Recipe Rehab: Eggs Benedict

Posted on Sep 9th 2010 1:00PM by Tanya Zuckerbrot

Filed Under: Recipe Rehab with Tanya Zuckerbrot, Nutrition & Supplements

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Paula, from Anaheim, Calif., has lost 60 pounds and is working to keep it off. She's doing this by eating more vegetables and finding recipes that are lower in calories. Bravo, Paula! She occasionally has "cheat days" on the weekends, and one of her favorite foods is eggs Benedict. Even though she has already done her own mini-rehab on this recipe by substituting egg whites and turkey sausage, she feels guilty about the rich hollandaise sauce. She would like to be able to start the weekends on a healthier note by reducing the calories of this dish even further.

Hollandaise sauce is horribly high in calories due to the large amount of butter needed to make the thick, creamy sauce. For my rehab, I will reduce the amount of butter by replacing it with fat-free buttermilk. Adding a little bit of cornstarch as a thickener will make the sauce just as creamy as the original without all the calories.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Pinch paprika and cayenne pepper
2 whole-wheat English muffins, toasted
4 slices low-sodium turkey bacon, cooked
4 egg whites, poached in simmering water for 3 minutes

Instructions:
1. Melt the butter in a pan on the stove or in the microwave and keep it warm.
2. Whisk together the buttermilk and cornstarch in the top of a double boiler. Heat over boiling water until the sauce begins to thicken.
3. Whisk in the egg yolks and water and continue beating until the mixture comes to a simmer. Once the mixture starts to bubble, heat for another 15 seconds and remove from heat. Add the lemon juice, melted butter and spices.
4. Serve by layering 1/2 English muffin with 1 slice turkey bacon (split in half), 1 poached egg white and 2 tablespoons hollandaise sauce.

Serves: 4

Nutrition Content (per serving):
204 calories, 9 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 17 g carbohydrates, 5 g sugars, 2 g fiber, 14 g protein, 445 mg sodium

Try serving my lightened-up hollandaise sauce over steamed vegetables or fish for a dinnertime treat.

For another healthy breakfast idea, try my banana French toast.

Readers, I would love to hear from you! Please send me your favorite fattening recipes that need a RECIPE REHAB! Everything from your mom's meatloaf to your kid's favorite dessert -- let me lighten it up.

Celebrity dietitian and motivational life coach, Tanya Zuckerbrot, author of www.ffactordiet.com and founder of www.skinnyandthecity.com and www.theskinnyondietitians.com has helped thousands of people lose weight and keep it off with her program. Her philosophy? Tanya believes you should never sacrifice taste, even when you're eating healthy foods. Have a recipe in need of rehab? Send us your recipe!

14 Comment

Tags: breakfast, english muffin, EnglishMuffin, hollandaise, poached eggs, PoachedEggs, sauce, tanya-zuckerbrot, turkey bacon, TurkeyBacon

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Charlie 9-10-2010 @ 10:26AM

AOL title reads "Egg Benedict without all the Guilt." You should feel guilt any time you eat eggs.Egg laying chickens live a horrible cruel life. ie, crowded into a space smaller than an 8.5" X 11" sheet of paper, unable to stretch their wings or stand up straight their entire lives, never seeing the sunlight, not to mention debeaking. Every time you eat an egg you contribute to this suffering. You want a recipe rehab? How about going cruelty free?

Carla 9-10-2010 @ 12:48PM

That's not always true, thank you. There are free-range chickens that lay eggs. And, I have two friends who try to live as organically as possible, and they have a coop with seven chickens and a rooster. The chickens are allowed to run around the entire yard for hours out of the day, and the rest of the time are in a HUGE pen, not a tiny one. The eggs, which just land where they are laid, are gathered as they are found. So, before you start preaching the PETA schtick, do some RESEARCH and know that not all stereotypes are 100%.

Virginia 9-11-2010 @ 11:32AM

I, too, have enjoyed eggs benedict over the years..but now cholesterol is an issue. Eggs have become a no-no...so, I was hopeful the article would offer a possible way to indulge without going completely overboard. Alas, no data was given for the amount of cholesterol. An unfortunate omission.

yukonc8 9-10-2010 @ 11:28AM

First off, either eat REAL Eggs Benedict or just skip it if it's going to make you feel so horrible. I'm tired of food=guilt. Eat it, enjoy it and move on. If you want to cut down on some of the calorie laden elements of EB try using half as much hollandaise and putting the eggs on top of fresh spinach or smoked salmon instead of an English muffin and Canadian bacon. Poof! Healthier and delicious. Turkey bacon should be outlawed--that's not real food.

And Charlie, take your holier-than-thou animal nonsense and pound it. Every time I eat an egg, I am filled with wonderful satisfying protein and energy. Cruelty free eggs are a mythos anyhow--go do some research before you mouth off unwittingly.

Linda 9-10-2010 @ 12:22PM

I'm with you, friend. Either eat really good Eggs Benedict, or eat something else entirely. Fake make-over "stuff" always leaves one wondering why one bothered, does not meet one's expectations, and encourages one to feel "deprived" often pushing one to find something even more "harmful" to eat as compensation. Whereas I do not condone a diet filled with "forbidden treasures", I find "makeovers" to be less satisfactory than learning to make better food choices to begin with.

krs 9-10-2010 @ 12:37PM

Settle down children. If the thought of chicken confinement bothers you then pick the cartons specifying "free range" or raise your own. And while nothing tastes quite as good as butter based and salt and fat laden foods, nothing feels as good as lean and fit either. Go for the low-cal with minimal salt in your regular dining but do splurge on a nice meal every now and then. Eat less, exercise more. Simple but effective.

MsFrench 9-10-2010 @ 11:37AM

Nothing wrong with free-range chicken eggs....

Debra S. 9-10-2010 @ 11:53AM

How about a vegetarian alternative, using the whole egg (yolks have important nutritional bennies)? Instead of Canadian or turkey bacon, use a thin slice of tomato with some spinach on top ... use whole eggs ... go for a bit of Hollandaise made with real butter (just don't have it swimming in it!).

John F.C. Taylor 9-10-2010 @ 12:52PM

Never had this particular dish. My question is for those who have already tried the substitutions. Does it taste just as good with the substitutions?

Suzanne 9-10-2010 @ 4:20PM

Actually, canadian bacon has less fat than turkey bacon. It is an acceptable "lean" meat on most "diets".

Tami 9-10-2010 @ 4:18PM

I agree, I do try to eat real because it tastes really good! I just don't eat it on a regular basis....cage free eggs are so easy to come by and the more we buy of them, the more likely the inhumane part of the industry will have to change because the customers point of view has changed about their product. There have been so many recent changes to so many products because, US the consumer has found out how our food is made, raised, etc. and will not accept the behavior any longer.
On a note about this recipe, I eat a lot of egg whites but poaching them has never worked....they don't keep a good form!

Tracy 9-10-2010 @ 10:22PM

Add a small amout of vinegar to the boiling water before you add the egg. Works very well and no vinegar taste left in egg.

Kay 9-10-2010 @ 9:58PM

LOL.....do what I do, find a farmer who raises chickens for their eggs and buy them there. My neighbor has chickens and sells their eggs because they lay so many. These chickens are spoiled rotten, the best feed and the run of the yard. Then they come back to roost in the coop and lay their wonderful eggs. Get a grip people. If you don't like the way the chickens are raised, quit eating the eggs and the chicken and the growers will go out of business.......

michelle lechner 9-15-2010 @ 9:53AM

I use a pckaged Hollandaise Sauce made by Concord Foods (I found it at Walmart) All you add is 1C water and it is really delicious. Two Tbs have 25 calories, no fat and only 2 carbs and 1g of sugar. I also use turkey canadian bacon and whole wheat muffins.