Comfort food gets a healthy makeover

DEAR ACCIDENTAL CHEF: When the weather starts getting cooler, I crave warm, comfort foods like mac and cheese, fried chicken and anything involving potatoes, but I'm trying to eat healthier and don't want all the calories. I'd like to be able to cut out some of the fat in these dishes. Is there any way I can still have my cake and eat it, too? -- Craving Casseroles

DEAR CRAVING: Oh, how I crave these goodies as well. Hand me a plate of biscuits with sausage gravy and watch me mop it up in a matter of seconds. Comfort foods such as spaghetti and meatballs, chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, not to mention anything ending with the word "pie," are simply to die for. But with obesity, diabetes and heart disease at an all-time high in this country, these foods aren't worth dying for.

Yet, there's no need to cut these warming meals out of your diet altogether. In addition to enjoying them in moderation, you can gently modify many classic dishes to make them more diet-friendly and still create soul-satisfying meals the whole family will enjoy.

For example, instead of using heavy cream or milk and butter in mashed potatoes, substitute buttermilk and/or low-fat sour cream. Buttermilk, while rich in taste, has significantly less fat than whole milk or cream. In fact, one cup of buttermilk contains only 2 percent fat, so adding buttermilk along with low-fat sour cream and nixing the butter altogether will still result in a delicious-tasting mashed potato. Give the potatoes an additional flavor boost by tossing in a handful of freshly minced chives and some mashed, roasted garlic.

Fried chicken gets a healthy makeover by lightly breading it and baking it instead of frying. Also, marinating chicken in buttermilk (up to a day) before breading helps keep it moist. Another yummy alternative is to brush boneless chicken breasts with low-fat mayo and then roll them in bread or cracker crumbs before baking.

Marinating chicken breasts in Italian dressing and then rolling them in Italian bread crumbs mixed with parmesan cheese is a super-easy and flavorful take on traditional baked chicken as well.

Macaroni and cheese can get overhauled when fat-free or low-fat milk is substituted for whole milk, and low-fat shredded cheddar swapped for regular cheese. For added richness and depth, swirl a couple of tablespoons of low-fat cream cheese into the cheese mixture.

Also, adding a cup of low-fat cottage cheese to the milk-and-cheddar mixture before combining it with the pasta is a great way to feign even more fat. Lastly, don't forget to top the casserole with freshly grated bread crumbs for texture.

French fries are one of the toughest habits to break, but you don't have to give them up. While deep frying tastes best (there's no arguing that one), baked fries are pretty darn good. Begin by slicing your potatoes thinly and then toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake the "fries" on a cookie sheet in a 425-degree oven until crispy, tossing every 10 minutes so they are evenly browned and cooked through. Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese for extra flavor.

These are a few suggestions to get you started. While there's nothing like the full-fat versions of these classic dishes, making a few substitutions can give you the comfort-food fix you're craving without the additional fat and calories.

Kendra Bailey Morris is a Richmond-based food writer, culinary instructor and author of "White Trash Gatherings: From-Scratch Cooking for Down-Home Entertaining" (Ten Speed Press). Send ideas, tips or culinary questions to or visit http://www.theaccidentalchef.net.