Common Food Swaps to Make Your Recipes Healthier January 22, 2021 Eating healthier doesn’t mean giving up taste. Simple food swaps can yield big results over time. Experiment with flavors and textures to find what you and your family like best. The goal is to select choices that are lower in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats (saturated fats and trans fats), and adding in more vegetables and fruit when you can. Here are some ideas to get started: Use mustard, not mayonnaise or dressings, on your sandwich. Use olive oil spray in your sauté pan instead of pouring from a bottle. Substitute mashed black beans for equal parts of flour in some recipes, such as brownies. Thin ribbons of cooked zucchini or spaghetti squash are good swaps for pasta in many recipes. Replace half the oil or butter in a baking recipe with unsweetened applesauce. Fat‑free Greek yogurt is a good substitute for sour cream. Instead of salt, use fresh or dried herbs to enhance flavor. Lettuce leaves make excellent wraps, in place of tortillas. Find a variety of healthy recipes at samhealth.org/RecipeMinute.
