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Jim Dixon wrote about food for WW for more than 20 years, but these days most of his time is spent at his olive oil-focused specialty food business Wellspent Market. Jim’s always loved to eat, and he encourages his customers to cook by sending them recipes every week through his newsletter. We’re happy to have him back creating some special dishes just for WW readers.
Let’s get this out of the way first: You shouldn’t be eating doughnuts. They’re nutritionally bankrupt and are typically made with the worst ingredients: the American dietary triumvirate of white flour, white sugar, and industrial fats (as opposed to what I consider the good fats, like extra virgin olive oil, butter, and unprocessed animal fats, but don’t @ me about it). Highly processed foods make up nearly 75% of what’s on the shelf at the grocery store, and the typical American gets more than half their calories from what Michael Pollan calls “edible food-like substances.” What we’re eating leads to a host of diet-related chronic diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, and cancer. Doughnuts are basically killing us.
But since my diet is mostly beans and cabbage, I’ll take my chances a few times every year. As I’ve gotten older, though, I’ve learned the hard way to avoid the fried dough circles that are covered in a sugary glaze. Sure, the first few bites taste great, but I feel awful immediately after the last one. So when I’m hankering for a truly guilty pleasure, I go for the wallflower of the pastry case, the plain cake doughnut.
They’re not that great right out of the bag, so I let them sit for a day or two to get a little stale, which also firms up their crumbly nature. Then I slice them in half like a bagel, fry them cut side down in good olive oil until they get some color, and eat them with plain Greek-style yogurt and homemade jam. While they’re very tasty, refried doughnuts are still junk food, so try not to eat more than a couple.
Recipe
- 2 plain cake doughnuts*
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Healthy dollop of Greek-style yogurt
- Your favorite jam
*Leave the doughnuts in their greasy bag for at least a day so they get a little stale.
Cut the doughnuts in half like a bagel. Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium until it starts to shimmer, then carefully add the doughnuts, cut side down. Cook until the bottoms start to get a little brown, 4-5 minutes. Transfer the doughnuts to a plate, and add a little yogurt and jam to each bite.