A popular New Year's resolution is eating healthier or having less fat in the foods we eat every day.

Sometimes being healthier just takes small changes applied gradually to eating habits.

Choose what you put in your mouth. No one is force-feeding deep-fried fatty foods into your mouth. Train yourself to keep this thought in your mind. Little notes to yourself, posted in various areas, are great motivators.

Try low-fat cooking methods such as grilling, poaching, and non-stick sauteing.

Poaching in a savory broth or wine is a great way to not only infuse flavour but also keep your chicken or fish extremely moist. Poaching is misunderstood. It is not the same as "boiling." One of the last things I would want to eat is boiled chicken. Poaching is to cook gently in water or other liquid that is hot but not actually bubbling, about 160ºF to 180ºF.

Wine-poached salmon with a dollop of seasoned, no-fat sour cream is amazingly delicious.

Often it is what we add to our food, not the food itself, that is fattening. Try topping the main course with a no-fat salsa, made traditionally with tomatoes, or try the contrasting flavour appeal of a fruit salsa on your steak, chicken, or seafood.

Or try making sauces from no-fat yogurt or sour cream. Recipes are available at the library or on the Internet.

An easy way to reduce your daily intake of fat is by making small changes to the items you consume regularly.

Milk is a great example. For argument's sake, let's assume you want to switch from homogenized to skim milk, but the change is too drastic. Make the transition by taking gradual steps. For the first month, switch to 2% milk, until you get used to it. In the second month, switch from 2% to 1%, and then from 1% to skim. Within three months, you will have succeeded without making a huge adjustment.

This same example can be applied to almost any no-fat option products that are available to us, like sour cream, yogurt, or mayonnaise.

Most importantly, when preparing a meal, make sure you garnish. This is extremely important for enjoying and experiencing food to the fullest.

Eating is not just about taste, texture, and aroma - it is also about appearance. I always preach to my culinary students, "The eyes eat first." If something looks great, you send signals to your brain advising that it's going to taste great.

The same happens in reverse. If someone serves you a bowl of blue mush, it doesn't matter how good it might taste, you have already convinced yourself it will be terrible.

Chef Dez is a food columnist and culinary instructor in the Fraser Valley. Visit him at www.chefdez.com. Send questions to dez@chefdez.com or to P.O. Box 2674, Abbotsford, B.C. V2T 6R4

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