Some fat-free foods just aren’t worth eating. Cream cheese is among them.
Which isn’t to say a food has to be brimming with saturated fats (or any other kind) to be good. But some ingredients lose so much in the transition to fat-free that maybe going all the way isn’t such a good idea.
As the fat-free boom of the 1980s demonstrated, no fat doesn’t mean no calories. And if you’re going to consume calories, they might as well taste good.
Which is why, unless you really dig the taste of spackle, skip the fat-free cream cheese. Instead, splurge for a few extra calories and go for reduced-fat varieties (they usually are marketed as “light”).
Traditional cream cheese has 100 calories and 10 grams of fat per serving (2 tablespoons), while most light versions have 60 calories and half the fat. Fat-free cream cheeses have about 30 calories.
Light cream cheese also can be helped along by infusing it with assertively flavored ingredients, such as diced jalapeno peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, capers and fresh herbs, including dill and cilantro.
In this recipe, reduced-fat cream cheese is blended with diced shallot and smoked mackerel fillets to add rich savory notes to its creamy texture. A spread like that makes it easy to eat a sandwich full of vegetables. Start to finish, this recipe takes just 10 minutes.
6 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
2 smoked mackerel fillets
1 shallot, cut into quarters
Pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large whole grain flatbread
1 cup loosely packed watercress
1 carrot, grated
3 slices avocado
2 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
In a food processor, combine the cream cheese, mackerel, shallot, salt and pepper. Pulse until smooth.
Spread 1 to 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese over one side of the flatbread, then top with watercress, grated carrot, avocado slices and mushrooms. Carefully roll the flatbread and cut in two.
Other ingredients to consider adding or substituting include black olives, roasted red peppers (be sure to pat dry with paper towels), marinated artichoke hearts and canned corn kernels.
Makes 1 sandwich.
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