Tips
- A dinner serving is about 4 oz (the size of the palm of your hand or a deck of cards)
- Take off the skin
- Cut off all visible fat
- If you’re going to dip it into something, use egg whites, skim milk, or water
- Cook any way except frying
- Best choice is fish
- Next best choice is white meat chicken or turkey
When Choosing Poultry...
The white meat is the leanest part of chicken or turkey. The dark meat can have as much saturated fat (the type that raises cholesterol) as the meats listed below. Make sure you remove the skin, and trim off all visible fat before cooking.
When Choosing Beef…
Pick one that is graded “Select” which means it is lean. Also, choose one that uses the terms round, loin or leg in the name. The leanest cuts are the eye of round, top round, sirloin, top loin, sirloin, and tenderloin. Other lean cuts are the New York or Delmonico cut and the chuck arm pot roast.
When Choosing Veal or Lamb…
Those graded “Good” mean that they are leanest. For veal the leanest cuts are the cutlet, blade steak, arm steak, rib roast and chop or loin chop. For lamb, the leanest cuts are the leg, loin, arm and foreshank.
When Choosing Pork…
Look for the terms leg or loin in the name. The leanest cut are the tenderloin, top loin, center loin, sirloin, loin rib chip and shoulder leg chop.
When Choosing Ground Meat…
Pick the leanest ones - lean ground turkey breast and chicken breast are the best choices. If you want a ground meat that looks more like ground beef, choose ground turkey that is a light and dark meat blend. You will need to use an egg white to bind the ground poultry. I recommend that you add seasonings to it. If you want ground beef, choose the round, which is the leanest.
