Yes, you can eat meat - includes recipe

Sunset, Oct, 1995 by Elaine Johnson

It always surprises me when a friend's diet resolutions include cutting out red meat, because meat is a very nutritious food, full of high-quality protein iron, and B vitamins. While you may want to reserve slabs of steak for special occasions, meat can fit nicely into a low-fat diet if you know how to choose and prepare it.

This version of pozole, a Southwestern soup-stew richly flavored with chilies, hominy, and pork, illustrates these points.

Choose lean cuts. When my brother Bruce, who lives outside Santa Fe, makes his traditional pozole for me, he uses pork shoulder. But switching to pork loin cuts the fat in half.

When shopping for other recipes, select pork and beef cuts with "loin" and "round" in their names. Ham is another lean choice. For lamb, try arm chop, cuts from the loin, and leg (including top round, sirloin, and shank). A fat-trimmed roasted or broiled 3-ounce serving of any of these cuts has no more than 180 calories, 80 milligrams cholesterol, and 9 grams fat.

Use meat as a seasoning. Like a stir-fry, this pozole stretches meat with lots of vegetables. Cooking this way steers you toward moderate portions of meat: 2 to 3 ounces per person (3 ounces cooked is the size of a deck of cards).

Trim visible fat before cooking, and use a lean cooking method. Rather than browning meat and onions in oil. try the "sweating" technique (simmering briefly, then browning) used in the pozole.

Don't overcook. While the pork shoulder in my brother's pozole takes hours to get tender, many leaner cuts are tender to begin with and dry out if overcooked. Cooking with lean meat lets you streamline time as well as fat.

Streamlined Southwest Stew

Cooking time: About 35 minutes Prep time: About 15 minutes Notes: If your market sells these pork options only as bone-in chops, buy about 1 1/8 pounds, then remove bones. Makes: About 8 cups, 4 servings

3/4 pound boned pork center loin, top loin, or sirloin (fat trimmed), cut into 3/4-inch chunks 2 cups chopped yellow onions 4 cloves garlic, minced 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth, fat skimmed 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves 1 1/2 tablespoons New Mexico, California, or regular chili powder 3 cans (14 1/2 oz. each) hominy, rinsed and drained 1 can (7 oz.) diced green chilies Sliced green onions and lime wedges

1. In a 5- to 6-quart pan, stir pork, yellow onions, garlic, and 1/3 cup broth. Cover tightly, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. 2. Uncover and stir over medium-high heat until juices mostly stick to pan and turn deep brown, about 4 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the remaining broth; stir until juices are well browned, about 4 minutes longer. Add oregano and chili powder; stir for 15 seconds. 3. Stir in remaining broth, hominy, and green chilies. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until flavors are blended, about 10 minutes. Season to tan with green onions and lime.

Per serving: 401 cal., 17% (69 cal.) from fat; 29 g protein; 7.7 g fat (2.7 g sat.); 59 g carbo.; 1,181 mg sodium; 54 mg chol.