I have fond memories of the hamburgers my father would cook for me when I was child in Louisiana. At that time hamburger meat was just called ground beef. One size fits all. Some markets had a choice between ground sirloin or ground chuck. No one knew or cared much about the fat content. Fat adds a lot of flavor and that was a good thing.

Walk into any supermarket today and you are offered ground turkey breast, ground turkey, lean ground turkey, ground chicken and ground beef that is marked 75/25, 80/20, 85/15, 87/13, 90/10, 93/7, 95/5, and lately 97/3. So many numbers. Those numbers refer to the amount of fat present in the meat. For example, 95/5 contains 5% fat. The ground turkey breast is just that, skinless turkey breast and is super lean. Items marked ground turkey or ground chicken usually have meat and skin ground together and can have as much fat as ground beef. Restaurants often use 70/30 ground beef. No wonder those burgers out taste so great.

When I cook burgers for my family I try to buy the leanest beef I can find or turkey breast. Since the fat content is low I have had to find ways to keep the meat moist and flavorful. The first item I add to my lean meat is olive or peanut oil. By replacing the saturated fat with monounsaturated fat I create a more heart healthy burger that stays moist. Next I add lots of garlic and peppers. To make the Cajun burgers I also added hot Italian sausage. My supermarket sells pork, chicken and turkey breast versions that are very lean. To complete the Cajun burger, I made a sauce with spicy mustard and mayonnaise. If you have kids, you will appreciate the fact that my 4 year old son (currently going through a growth phase) ate two of these burgers. They were just that good.

Cajun Burgers
makes 4 servings

Burgers

3/4 lb lean beef (93/7 or leaner) or ground turkey breast
1/4 lb hot Italian sausage (lean pork, chicken or turkey), removed from casing
2 Tbsp olive or peanut oil
1/4 c red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
few dashes Worcestershire sauce
whole wheat hamburger buns or English muffins
lettuce
tomato, sliced

Sauce

2 Tbsp mayonnaise (I like low-fat Blue Plate brand)
2 Tbsp creole mustard (I like Zatarain’s brand)
dash Worcestershire sauce

Preheat grill. Mix beef, sausage, oil, bell pepper, garlic, salt and Worcestershire together in a bowl. Shape into 4 patties. Cook 4-5 minutes on each side or until no longer pink inside.

While burgers are cooking make sauce by mixing mayonnaise, mustard and Worcestershire together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Serve burgers on buns with 1 tablespoon sauce, lettuce and tomatoes.

One of my Cajun grandmother’s standard Sunday dinner items was a dish called dirty rice. And hers was the best. The main ingredients in the dish are usually white rice and chicken liver or giblets. The meat gives the dish a dark color. The version of dirty rice I like to make for my family substitutes a small portion of lean ground beef for the high cholesterol organ meat. I also like to use brown rice instead of regular white rice to boost the fiber content of the dish. The remaining ingredients are all the vegetables and spices. The end result is a dish my grandmother would be proud to serve at Sunday dinner.

Dirty Rice
makes 8 servings

1/2 lb lean ground beef
Salt to taste
Red pepper to taste (1/4 tsp for a mild-medium hot dish)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 c onion, chopped
1/2 c green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c parsley, chopped
2-1/2 c beef broth (I use Better than Bouillon soup base)
1-1/2 c instant brown rice (I use Uncle Ben’s)

Season beef with salt and pepper. Cook beef, onion and pepper in olive oil until meat is browned and vegetables are tender. Stir in garlic, parsley, and rice. Add broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed.

During this time of the year there seem to be so many reasons to get together with friends and celebrate. There are bridal showers, baby showers, birthdays, and summer holidays. The list goes on and on.

One of my favorite party foods is crawfish dip. I was introduced to this appetizer at my own bridal shower back in Louisiana by one of my bridesmaids. It breaks one of my food rules about using processed foods in recipes, but the end result is so good that I turn a blind eye on this one. I couldn’t find one of the main ingredients, Rotel, at my “way up North” supermarket, so I substituted an equal amount of Barilla’s Spicy Pepper Sauce (jarred pasta sauce) and added hot sauce and Creole seasoning at the end. The original recipe is from Holly Clegg’s A Trim and Terrific Louisiana Kitchen cookbook.

Crawfish Dip

yields about 4 cups 

1/4 c light margarine
1/4 c flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can 99% fat free cream of mushroom soup
1 (10 oz) can chopped tomatoes and green chiles (Rotel is traditional)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb crawfish tails, rinsed and drained
Melba rounds

In a skillet, melt margarine, add flour and mix well. Add vegetables to the flour and margarine mixture and saute until tender, stirring constantly, to prevent sticking. Add mushroom soup and chopped tomatoes and green chiles; mix well. Add seasonings. Gently stir in crawfish tails. Cook until dip is thoroughly heated. Serve warm with melba rounds.

I am a purist when it comes to potato salad. Potatoes, eggs, mayo, mustard and a little salt and pepper. I like to boil my potatoes in crab boil which makes them extra spicy, then use creole mustard for even more zest. To lighten this dish, I reduced the quantity of mayonnaise and used fewer egg yolks in the dressing. Leave the skins on the potatoes for extra fiber. Perfect for a summer picnic or Sunday dinner.

2 lbs potatoes, scrubbed
1 tsp liquid crab boil (I use Zatarain’s crab boil), optional
1/2 c mayonnaise, low-fat or regular (I like Blue Plate brand)
3 Tbsp Creole mustard, preferably Zatarain’s Creole mustard
3 Tbsp 1% milk
4 hard boiled eggs, 2 yolks removed, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

In a covered saucepan cook potatoes in boiling water seasoned with salt and crab boil for 20-25 minutes or until just tender. Drain well. Cube potatoes.

In a very large bowl combine mayonnaise, mustard, milk, eggs and seasoning. Add potatoes and toss lightly to mix. Cover and chill for 6-24 hours.

I set myself two goals for the summer. First, I want to increase my fruit and vegetable intake and next, I want to try more new recipes. I have been neglecting shelves full of cookbooks and binders full of recipe clippings for too long.

Joining a CSA this summer has helped to achieve goal number one. Every Tuesday I bring home a wide variety of local produce. This week we feasted on spring greens, swiss chard, cilantro, kale, arugula, strawberries, peas, and bok choy. I also bought some fresh green beans, oranges, grapes, bananas, tomatoes, and peppers from the local supermarket.

To achieve goal number two I pulled out some of my cajun cookbooks and set out to find a recipe to use with my bounty. I found just what I was looking for in Enola Prudhomme’s Low Calorie Cajun Cooking cookbook. The recipe of the week was the Summer Green Bean Casserole.

Usually I just boil or steam my green beans with some onions and garlic and serve. Good, but plain. This casserole recipe looked easy to make (and it was) and had an ingredient in it I have little experience with, evaporated skim milk. The green beans are precooked, then the milk and other seasonings are mixed in. The whole dish is baked in the oven for an hour. The dish was really flavorful and creamy, but the milk had a curdled look to it. I assembled the dish at night and baked it the next day. I think that letting it sit overnight allowed some of the milk proteins to separate out. The recipe is a keeper, but I would suggest cooking the dish soon after it is assembled. If it’s still not pretty to look at, you can always toss some fresh herbs and sliced peppers on top.

3 cups fresh green beans, cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces
1/2 c evaporated skim milk
2 Tbsp chopped green bell pepper
1 Tbsp chopped red bell pepper
1 Tbsp minced fresh onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper (I used black)
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1/4 tsp dried basil leaves, crushed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add the beans and return to a boil; cover, reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes, or until the beans are crisp-tender. Drain the beans well and transfer to a 1-quart casserole dish.

In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients and pour over the beans. Cover and bake for 1 hour, stirring once after 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Per serving: 62 calories, 0.40 grams fat

I am a big fan of boiled crabs. As a child in New Orleans, maybe aged 4 or 5, my parents would take me to Brunings Restaurant at West End to share a meal with my dad’s family. The table would be stacked high with hot boiled crabs and we would all eat with abandon. I learned at an early age how to quickly pick the meat out of the crabs. A necessary skill when you have siblings and cousins. Crab is low in fat and calories and a good source of protein. We didn’t eat the crabs because they were good for us, we ate the them because they were just the most delicious food we had ever tasted.

As luck would have it, lump crabmeat was on sale at my supermarket this week. Searching through my Louisiana recipes I found one for New Orleans Crab Cakes in Enola Prudhomme’s Low Calorie Cajun Cooking cookbook. I paired the crab cakes with a salad of fresh spring greens from our local CSA. These crab cakes are lower in fat and calories than traditional crab cakes because they are baked in the oven and egg whites are used as the binder.

New Orleans Crab Cakes
makes 4 servings

1 Tbsp reduced calorie margarine
2 Tbsp finely chopped onions
2 Tbsp finely chopped green onions
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 lb fresh lump crabmeat, picked over
1/2 c fine dry breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp creole mustard, such as Zatarain’s
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 egg plus 1 egg white

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the margarine. Add the onions, green onions, parsley and saute for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add all the remaining ingredients except the egg and egg white; saute for 1 minute. Remove the skillet from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

In a small bowl, beat the egg and egg white together. Add the beaten egg to the crabmeat mixture, stirring well to blend. Shape the crabmeat into 6 crab cakes, about 1/2-inch thick.

Spray the inside of a shallow baking pan with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. Place the crab cakes in the pan and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and use a spatula to turn the crab cakes. Bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Per serving: 80 calories; 3 grams total fat.

Since I like sweet potatoes so much, I wanted to share another recipe. As noted in a previous post on sweet potato fries, the sweet potato dishes I grew up with in the South, laden with fat and sugar, were far from fit fare. While scanning through one of my cookbooks, Enola Prudhomme’s Low Calorie Cajun Cooking, I came across a recipe for sweet potato muffins I wanted to try.

I had the good fortune to eat this very item at her restaurant, Prudhomme’s Cajun Cafe, in Carencro, Louisiana. While we waited for our meal, servers bought out homemade cornbread, rolls and muffins to our table for sampling. According to Enola, the recipe from the cookbook is a lower fat version of the muffin offered at the restaurant. I served my muffins at a Memorial Day picnic to great reviews.

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and grated (3/4 c)
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Dash of salt
1 c skim milk
1/4 c reduced-calorie margarine, melted
2 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray nonstick muffin tins with non-stick vegetable cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the sweet potato, flour, sugar, raisins, nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, mixing well. In a separate bowl, beat together the milk, margarine, and egg whites with a wire whisk. Slowly add the milk mixture to the other ingredients, stirring well with a fork just until the dry ingredients are mixed. Do not overmix.

Fill each muffin tin two-thirds full with batter. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the muffins comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the pan immediately and cool on a wire rack.

I had the good fortune to visit Louisiana last week to attend my sister’s wedding in the French Quarter and spend some quality time in my home state. Whenever I visit I manage a five pound weight gain in less than a week. There is this compulsive desire to eat every dish I have been craving since my last visit, especially crawfish. I have yet to find a source for crawfish on Long Island (frozen Chinese crawfish does not count).

My fondness for crawfish continues to increase the longer I remain away from Louisiana. During this visit we ate crawfish macque choux, crawfish gumbo, crawfish salad, a crawfish boat (creamed spinach with crawfish served in a hollowed out round bread loaf) and crawfish etouffee. At a music festival in Lafayette, Festival International de Louisiane, I missed out on the crawfish tamales — they ran out before I ordered mine. Fortunately, the restaurant we went to for dinner that night, Prejean’s, served crawfish enchiladas and my sister ordered this dish for us to try.

We even went on a swamp tour of Bayou Sorrel and learned how to net our own crawfish. I managed to bring home three pounds of Louisiana crawfish (purchased at the supermarket) and this week I experimented with reduced-fat crawfish etouffee recipes. I created one I’d like to share, but must admit that a traditional etouffee (made with lots of butter) must be tried at least once in your lifetime.

2 Tbsp heart healthy margarine, such as Smart Balance
1 lb Louisiana crawfish tails
1 tsp Creole seasoning, such as Tony Chachere’s (more or less to taste)
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp corn starch
1 c cold water
2 Tbsp green onions, chopped

Season crawfish tails with Creole seasoning. Melt margarine in heavy sauce pan and saute crawfish for 3 minutes. Remove crawfish from pot with a slotted spoon into a bowl. Add onions, bell peppers and garlic to pan and saute for 10 minutes. Add back crawfish to the vegetable mixture. Dissolve cornstarch in cold water. Stir into pan with crawfish and vegetables and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serve over rice and garnish with green onions.

To tide me over in the intervening months I have a favorite biscuit recipe that I make for my family. I have yet to find a better “light” biscuit recipe. These biscuits are fluffy and flavorful with a fraction of the fat of traditional southern biscuits. At times, I have made these with part whole wheat pastry flour to boost the fiber content. I usually do not have buttermilk on hand, so I blend 1 cup 1% low-fat milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and let this sit for 5 minutes before measuring out what I need for the recipe.

I always make my biscuits using the food processor and they come out great every time. If you don’t have a food processor you can cut in the butter or margarine with 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp chilled butter or margarine, cut into small pieces
3/4 c 1% low-fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add butter or margarine. Pulse several times until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and pulse a few more times until a ball of dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 4 or 5 times. Roll the dough out to a 1/2-inch thickness. Cut biscuits using the mouth of a cup or a biscuit cutter. Place biscuits on a baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Most people outside of Louisiana (and even a few from the area) are unfamiliar with this dish. After all you don’t see Macque Choux (pronouced Mock Shoo) on too many menus. It’s actually a phrase the Cajuns in South Louisiana use to describe a creamed corn dish, introduced by Native Americans in the area. This is not just any creamed corn, mes amis. A traditional version of the recipe my family likes to make calls for whipping cream, sugar, butter, tomatoes, garlic, onions, bell and jalepeno peppers, and, of course, corn — fresh shucked if you have it. To lighten this recipe I decided to substitute fat-free half and half for the cream and sugar (the fat-free half and half tastes a bit sweet to me), and just used a small amount of oil instead of the original 4 tablespoons of butter. The result, a sweet, creamy, extra spicy side dish. Adjust the seasoning to suit your taste.

Macque Choux
makes 6 side servings

1 Tbsp peanut or canola oil
1/2 c diced onion
1/2 c diced bell pepper
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
10 oz whole-kernel corn, thawed and drained
1 (14 oz) can cream-style corn
1 jalapeno, deseeded and minced
1 medium tomato, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c fat-free half and half

Saute onion, bell pepper, and garlic in oil until the onions are tender. Add whole-kernel corn; stir well and cook until the corn is tender. Add cream-style corn, jalapeno, tomato, salt, cayenne, black pepper, and Worcestershire. Stir and simmer for 2 minutes. Add half and half. Stir and simmer for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat. Put one-fourth of corn mixture in food processor and puree. Return puree to the pan, and mix well.