Reduced Fat 'Steak and Potatoes' Dinner

For some health commentators, "steak and potatoes" symbolizes bad diet practices.

The steak is usually from feed-lot fattened cattle, with cuts that have a thick layer of fat along one edge, and marbled fat distributed through the red meat. Such marbling makes the meat tender and flavorful for present tastes.

Whereas several ounces of meat per day suffices for health, we tend to equate large servings with prosperity, so 8 to 16 ounce steaks are typical, especially in restaurants.

Range fed beef without fattening, or wild meats such as consumed by our hunter ancestors, are not popular today, but would be better for our health.

The potato, a healthful low fat high protein food, is often served with added fat. Baked potatoes can be smothered in butter, sour cream, or cheese. Mashed potatoes can be fortified with butter, margarine, milk, and salt. Too bad.

Often, the "steak and potatoes macho guy" goes easy on low fat preparations of vegetables, salads, fruits, like the knights of bygone days. Knights considered vegetables to be foods only for farmers and other peasants. For them, meat and alcoholic beverages with some bread and cheese were the preferred fare. Pork was eaten more than beef.

So what can the average person do who depends on grocery stores for food? Seldom will non fattened four legged meats be found there.

For meals prepared from ground meats, one can select 90 to 95 percent lean. As I have described elsewhere, one can also replace a fourth to a half of the meat with extra firm soy tofu, mashed with a fork, depending on the dish.

For steaks, one can select leaner cuts, such as round steak. Broiling such cuts can make rather dry results, so cooking in covered skillet, perhaps with some tomatoes or tomato sauce, should be considered. Look in ethnic cookbooks. Avoid barbecue or steak sauces which are high in sugar, fructose, or oils.

Here's a trick I find useful. Combine 4 to 8 ounces of lean ground beef with diced or dried garlic (not garlic salt), some green herbs (e.g., Italian Seasoning), and one to two teaspoons of real soy sauce or a sugar free steak sauce. Shape the mix into a patty or steak shape. The result can be fried or broiled. Portions can be wrapped in plastic film for freezing, later to be thawed in refrigerator, or at room temperature, or gently in a microwave oven.

What about the poor potato? Here are several ways to prepare with little or no fat added.

Baked Potato: use unsweetened yogurt for the topping.

Mashed Potato: instead of butter or margarine, make a very concentrated solution of powdered skim milk in water. Add cautiously, to avoid making potato soup.

Steamed: sliced potato, perhaps with carrots, can be cooked in a pressure cooker, a steam cooker, or microwaved in a covered dish. For the latter, mixing potato and carrot slices will help keep the potato slices from sticking together. Try microwaving from 3 to 7 minutes or so, to not over cook, and to allow adding little or no water.

Other than the soy sauce, a reduced salt version of one of the better Japanese brands, I seldom add any salt to my foods. People who perform physical labor, especially out of doors, could need more salt and water than I do. Remember that most prepared foods already contain salt and sodium based preservatives.

Keep a few nutritional concepts in mind, and experiment. I would like to hear of food inventions by my readers.