From Fiona Haynes,
Your Guide to Low Fat Cooking.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

A. You will probably already have many of the things that make the job of cooking low fat meals easier. You should have some nonstick cookware, which reduces the need for using oil and butter. A couple of good nonstick skillets, plus a nonstick griddle and bakeware will be very useful. Use parchment paper in baking, too.

A steamer is a great thing to have. Steaming vegetables, fish or poultry helps them retain their nutrients, and color.

Proper measuring equipment is useful for following recipes and monitoring portion sizes. Check you have dry and liquid measuring cups, measuring spoons, pitchers and scales.

A fat separator is an excellent tool, especially during the holidays when you might be making lots of gravy. This takes the work out of straining fats from liquids.

A blender and food processor are excellent tools to have generally, and helpful in pureeing fruit and vegetables to help thicken soups and sauces.

Use your microwave oven. It's another useful tool for cooking food fast while preserving nutrients. It basically steams the food.

Make good use of your oven: broil, bake and roast your meat and vegetables, since the fat will drip away from the cooking racks.

Use slotted spoons to lift food out of cooking liquids, use kitchen paper to blot fat, and before you even begin to cook meat, be sure to use your kitchen knives to trim excess fat.

Walk into any kitchen store and you can be tempted by all sorts of other useful gadgets and pans, but as you can see, you don't actually need much more than you already have.