Fit Fare

Many people do not usually associate cajun cooking and health. I have been self-appointed to rectify this situation. Over the past few months I have shared family recipes, some modified, others in their original form and have attempted to showcase the health benefits of this beloved cuisine.For those readers that are now inspired to buy a book on the topic I have some suggestions from my library. There really have only been a handful of books written on this subject - maybe ten easily available to the public. For online cooks, I did find some recipes at the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BC/BS) of Louisiana website. The insurance company BC/BS teamed up with chefs to prepare healthy Louisiana favorites.

In this genre the most well-known cookbook author is Holly Clegg. She is not a chef and has had no formal training in food. She is a mom that wanted to make healthier foods for her family. In the introduction to her book, A Trim and Terrific Louisiana Kitchen, she states, “My intention of this book is to make one be more conscious of what they are eating while still enjoying their favorite foods….Yes, food can taste good yet be good for you!” My thoughts exactly. I have personally cooked about half the recipes in the book and there has not been a bad one yet. I’ve been to bridal showers where all of the party food was prepared from the Appetizer & Dips section of the book. I have hosted many dinner parties using meals and desserts from this book. What makes this book unique is Holly’s ability to lighten the recipes without losing the spirit of the original. She uses light margarine, reduced fat cheese, and light cream cheese to help reduce fat and calories. Her motto appears to be less is better than not at all. Many authors take too much away in the guise of health and recipe quality often suffers. Holly’s success in television and print media have enabled her to publish five cookbooks in the Trim and Terrific series.

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In Louisiana, another famous cookbook series has been published by the Baton Rouge Junior League. They are currently on their fourth cookbook and still going strong. The third cookbook in the series is called River Road Recipes III: A Healthy Collection. This is a book that has been more fun to read than to cook from. The recipes all look really good, but I have not had much luck with the recipes I have tried to make. In all fairness, I have only made three or four of the recipes. There recipes were not bad, just kind of uninspiring. I was a bit disappointed because the River Road Recipes I and II books are Louisiana legends. Every recipe in those books starts with a stick of butter - you know the kind of book. I plan to try some more recipes in the Healthy Collection and will post the first keeper I find. There is one section of the book that I found extremely useful — a chart that shows how much fat, saturated fat, sodium, and calories one can save by using X in a recipe instead of Y. Overall not as good as Holly’s book, but a still a good buy.

The third book to highlight was written by Enola Prudhomme, one of the siblings of the noted Louisiana Chef Paul Prudhomme (in Part 2 of this topic I will review his book). Enola Prudhomme’s Low-Calorie Cajun Cooking promises “Your favorite cajun dishes with fewer calories and less cholesterol.” Enola created these recipes for her own personal use - they helped her to lose weight. Family and friends encouraged her to share her recipes and success with others. Enola’s wonderful restaurant, Prudhomme’s Cajun Cafe in Carencro, Louisiana used to serve some of these healthier recipes — she called them unleaded — on the menu. Sadly, Enola retired and the restaurant closed a few years back. Fortunately, for us, the recipes are preserved in this cookbook. Enola uses REAL food and honest ingredients in this book. The first recipe in the book is for a flourless roux, the second for a homemade seafood stock and the third is a homemade chicken stock. These are followed by six different recipes for gumbo — one of them made with rabbit and turkey sausage. She has lightened all the traditional favorites such as jambalaya, stuffed crab, potato salad — - plus added some lesser known recipes like slim trim trout and pecan rice. A good book to buy if you are looking for some authentic Louisiana recipes to prepare.