food ideas
Ethnic Cooking on the Core Plan
By George Vernadakis | 5/25/2005


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From eggplant parmigiana to tandoori chicken, everyone has a favorite ethnic dish they love to cook, serve and, of course, eat. On the Core Plan, you don't have to give up fajitas and fried rice, you just have to find creative ways to prepare them.
You'll be surprised by how simply many ethnic dishes can be adapted for the Core Plan. Even better, you'll discover recipes featuring exciting new cooking techniques and ingredients to prepare a wide variety of flavorful foods.
To get you started on your globe-trotting culinary tour, we've pulled together some of our favorite ethnic recipes and cooking tips, including expert advice from WeightWatchers.com Community users as well as from food writer Robin Vitetta-Miller.
So whether you're in the mood for Chinese, Greek, Indian, Italian, Mexican or Japanese, you'll find plenty here to please your palate.

CHINESE
On the Core Plan, you can wok on the wild side and prepare some of the same delicacies you love to order out.
Vegetables are a staple in Chinese cooking, and they're a great, healthy way to pack a lot of flavor, texture and satisfaction into your meal. Be daring, and think of interesting uses for leafy greens such as bok choy and watercress. When it comes to sauces, you don't need corn starch to get into the thick of things: Try using arrowroot as a thickener, and invest the extra time to long-simmer your sauces. As for soy sauce, keep some of the reduced-sodium kind on hand. Experiment with fresh ginger, star anise and five spice powder in your cooking to add a distinctively Chinese flavor. And remember: When you think rice, think brown.
From the Message Boards: WeightWatchers.com Community user COFFEELATTE likes to use the daily oil allowance to stir-fry lean pork tenderloin strips in canola oil (you can substitute chicken or tofu), and then combines the meat with string beans and a pimento puree made from pimento, garlic, reduced-sodium soy, ginger, paprika and Splenda.