Make Healthy Southern Dishes With These Tips

Cooking Healthier In The Deep South

Mention the term "southern cooking" to most people and you'll find the belief that this style of cooking is all about deep fried fat and sugar. Although some of our favorite southern recipes may include those elements, they don't all, or they don't all have to.

Let's take a look at a few ways we can cook southern style dishes a bit healthier.

Fried Chicken

Of course, a piece of fried chicken that's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside is a delight. But, watching that chicken swimming around in a vat of fat can be a bit unnerving.

We can reduce the fat in a few ways that won't sacrifice flavor. Begin by skipping the saturated fat entirely. These are the fats that are solid at room temperature. Choose other oils for frying your chicken that are liquid, such as peanut oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, or grapeseed oil. No matter what oil you use (note: extra-virgin olive oil is not for high heats) take the chicken out and drain it well. The idea is to ingest the least amount of oil as possible.

Skip the thick batters, too. A light dusting of flour and seasonings should be all that is needed for a crispy coating. If you want, dip the chicken in buttermilk before you flour the pieces. Buttermilk, unlike it sounds, is naturally low in fat.

If you want to eliminate even more fat, skip the deep frying entirely and switch to oven frying the chicken. The trick here is to make sure the chicken is on a rack before it goes into the oven. Make sure you bake the chicken long enough to cook the insides. You can start at a lower temperature then raise it up to crisp the outsides. Try rolling the chicken pieces in a little cornmeal before oven frying for a different texture and taste.

And don't forget the seasoning! When you oven fry, all that good spicy seasoning will stay put, so be careful but experiment until you get the flavor you want.

Gumbo

This southern classic usually involves lots of fat and flour. If you are trying to avoid either, or both, you can still make a pot of gumbo, but you need to tweak your ingredients.

The beginning of a good gumbo is a good roux. Some cooks use butter or animal fat and white flour. You can, however, use a different mixture and still get good results.

Start with the healthiest oil for your diet. This may be peanut oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil. The oil you choose will need to be a high-heat oil, meaning it won't burn easily. Then choose a healthier flour, such as brown rice flour or whole wheat flour. You will have a slightly different roux from what may be traditional, but the flavor is what matters.

You can also skip most of the fat entirely. Since roux is a thickener, you can replace it in your gumbo if you wish by adding other thickeners like okra or file powder. Fresh okra can be fried in the pot in the beginning before adding the Holy Trinity (onion, green pepper, celery) and it will start to thicken the gumbo in a fashion similar to roux. File powder can be sprinkled in at the end which will thicken and tighten everything up.

But, what about the flavor of a traditional roux? Some cooks fry sausage in the pot to create some brown bits in the bottom before making the gumbo. This echoes the deep flavors of the roux. Paprika can also add color and more flavor.

Don't forget the old refrigeration trick. Just put your cooled gumbo in the refrigerator overnight and when you take it out the next day, skim off the fat layer that has formed on top. This one trick will remove a lot of fat without disturbing the flavor in the least.

Sweet Tea

This southern classic is difficult to tweak a lot, but, there are a few things you can try. First, make your sweet tea at home. When you order sweet tea at a restaurant, you are most likely drinking a mass-produced version. This is loaded with syrups and sugars you don't need or want. If you are dining out, order “un-sweet tea” and add your own sweetener so you have control.

If you make a pitcher of sweet tea at home, be sure to steep it no longer than 15 minutes. If you want stronger tea, use more tea bags, don't steep it longer. Pour the boiling water into a jar or pitcher, then add the tea bags and shake a bit to make sure they submerge. Set the timer for 15 minutes, then remove the tea bags and discard. Do not squeeze the tea bags. Doing so will only send bitter tastes into the pitcher, and it's these tastes you will over-sweeten to compensate for.

Immediately stir in about half the sweetener you would normally, and continue stirring until the sweetener is completely dissolved. Let the tea sit for a few minutes after stirring, then stir again and taste. You would be amazed how many people put too much sugar in their tea because they are impatient to drink it. The sweetness seems to develop if it is allowed to sit for a couple minutes.

You can use any sweetener you like when you make your own sweet tea at home. Try natural sweeteners, even honey, if you like. But, no matter what you use, start with half the amount you think you need.
Another trick is to add mint to your sweet tea. Some folks keep adding sugar to hide a bitter taste in the tea, but actually mint will do the same thing. Of course, you can avoid this whole bitter thing if you remember not to steep the tea too long and skip squeezing the tea bags.

These are just a few ways to make southern classics a bit healthier. Depending on your particular dietary needs, you may be able to tweak even more dishes to suit your tastes. Of course, moderation is the key with anything, so if a little fat or sugar is used in a southern dish, just keep portion control in mind. It all goes together when you're trying to eat healthier, but still enjoy some good ol' southern cooking!