Onion rings.

Baking did not work for onion rings.

They’re not good for you.

According to About.com, a single serving of 8-9 onion rings contains 276 calories, 15.5 grams of fat, including 7 grams of saturated fat, 14 milligrams of cholesterol, and almost 20 percent of your daily sodium. Plus there’s more than 31 grams of carbs!

I set out to see if there was a way to reduce the fat content and still create some deliciousness by breading and baking onion rings.

I failed. And I set off the smoke detector. Three times.

Here’s what happened:

Dish #6 — FAILED Baked Onion Rings

20 minutes — About $5

Cutting onion rings is easy. Slice off the top and bottom of the onion. Just be careful. It’s really easy to slip with the knife here. Then make a shallow incision down the length of the onion and peel off the skin layer.

Crumbs, eggs, crumbs! Still didn't work.

Hold the onion very carefully on its side and slice it into half-inch rings. Peel the ring layers apart for individual rings.

What I did next was break and mix two eggs with about a third of a cup of water in a bowl. I combined bread crumbs, crushed saltines, salt, pepper and Cajun spice mix into another. I dipped the rings into the crumbs, the egg, and then the crumbs again and spread them out on a non-stick baking pan.

Then I baked them for 15 minutes at 450 degrees, but when they came out they tasted more like eggs and less like onions! They were also soggy and looked raw.

Then I broiled them on high for another five minutes to try and get some crisp out of these babies. That set off the smoke detector.

When they came out, they still tasted eggy.

I guess I could have cooked them longer at a lower temperature, but I was more trying to crisp them out than bake them. I worried about the rings being too soggy if they baked at low for a while.

Broiling them didn’t work at all. The rings still didn’t taste right.

Another problem could be the mass number of rings piling on top of each other might diffuse the heat.

Another problem I thought of was that the mass number of rings piling on top of each other might diffuse the heat.

If I try this again, I might cover and bake them at 350 for about a half hour or more and then uncover them at maybe 425 for the last few minutes.

There are actually several recipes online for baked onion rings. Some ask you to soak them in water for a half hour first, which I might try.

Bottom line: There are still a ton of carbs, and the egg still adds fat and cholesterol. This might just be not meant to be.

Summer church carnivals bring the old familiar tastes of sausage, pepper and onion subs.

Unfortunately, there are very few diets that will let you eat sausage on Italian bread.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to healthily cook and eat peppers and onions. They are fabulous for you; packed with vitamins, and they fill you up without making you feel disgusting afterward.

Shake and stir, baby!

Dish #5 — Colorful Peppers and Onions

20 minutes — About $5

You can find frozen, sliced, bagged peppers in your grocer’s frozen foods section.

If you’re a wuss.

Young people seem petrified of cutting food, and bell-shaped peppers seem to especially puzzle our Gen-Y minds.

Wash the peppers first. Turn one on its side and slice the each side off. Then slice the bottom off. Throw out the guys/center/stem. Congrats. You just sliced a pepper, and you didn’t even kill yourself. Some people try to cut out the middle and pull out the stem. Just do it this way.

Orange peppers are delicious. Yes, you CAN slice peppers easily and without bodily injury.

Slice your quarters into 1/3″ thick slices. You can make them thicker if you want, depending on your tastes. Throw all your slices into a plastic container.

To slice an onion, place it on a flat cutting board and slice off the top and the bottom. Then carefully make a slit down the onion from top to bottom, cutting the top layer or two only. Then you should be able to easily peel off those top layers. Then just cut the rest into 1/2″ slices as if you were cutting an orange. Make sure you thoroughly separate all the layers and pieces, and throw the onion bits into the container with the peppers.

Now, spice them. Spice them, dammit!

Add some ground black pepper, some cayenne (red) pepper, a little Adobo spice (or salt and garlic powder will do). Don’t overdo it on the salty stuff! Too much pepper you can live with, but do you know what you get when you put too much salt on these things? French fries!

Shake the container to mix everything up.

…

Put the cover on first.

Add a solid second worth of drizzle of olive oil to a big, deep frying pan and fire up the stove to medium-high. Once it gets hot, throw all your spiced veggies in and continuously stir until cooked, about 7-10 minutes.

These go great with Virtually Fat Free Chicken Tenders! Plus, they’re fat-free except for the olive oil you used to cook them. They also dip great in BBQ sauce.

Even if you’re not eating French fries for a whole year, deep fried and heavily battered chicken tenders, while absolutely delicious, can still ruin a perfectly good diet.

On a health kick, my father threw together baked chicken tenders, and, if done right, it’s a healthy and delicious way to eat chicken.

When I retire and open a bar in 40 years, we will serve these little bundles of joy —

Virtually Fat-Free Chicken Tenders with Veggies!

Dish #4 — Virtually Fat-Free Chicken Tenders

40 minutes — About $15

You can save a few dollars buying whole boneless chicken breasts and cutting them yourself, but they sell handy tenderloins, already cut up.

Pre-heat a traditional oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

You need two things to bread meat: a batter and a breading.

To prepare the breading, pour about half a standard-sized canister of Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs into some kind of flat container that’s large enough to fit the chicken pieces. Add a teaspoon of salt, tablespoon of ground black pepper, two teaspoons of cayenne pepper, a tablespoon of paprika, and two teaspoons of parsley. These are rough estimates. Just shake some in.

Shake it up.

You can be creative here. You can crush Ritz crackers or saltines or even Cheese-Its!

To prepare the batter, pour some liquid egg whites into another flat container. Add a quarter cup of water and a few teaspoons of olive oil. Mix well.

You can use whole eggs, but you are adding a bit more fat and cholesterol. I use whole eggs usually, because I have them lying around. Liquid egg whites are amazingly useful but a bit expensive.

The eggs and olive oil are the only real fats in the chicken. The olive oil is needed because it helps brown up the chicken. You can take it out if you’re really concerned about the fat, but it’s all good, trust me.

Take each chicken piece and trim any visible white stuff (fat and some tendons).

Now, this next part is very important.

Crumbs, egg, crumbs!

Flip the chicken over in the crumbs. Then place it in the egg and make sure all surfaces are coated. Allow the excess to drip off. Then flip it a few more times in the crumbs. With two fingers, pat the breading firmly onto the chicken. Flip. Repeat.

Place each chicken tender on a non-stick baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Flip the chicken over at the 15 minute mark. Make sure both sides are browned, and serve.

If you did it right, you’ll have delicious, crispy, tender, browned chicken tenders that only have a drop of healthy olive oil baked in.

Not fried. You’ll feel good afterward. Enjoy!

These go great with a cup of brown rice or some sauteed peppers and onions. I’ll be showing you how to make both in a few weeks!

Sage, meet the readers. Readers, sage.

The problem with cooking healthy is that it is a widely-known fact that the flavor is often in the fat. But fresh herbs, however daunting that section of the produce department is, are the secrets to dishes that are packed with healthy flavor. If you want a dish that rises above a salt or pepper shaker, you might want to stray to the land of funny leaves and stems — even if only once in awhile.

Likewise, where a potato leaves something to be desired in nutritional content, its funny-colored cousin is a perfect substitute. Sweet potatoes are one of the most nutritious vegetables on earth (and they are also one of the oldest veggies known to man).

Thus, these sweet potato wedges with crispy sage is a snack that only take a few minutes to prepare, satisfy a quick, healthy carb fix and deceptively doses you with nutrients that you didn’t even know you wanted.

Plus its about 80 calories per serving, and zero fat.

That’s 80 calories. No fat.

Bon apetit!

Dish #3 — Baked Sweet Potato Wedges with Crispy Sage Leaves

30 minutes — Market Price — 80 calories per serving

You’ll need:

• 2-3 medium-sized sweet potatoes
• A pack of sage (it’s in that department, as mentioned)
• Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 465 degrees. Coat the bottom of a cookie sheet with non-stick spray — like Pam.

Peal two medium-sized sweet potatoes. If you don’t have a peeler, all the better, cut the sweet potato peels off on each side. It should resemble something like a brick.

Slice the sweet potato like thick chips. I like to cut on the angle, then turn the potato and cut the opposite side. Repeat.

They should resemble a wedge. Don’t make them too thick, and remember, the more uniformed the slices, the more evenly they’ll cook.

In a large bowl, place the wedges and pour a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Then a tablespoon of black pepper, and three teaspoons of salt.

Next, separate the all the sage leaves in the package from their lengthy stems. Rip the leaves into thirds and throw then into the bowl of oil, salt, pepper, and sweet potato.

Mix the ingredients until the veggies are all coated with the herb mixture. Spread them out onto the cookie sheet (leave some space between the wedges, so they don’t become soggy when cooking).

Bake for 20 minutes, and remove. Let the sweet potatoes cool for 5 minutes before plating. Sprinkle with (a bit more) salt, and enjoy.

Dipping sauces are always welcome. Watch out for butters and things that add fat and calories, though.

You first have to get past your fear.

It didn’t happen overnight for me either.

I was the pickiest eater in my family growing up, and forget about veggies. I actually gagged the first time I really sat down to eat a plate of broccoli when I was 17. But it was all in my head.

When I learned how to cook, I first got good at cooking food that wasn’t good for me — obviously. Last year I dieted to the tune of losing 50 pounds, and one of the things that really made it happen was my learning how to prepare vegetables that would taste good without sacrificing health.

So I figured out how to make broccoli that tasted good.

Dish #2 — Tasty Broccoli

20 minutes — Under $5 — 43 calories per cup

I like to buy the massive bag-o-broccoli from Costco (or any local bulk shopping club) because it’s the cheapest way to buy, and the broccoli is already cut into florets. If you really like the stems, you can buy fresh broccoli or whole frozen broccoli.

This is a perfect case study in the three T’s of cooking: Time, Temperature, Taste. Cooking Tasty Broccoli is all about flavoring them right, cooking them at the right temperature, and for just enough time.

Start by adding however much broccoli you want to a medium sized-medium depth pan. Spread about a tablespoon of minced (read: jarred) garlic and drizzle about the same amount of olive oil around the veggies.

Then take my favorite spice on the rack, Adobo, and sprinkle it lightly over the surface of the broccoli. You can substitute garlic powder, salt and black pepper if you can’t find Adobo. This seasoning is usually reserved for meats, but it works here. Add some cracked black pepper as well. If you are feeling gutsy, I like to add a liberal amount of Cayenne pepper as well.

Fill the pan about 1/3 the way with tap water and stir to mix everything up.

Make sure you lower the heat when you cover the pan!

Drain the pan and add some more Adobo to the pan. Not too much, and you should skip this step if you are really trying to avoid salt.

Enjoy broccoli that tastes good!

Got an idea for a No Fries in ’09 feature? Email me!

MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. — Did somebody say McDonald’s?

Oh my god this is painful. I am working on‚ a story for the Boston Globe here in Middleborough, and the only place I could find with wireless Internet to file my story is … a McDonald’s.

I’m totally not a paying customer. I’m not buying anything, especially French fries.

This is the first in a 50-part food series called “No Fries in ’09.” I am pledging not to eat a single french fry in 2009 (as well as eat sensibly and exercise regularly) all year and come up with 50 delicious side dishes that are filling, healthy and NOT french fries.

I’ll be mixing potato dishes, veggies and whatever else I can find to fill me up.

Though, I’m sure I’ll need your help. Email me any ideas!

Dish #1 — Barbecue sauce-infused green beans

10 minutes — Under $5 — Under 100 calories

One of several downsides to giving up french fries completely: dipping sauces. This dish is a way to enjoy some of the flavor without nearly any of the fat or carbs.

It’s also one of the cheapest things you can buy at the grocery store. Even at the local and usually more expensive Whole Foods Market, I got a heaping handful of green beans for 89 cents.

Rinse your green beans thoroughly in a colander under cold water. Chop off each end of the beans.

Season your green beans as you wish. I like to lightly coat them in black pepper and add a few shapes of Adobo spice and Cajun spice mix.

Add a few drops of olive oil to a proportionally sized pan over medium-high heat. Add a quarter teaspoon of minced garlic immediately. When it starts to cook and sizzle, throw in all your beans. Using a wooden or sturdy plastic spatula, continuously stir the beans for about five minutes until beans are tender.

Then add about two tablespoons of the barbecue sauce of your choice and stir it in for about a minute. Turn off the stove and remove from heat.

And enjoy!

Make sure you don’t cook the beans over super-high heat or the sauce will burn, clump, and stick. I probably cooked mine a little too hot, but they were still delicious.

The whole dish is 8 Weight Watchers Points, but I get no points for presentation.

I paired them with two Tyson chicken tenders and some store-bought mini egg rolls. The whole dinner with two glasses of water is eight Weight Watchers points.

My dear, dear French fries,

We need to talk.

The years have gone by so fast for us. From my first McDonald’s fry 24 years ago to the wide crinkle cut deliciousness at Glenwood in Connecticut and Town Spa in Stoughton.

It’s always been good. That was never the problem.

Something changed between us. It became all about you. I was changing, and you were staying the same.

We’re going in different places. It’s obvious, and I think we both know that.

Oh, I guess it started in high school when I would order two Wendy’s Biggie Fries with my Crispy Chicken Nuggets. It’s my fault I suppose. I was stuck at a desk sitting on my ass and you were always just there. So convenient. And … God … so good.

But it wasn’t good. When we were together — in the moment — I didn’t really care, but afterward I felt dirty. Unfulfilled.

So that’s where we’re at. We need some time apart, and that’s all there is to it.

I never stopped caring. I just wish there was another way.

Love,
John

There you have it, folks. French fries got dumped. I am pledging to go one year without eating a single French fry.

It’s going to be a year-long feature for Blast, and I’ll be posting 50 side-dish and food ideas and recipes that aren’t fries or as unhealthy as fries.

Stay tuned