A Healthier Approach to Southern Cooking

If you love the flavors of traditional Southern cuisine, but want to start eating better, Slim Down South by registered dietitian Carolyn O’Neil offers several new dishes to include in your meal plan. There are main dish choices like Fried Green Tomato Sliders, as well as treats to satisfy your sweet tooth like Vanilla Bean Baby Pound Cakes with Whiskey Sauce.

The recipes use easy swaps like low calorie margarine, fat-free milk, and reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese to preserve as much of the traditional Southern flavors as possible. O’Neil also suggests pan frying many of the items instead of using the traditional deep frying method. There are a few time consuming recipes, but most are fairly quick and easy to complete.

All recipes include attractive color photos and nutritional information, as well as an estimated cooking time. Sprinkled throughout the book are several tips from noted chefs and lifelong Southerners about how you can successfully enjoy your favorite foods while still staying committed to eating healthy.

One tip I thought was especially useful way to follow the traditional Southern “meat and three” rule when building your meals. Choose a small portion of meat complemented by three veggie or grain based sides.

One of my favorite recipes in this book is the BBQ in a Jar. This looks like the perfect way to serve BBQ pork for a summertime picnic, especially if you add a side of cornbread. If pork isn’t your thing, you can substitute smoked pulled chicken or rotisserie chicken.

BBQ in a Jar

Ingredients

• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• ½ tsp. mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp. table salt
• ¼ tsp. celery seeds
• ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (16 oz.) package shredded coleslaw mix
• 1 (22 oz.) can baked beans in a sweet and smoky sauce
• 2 cups shredded barbecued pork without sauce (10 oz.)
• 9 Tbsp. bottled barbeque sauce

Instructions

1. Combine first 7 ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.
2. Place coleslaw in a medium bowl; pour hot sugar mixture over slaw, tossing to coat. Let stand 10 minutes.
3. Microwave beans in a small microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring after 1 minute. Microwave pork in another small microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 to 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring once.
4. Layer about 6 Tbsp beans, ⅓ cup pork, 1½ Tbsp barbecue sauce, and ⅔ cup coleslaw into each of 6 (1-pint) canning jars.

Serving size: 1 jar
Calories: 458
Fat: 20 g
Protein: 18 g
Carb: 57 g
Fiber 4.9 g
Chol: 40 mg
Iron: 1.7 g
Sodium: 817 mg
Calcium: 102 mg

Disclaimer: A review copy was provided by the publisher.

Photo credit: Amazon