New cookbook puts healthy spin on soul food
5/8/2010Healthy Soul Food Recipes, the fifth edition of the American Stroke Association's 96-page, digest-sized magazine cookbook, takes a healthy approach to keeping the flavor in soul food.
It is available for $3.99 at grocery store checkout stands while supplies last, and beginning Tuesday it will be sold on ShopPower.org.
Healthy Soul Food Recipes has 49 easy and healthy variations of traditional soul food cuisine, including Curried Sweet Potato Salad, Oven-Fried Catfish with Creamy Orange Dipping Sauce, Chicken Gumbo and Ham and Greens Quiche.
Each of the dishes meets the American Heart Association dietary recommendations.
'A healthy diet can be delicious,' said Jacqueline Isherwood, executive director of the American Heart Association, Toledo and northwest Ohio. 'If you love soul food, making it heart healthy is a great way to eat an overall healthy diet and help reduce your risk factors for stroke and heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Healthy Soul Food Recipes can help you do just that.'
Healthy Soul Food Recipes is part of Power To End Stroke, the American Stroke Association's campaign that provides African-Americans with stroke information and resources. The book includes information about stroke risk factors, a personal risk assessment tool, and recommendations for personal actions to help prevent stroke.
Stroke, the third leading cause of death and a leading cause of severe, long-term disability for all Americans, is more prevalent among African-Americans due to their higher rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, and family history of heart disease and stroke.
To register for Power To End Stroke and receive a free e-newsletter and tools to help reduce your stroke risk, visit PowerToEndStroke.org.
Ham and Greens Quiche
Cooking spray
For the Crust:
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup uncooked whole-wheat couscous
2 tablespoons egg white or egg substitute
For the Filling:
10 ounces frozen chopped turnip greens
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 ounces sliced lower- sodium, low-fat ham, diced
2 tablespoons shredded or grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup egg substitute
1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray.
In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the couscous. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes, or until most of the water is absorbed.
Stir the egg white into the couscous. Spoon into the pie pan. Form a crust by spreading the mixture over the bottom and up the side, pressing to flatten. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn off the oven. Transfer the pie pan to a cooling rack and let the crust cool completely, about 30 minutes. After about 20 minutes, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Meanwhile, prepare the turnip greens using the package directions. Drain well in a colander, if needed. Transfer to a medium bowl.
In a small skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the bottom. Cook the onion for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring occasionally. Stir the onion mixture and half the ham into the turnip greens. Spoon into the crust. Sprinkle with the remaining ham and parmesan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg substitute, half-and-half, and nutmeg. Pour into the pie pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Yield: 6 servings, 1 wedge per serving
Nutrients per serving: Calories, 152; total fat, 2.5 g; saturated fat, 0.5 g; trans fat, 0.0 g; polyunsaturated Fat, 0.5 g; monounsaturated fat, 1.0 g; cholesterol, 9 mg; sodium, 283 mg; carbohydrates, 22 g; fiber, 4 g; sugars, 3 g; protein,13 g
Source: Healthy Soul Food Recipes (2010, American Heart Association) Published by Publications International, Ltd.
Farmers' market fund-raiser
The Farmers' Market Association of Toledo (FMAT), a farmers' cooperative that manages the Toledo Farmers' Market, is raising money for Veggie U through Birdhouses for Schoolhouses.
Veggie U is the Milan, Ohio, Culinary Vegetable Institute's nonprofit organization dedicated to making fourth-graders across the country more aware of good nutrition and eating habits through a five-week science curriculum.
The Farmers' Market has distributed birdhouses for local people and groups to decorate.
June 12 will be Birdhouses for Schoolhouses Day at the market, when there will be silent auctions of the decorated birdhouses from 9 a.m. to noon. All proceeds will go to Veggie U.
Italian salad
This unusual salad from Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes, by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, is based on fontina, a creamy, nutty-tasting cow's milk cheese from the region of Valle d'Aosta in the Italian Alps.
'With a chunk of fontina or other fine cheese and some tasty vegetables ... you have the basis for a zesty Alpine salad any time of the year,' she writes.
The success of the salad is dependent on the quality of the cheese. Look for real Italian fontina at specialty cheese markets or Italian grocery stores. Bastianich advises using freshly roasted bell peppers, but you could used jarred.
Roasted-pepper and Olive Salad with Fontina
The cream imparts a rich texture, but you may substitute 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon skim milk. The amount of dressing was cut in half after finding that the original recipe called for more than is needed for the salad. The salad may be assembled and dressed an hour in advance and refrigerated. Let sit at room temperature before tossing with parsley and serving.
6 yellow bell peppers, roasted (see note), or 3 cups jarred roasted peppers, cut in 1/2 -inch strips
1/2 pound fontina, cut in 1/4 -inch matchsticks
1 cup pitted large green olives, sliced in 1/4 - inch slivers
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
Cook's note: To roast peppers, coat with 3 tablespoons olive oil and teaspoon salt. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast in 300-degree oven, turning occasionally, until skins are wrinkled and slightly charred, 30 minutes. Allow to cool. Peel; scrape out seeds. Toss peppers, cheese, and olives together in a bowl. Whisk together the cream, mustard, vinegar, and salt in a small bowl; whisk in the olive oil gradually until the dressing is emulsified. Pour dressing over the salad; toss to coat. Let salad sit at room temperature so flavors blend, 15 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley; toss.
Yield: 6 servings
Nutrition information per serving: 266 calories, 69 percent of calories from fat, 20 g fat, 10 g saturated fat, 58 mg cholesterol, 10 g carbohydrates, 11 g protein, 617 mg sodium, 3 g fiber