24 Luscious ways to cook low-fat

The way you cook is essential to living a low-fat lifestyle. Alison Rose and Tony Guy, founders of the Luscious low-fat café chain, explain why the first thing you should do is a kitchen audit

Pull out all your saucepans, dishes and plates. If the pans are not non-stick, throw them out and invest in some good quality non-stick cookware. That means you'll always use less fat. Buy plates that look big but actually offer smaller sized portions. Soup bowls with a big outside lip are great - remember, trick the eye and trick the stomach.

Replace shortening or oils in baking with an equal volume of puréed fruit and one third of the oil called for. For example, if your recipe calls for 120ml of oil, try replacing it with the same volume of apple sauce and about 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of oil. Apple sauce is usually a good choice and it's easy to keep on hand.

Invest in a good spray bottle. Fill the bottle with half oil and half water (click here for recipe ideas) and when you need to use oil, spray with your spray gun instead - you'll be amazed at the results.

Coat your baking pans with flour or cornmeal to prevent sticking - you won't have the added fat and calories of shortening or oil.

Replace some of the whole eggs called for with 2 egg whites. Each egg replaced with 2 egg whites will save 5 grams of fat. It's usually a good idea to keep at least 1 or 2 whole eggs to maintain the correct taste and consistency. For example, replace 3 whole eggs with 1 whole egg and 4 egg whites - you'll save 10 grams of fat.

Grill don't fry. Yes, that's right: if you grill, the oil drops off - it's healthier and more enjoyable than having a mouth full of fat.

Over the page: More fat-busting tips