This is a great technique for avoiding those excess fat calories from entering your recipes at the very beginning--for instance, when you're sauteeing the onions or braising vegetables.

Simply coat your pan lightly with cooking spray (or use a good non-stick pan), bring it to the desired heat (usually medium-high) and add the ingredients (here I'll use chopped onions as an example).  Begin to cook the onions, stirring as needed, to prevent from sticking.  Within about two minutes, you will find they begin to stick slightly to the pan (don't wait until they start to burn!)  Next, have a cup of water ready, by the stove (I usually keep a little water in the kettle that sits on the stove, for easy access and to avoid spills).  Add a few drops at a time and stir.  You won't be "pouring in" the water as if to steam them, but you will add just enough (a few tablespoons at a time) to keep the onions moving with your spoon.  A small amount of steam will rise and they will move easily.  When you see this, put the water down and continue to just stir and sautee as before.  Repeat this technique until they are translucent (or if you're cooking another vegetable, just until they're soft enough to penetrate with a fork or knife). 

This technique alone can knock off around 250 calories / 20 grams of fat (14 g fat & 140 calories per tablespoon of oil).

Now, what I like to do at the end, if you want the taste of a specific oil (sesame oil is very aromatic and really adds to the flavor, especially in chinese dishes), yoy can add just a light drizzle--about 1 teaspoon--at the end.  This small amount will add about the same amount of sesame flavor as if you'd fried the veggies in 5 times as much oil!

 

 

 

Always wonder how Oprah makes "fat-free" french fries?  Well, here's the secret.  And, by the way, it works for spring rolls, samosas, and other traditionally greasy foods!

Prep your "to be fried" food as usual (except, of course, if you're making spring rolls or samosas, you'll have done my little oil-free sauteeing trick for the filling, so you'll be another step ahead of the game).

While you are prepping, preheat your oven to 425. 

Assemble the foods in one layer (i.e., do not stack) on a cookie sheet.  Non-stick is preferable, but a regular one will do just fine.  Spray a fine, even coat of cooking spray on the cookie sheet, and then on top of the food.  Set to bake in the oven about 10 minutes (cook time will vary, based on quantity and thickness of individual items).  Check, and if appropriate, flip over and repeat on the other side.  You'll know each side is done, because the top will be crispy and golden-brown (it will look fried).

Using this technique, just the right amount of oil will get into the top layer of your food, enough to bake and become very crispy, as though it was fried.  The bonus is, your food didn't absorb cups-full of oil into the rest of it, as with typical deep-frying.  Also, clean-up is much easier, much less ingredient is wasted (what do you do with used deep-frying oil anyway???), and a lot of time is saved on top of it all.  Besides, beginners, fry-baking is MUCH, MUCH easier than deep-frying!!!!