cup pizza sauce, 1/2-cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained well; and 1/4 of a small red onion. Sprinkle 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese over the top along with six medium-size, sliced cremini mushrooms. Dollop 1/4-cup part-skim ricotta cheese and 2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese over the mozzarella cheese-mushroom layer.
Bake in a 450-degree oven for about 10 minutes. Switch off the oven, turn on the broiler and broil for about two minutes until bubbly. Sprinkle 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil over the top, if desired. A quarter of this whole pizza provides 344 calories, 10 g fat, 5.5 g saturated fat, 18 g protein, 45 g carbohydrates and is nutrient-rich.
"Fried" Fish
While you shouldn't have the deep-fried version, you can have oven-baked fish, and this version will not damage your low-calorie diet. Set up three shallow dishes. In the first, put flour seasoned with Creole or Cajun seasoning and a dash of salt. In the second, put one or two lightly-beaten egg whites. In the third, pour coarsely-ground cornflakes. Dredge a 4-oz. portion of fresh haddock or cod in the flour mixture, dip it in egg whites and then coat thoroughly with the ground cornflakes. Place the fish on a prepared wire rack and coat both sides of the breaded fish with cooking spray.
Bake the fish on the upper rack of a 425-degree oven until it is opaque in the center and the breading is crisp and golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. One serving of the fish provides 220 calories, 2 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 29 g protein and 18 g carbohydrates. Serve with a baked sweet potato and fresh steamed vegetables, if desired.
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