Some foods that I like from a weight control perspective are:

Minute Maid Light Lemonade - It bugs me that it's got one of those fake sugars in it, but it's 15 calories per glass or some such thing.

Skinny Cow ice cream stuff - It doesn't taste any different than regular ice cream and is low cal.

California Cutie clementines - Fruit can be tasty.

Watermelon - Tasty and good for you, even though it's got more calories than you would expect.

Broccoli and cheese - I steam it and then melt one slice of tillamook cheddar on it. Very nutritious and tasty for about 120 calories.

Anyone else got any favorites?

Water.

Tea.

Fruit.

Vegetables.

Legumes.

Spices & Herbs (cilantro, rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, oregano, etc.)

Ribs are bad because there is a TON of fat on them. You say that it's just meat, but there's really not much meat on them at all. Also, the meat is so tender and juicy and soft because there's so much fat marbled through it. Keep in mind that the calorie totals are if you eat EVERYTHING on the dish. If you peel off or don't eat the obvious fat globs you end up cutting out a significant amount of calories.

I'm guessing all of the sauces in the recipe are heavy in butter as well. Thats alot of calories for just sauce.

Those double-churned ice creams that are made with Splenda instead of sugar are a nice dessert. I discovered last week (while reading the labels in the hospital cafeteria) that sugarfree gelatin also has an impressive nutritional profile for a dessert.

Yeah, the sauces and the dressings are rare a lot of the calories are lurking. Fat has twice as many calories per gram (9) as protein and carbs (4 each).