Self

Greetings from Boston, home of New England clam chowder. Clam chowder is a year-round comfort food. But knowing that just one bowl of the creamy kind can pack 41 grams of fat isn't so comforting. We lightened the soup considerably — without sacrificing its velvety texture and rich flavor — by cutting back on butter and using lower-fat Canadian bacon and fat-free half-and-half (we used Land O'Lakes). Now you can feel good about spooning up this soup, which is high in iron (the clams) and calcium (the "cream").

Los Angeles: land of sun, fun, and burritos. Southern California's Mexican-influenced cuisine has the potential to be an all-out fat fest (cheese, sour cream) or a healthy mix of carbs (tortillas, beans) and protein (chicken, beans). A chicken burrito with the full-fat works can tip the scales at nearly 600 calories and 31 fat grams. To slim it down, we stuffed it with all-white-meat chicken, less cheese and nonfat sour cream. We also rolled it in a whole-wheat tortilla for extra fiber.

Hello, New Orleans! Mark Twain once said, "New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin." Speaking nutritionally, meat-heavy jambalaya is a misdemeanor. But toss in chicken instead of andouille sausage and pick a leaner cut of ham — keep the shrimp, of course — and you can dine with a clear conscience. Use brown rice instead of white and be generous with the veggies, and one bowl will provide 4 grams of fiber and 20 essential vitamins and minerals. Pretty impressive for a Fat Tuesday feast.

Welcome to Baltimore, where crab cakes rule. This seafood fave has nutritional potential: Crab provides calcium, B vitamins, and iron. But the traditional version, made with mayo and fried in lots of oil, is too fatty to qualify as healthy fare. We cut the fat by more than half and lost 130 calories per serving with simple changes: using egg whites instead of whole eggs; subbing light mayo for the full-fat version; and going easy on oil.

Nashville: Try the "fried" chicken, y'all. Southern hospitality wouldn't be quite so hospitable without corn bread, collard greens, and, of course, fried chicken. If you haven't already guessed that grease is what's so "finger-lickin' good," we'll let you in on a secret: You can spend nearly half a day's calories on one thigh of this Southern-fried favorite. So make our baked version instead.

The decked-out deli sandwich Who knew tuna on rye could be so sophisticated? "I go for the big taste," says Taylor Alonso, chef of the Bellport, a comfortably chic restaurant in Bellport, Long Island, that's a favorite summer haunt of New Yorkers. Alonso went for big nutrition, too, when he created this elegant and delicious tuna-steak sandwich for Self. Fresh tuna supplies lots of omega-3s, and goat cheese offers more calcium (with less fat and cholesterol) than most cheeses.

A healthier fish stick (the secret is in the skewer!)
Feeling Zen at Tao, the trendy Asian eatery in New York City, is a major challenge — even with the center-stage 16-foot Buddha. The movie theater turned hot spot packs in hundreds of diners each night (and it's a favorite of P. Diddy and the New York Giants). But executive chef Sam Hazen's miso-marinated sea bass satay may be as close to inner peace as you can get while you're sitting at a dinner table. And let us enlighten you: This delectable lowfat dish is packed with protein, vitamin A and folate.

Fat Tuesday made skinny
Everyone knows that Self-control is the antithesis of Mardi Gras tradition. But you can put a skinny spin on a Fat Tuesday celebration. Serve this spicy seared-shrimp-and-rice dish in place of a higher-fat Creole specialty like jambalaya or gumbo. The protein-packed meal is so tasty, it seems indulgent — and so healthy that you can let that Self-control slip in some other area (like dessert!).

Another option: Make your melba with plums.

To round out the meal: 4 oz red wine or juice spritzer; 1/8 honeydew and 2 butter cookies; 8 oz low-fat milk

To round out the meal: 1 cup lowfat pudding

To round out the meal: a whole-wheat roll with 1 tsp butter or trans-fat-free soft-tub margarine; 4 oz white wine or juice spritzer; 2 gingersnaps

Salmon doesn't have to be a snooze. Plain old salmon becoming a little boring? We thought so. That's why Self asked Dan Silverman, executive chef of one of New York City's most popular restaurants, Union Square Cafe, to give us a new way to cook this super healthy food. The result: a fish dish that's as fun as spaghetti and meatballs — without the meat or pasta — and full of flavor and disease-fighting omega-3 fatty acids.

A healthier Thanksgiving dish your guests will gobble up If you're looking to replace simple carbs with good-for-you grains, forget the white-breadcrumb stuffing of Thanksgivings past. Try this quinoa mix from Christopher Polidoro, executive chef at 95 School Street in Bridgehampton, New York. Quinoa — the seed from the plant related to spinach — is high in protein, calcium, and iron, and this stuffing substitute has less fat than the old standby.

Italian food with added veggie value.

Toss the takeout! This slimmed-down dish is delish. Traditional Chinese cuisine is among the healthiest, but the American version of sweet-and-sour pork is sugary and fatty. Ying Chang Compestine, author of Secrets From a Healthy Asian Kitchen (Penguin Putnam), gave the recipe a healthy revamp — hers uses the leanest part of the pig and gets its sweetness from fruit. So break out the chopsticks and savor these Far East flavors straight from your stove top.

Forget the chicken sandwich — have a few of these leafy treats. When Daniel Green needed to drop a considerable amount of weight eight years ago, he didn't just go on a diet: He learned to cook and create his own lowfat meals. Nearly 70 pounds lighter, he launched an international modeling career — only to find he'd rather be in the kitchen than on the catwalk. Now Green shares cooking tips on British television and here for Self, in this moo shu–inspired dish. Its do-it-your Self assembly is perfect for dinner with friends.

A slice of health heaven Before you dial out for pizza, consider this: A pepperoni slice (about 6 ounces) has 500 calories and 20 grams of fat, whereas two slices of this polenta-crust pie (also 6 ounces) have only 194 calories and one third the fat. One reason: The polenta (cornmeal) crust has less fat than a made-with-oil flour crust. Even better, it's a quick-make pie.

Watermelon is a lycopene star — 1 cup has nearly 7 milligrams of the cancer fighter. Riesling adds a refreshing crispness.

A delicious recipe from the eat-right doc Sure, this dish is heavy on the fat, but it's the healthy omega-3 kind found in salmon, says leading health researcher Walter Willett, M.D. The recipe comes from his new book, Eat, Drink and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical Guide to Healthy Eating (Simon & Schuster Source).