New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) Got a sweet tooth, and trying to be fit at the same time? Try some homemade recipes which can satiate your taste buds, without causing much damage to your waistline.
Richa Mattu, nutrition and health manager, South Asia, Hindustan Unilever Limited, has shared tips to help satisfy those dessert cravings the healthy way:
“While you go about enjoying your desserts, it’s important to remember that portion control is the key to mindful eating,” she said.
Here is what she has to offer for all those who can’t control their sweet cravings.
* Delightful spiced rice pudding: Rice pudding is clearly one of the simplest and humble yet yummy desserts. With a dense, luxurious texture and rich, creamy flavour it’s difficult to find anything negative to say about it. Traditionally, containing only milk, rice, sugar and a hint of butter at its most basic, rice pudding is as close to a blank canvas for flavour as you’re likely to get.
Ingredients and Method: Smart ingredient swaps can take this dish to an all new level on the nutrition quotient. Ensure you use skimmed milk instead of whole milk and use non-nutritive sweeteners instead of sugar. Infuse your milk with some whole spices – cinnamon, star anise, cloves and the quintessential cardamom and you’ll enter into a whole new dimension of flavour. As a serving suggestion, you can stir in some almonds, apricots and pistachios to make it more interesting and give it that crunch.
* Special Banana and Oatmeal cookies: There are heaps of recipes for healthier versions of cookies, but this one ups the ante.
Ingredients and Method: The healthy ingredients used in the recipe make it a nutritious dessert. Use rolled oats (whole grain, which makes it a good source of fiber), canola oil and soy milk as substitutions for butter and full-fat milk. Add in some ripe bananas, which adds another dimension of flavour. These cookies are best relished guilt-free as you can savour them with the natural sweetness which is rendered by the ripe banana.
* Fruity Yogurt Parfaits: Frozen low fat yogurt, fruit, and granola make for a healthy and filling snack and is definitely sweet enough for a smart dessert replacement.
Ingredients and Method: Parfaits are fresh and tasty since you can use frozen yogurt in different flavours and mix and match them with seasonally available fruits such as Kiwi, Pomegranate, Strawberry and Peach. Creamy low-fat yogurt layered with plump and juicy fruits, all topped with crunchy granola will hit all the right spots.