How Soul Food is Getting Healthier

New school soul food has started out unhealthy to healthier, because of a growing consumer demand. Today's soul meals are not your great grandmother's ... as well as your grandmothers soul food! Soul food recipes have traditionally lead the way in which when it found comfort food. When holidays along with other special occasions come you will find most African Americans enjoying this festive food. However the one downside of this tasty delight that's' drawn probably the most attention may be the health risks.

With increasing health concerns within the African American community the interest in healthier options to traditional soul food keeps growing. As delightfully satisfying since the meals our grandmothers and great grandmothers accustomed to make, these were often full of high calorie ingredients such as

1. Cream.2. Packed with butter. 3. Dowsed in sugar.4. Fried in lard. 5. Seasoned with fatback and ham hocks.

These items, as tasty because they are have later which may cause hypertension, diabetes along with other health ailments. To combat this issue more soul food recipes still lean toward healthier and lighter ingredients - while keeping the traditional taste and satisfaction. For instance, instead of using traditional table salt, many recipes demand healthier alternatives for example salt substitutes, kosher salt or sea salt. Each one of these help to reduce health threatening sodium, that has been linked to hypertension and diabetes.

Other alternatives also have proven to lessen the health risk of soul food. For instance, flavoring vegetables with smoked turkey can help you avoid using fat-back or ham hocks. Both contain high levels of salt and fat. Using smoked turkey helps you to add the smokey down home flavor inside your vegetables with no unhealthy fat and salt contents.

To reduce the fat content along with other health risk related to deep frying, consider marinating your chicken. Next dredge it in flour or cornmeal and oven fry it rather than deep frying it in fatty oils. This can still give your chicken that flavorful crunch we all like without the health risk of fried chicken.

Another suggestion or option to deep frying your chicken would be to consider pan frying. For instance, simply coat your frying pan with cooking spray. Next, put the marinated chicken in pan and cook on sides until done. This straightforward recipe may also include chopped onions, peppers and mushrooms along with a touch of fresh lemon juice to add extra flair towards the dish.

These are several examples of ways to add a healthy element for your soul food recipes without having to sacrifice taste and satisfaction. I'll still give you other great ideas and tips later on that will not only taste good but be great for you.

See the very best 20 soul food recipes chosen by readers this month, plus watch soul food experts cook typically the most popular soul food dishes watching the recipes come to life Free Soul Food Recipes