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Low-fat Christmas cooking tips

If the holiday season means your healthy eating habits and resolve get thrown out the window, take heart. It's still possible to indulge in Christmas goodies without piling on the pounds.

You can easily breeze through December enjoying festive food and drink with a few simple tips to avoid the pitfalls of over doing it and some helpful substitutions for the usual calorie-loaded foods.

• Substitute light or low-fat spreads for butter when baking or use half butter, half spread to get a rich flavour with less animal fat. Use yoghurt or buttermilk in baked goods, both low in fat and calories. Smetana (or smatana) is a soured cream originally from Russia and Eastern Europe and though not as low fat as yoghurt, has less fat than traditional soured cream or crème fraiche. It can be added to sauces at the end of cooking time.

• Instead of cream sauces to go with meat and starters, make vegetable puree ones like red pepper and onion. Making your own chicken, beef and vegetable stocks (or buying good quality ready-made versions) will drastically improve the taste and consistency of reduction sauces.

• Make fruit coulis as an accompaniment to puddings instead of putting out bowls of cream and brandy butter. Simply simmer fresh raspberries or blackberries (or use a bag of store-bought frozen summer fruits), whiz in a processor and strain through a sieve. Coulis add colour and provide a tart contrast to sweet desserts.

• Cottage cheese is low fat and can be used in cooking and eaten fresh; Quark, a German curd cheese has even less fat and can be used successfully in baking (cheesecakes) and savoury pâtés.

• Naturally sweet fruit and vegetables as well as fruit juices can often be used in place of sugar in some recipes. Try mashed banana, carrot, sweet potato and apple sauce.

• Fruits like apples and pears poached in wine and liqueur make a sophisticated dessert without using butter or cream. Garnish with fresh blackberries for elegant presentation.

• Instead of the usual fat-filled crisps and nuts, put out exotic dried fruits as nibbles. Fill a bowl with a selection of dates, dried mangoes, pineapple, peaches, apricots, and so on. These bites are rich in iron and other nutrients and by using a variety of fruits, you create a colourful and enticing appetiser.

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