Light New Orleans?

[Britin]

Hello,

I am wondering if any of you can help with some recipes for a New Orleans themed dinner. I need to come up with a light appetizer, but am now curious about ideas for side dishes and dessert. We are making jambalaya (sp?) for the main course. I have been to a few websites with recipes but did not find much in the way of light fare.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

[kwormann]

not to sound cynical, but...

light food New Orleans??? good luck! YOu may have to lighten the recipe yourself!

Kim

[emilycat]

On Kim's note, I might just try picking out some recipes that look good to you and lightening them yourself. I've done this for as long as I can remember, and it's really not that difficult at all...unless you're baking, in which you could create a disaster substituting ingredients, many times a reduction in butter, oil, and leaner meats can lighten a dish substantially. If you have one you'd like help with, I (and I'm sure a lot of women on the board) would be more than glad to help you. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Good luck!

[SusieO]

You might want to check out one of Enola (sister of K-Paul) Prudhomme's cookbook. She offers Cajun recipes which are much lighter than her brother's.

[Lizz13.1]

Hey Britin I see you had the same idea I did..hehe...check out your email! Lizz

[Kristi]

I recently had some friends over for chicken creole, and one of my friends brought a Mardi Gras salad which was fabulous! I don't have the recipe, but she's sending it to me. It included greens, mushrooms, mandarin oranges, purple onions and a cider vinaigrette. Let me know if you'd like me to post!

I also do a salad with mixed greens/pecans sauteed in a little butter and brown sugar/balsamic viner/and cornbread croutons... This is actually from a low-fat cookbook.

[JodiL]

How about crabcakes? Crabmeat is essentially light and depending on how you cook them, you could keep the fat down. I think on Weight Watchers crabcakes are only a few points, so they can't be too bad...

[Gail]

Here are a couple from CL's recipe finder:
(Although I haven't tried this-- my recipe is fat-laden and cooked with shell-on) I seem to recall it getting good reviews:

Cajun Shrimp
Preparation time: 10 minutes
11/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Combine first 8 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal bag and shake to coat. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add shrimp; saute 4 minutes or until shrimp are done.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 5 ounces.) CALORIES 185 (29% from fat); FAT 6g (sat 1.1g, mono 1.4g, poly 2.7g); PROTEIN 29g; CARB 2.2g; FIBER .30g; CHOL 215mg; IRON 4.10mg; SODIUM 357mg; CALC 85mg


Crabby Cajun Dip
Serve this dip with baked tortilla chips, vegetables, or crackers. And lose the smile.

2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
2 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons anchovy paste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 pound lump crabmeat, shell pieces removed
1/4 cup minced red bell pepper
1/4 cup minced green bell pepper
1/4 cup minced green onions


Spoon yogurt onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels; spread to 1/2-inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels; let stand 5 minutes. Scrape into a bowl using a rubber spatula; cover and refrigerate. Combine cream cheese and next 8 ingredients (cream cheese through hot sauce), stirring well with a whisk. Stir in yogurt. Add crabmeat and remaining ingredients; stir gently to combine.
Yield: 33/4 cups (serving size: 1/4 cup).

CALORIES 64 (28% from fat); FAT 2g (sat 0.8g, mono 0.4g, poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 8.4g; CARB 2.8g; FIBER 0.0g; CHOL 36mg; IRON .40mg; SODIUM 284mg; CALC 92mg

Another one you see a lot is shrimp remoulade. This recipe isn't light, but considering its lack of butter, cream, cheese or mayonnaise-- all popular ingredients in New Orleans cuisine-- this isn't half-bad...


SHRIMP REMOULADE

3 cups boiled shrimp, peeled
1 cup remoulade sauce
3 cups shredded lettuce

Blend the shrimp with the Remoulade sauce,being careful not to break them. Chill in the refrigerator.
To serve, put 1/2 cup shredded lettuce on each of 6 cold appetizer plates. Spoon the shrimp onto the lettuce and serve.

Serves 6

REMOULADE SAUCE

2/3 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
2 tablespoons horseradish
1 tablespoon worcestershire
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon minced green onions
1 tablespoon minced celery
1 tablespoon minced parsley

Combine all ingredients. Makes 1 cup.

BOILED SHRIMP

2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 quarts water
4 1/2 cups raw headless shrimp, shells on

Add the salt, cayenne and bay leaves to the water and bring to a boil. Add the shrimp and when the water returns to a boil continue boiling for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and soak for 10 minutes. Drain the shrimp and chill.

(From: Antoine's Restaurant Cookbook)

You see a lot of oyster recipes, prepared with some pretty elaborate sauces. You also see a ton of 'em raw-- served with a splash of tabasco, a squeeze of lemon and a bit of cocktail sauce.

This last recipe, though not specifically from New Orleans, came from one of CL's readers back early in the summer. What's noteworthy about it is that it's made from artichokes, a very popular ingredient in New Orleans, and it's lightened.

HOT ARTICHOKE DIP

1 can(14oz)waterpacked artichoke hearts
2/3c fat free cream cheese
1/3c sour cream(fat free/light)
1/3c grated parmesan(fresh)
1Tble lemon juice
1tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
2-4 drops hot pepper sauce(Tabasco)
Preheat oven to 350F. Coat small ovenproof serving dish with cooking spray(Pam).
Drain artichokes hearts and chop coursely
In large bowl, mix cream chees and sour cream until smooth. Add parmesan,lemon juice,garlic powder,pepper and hot pepper sauce. Stir in artichokes. Adjust the seasonings if you wish. Pour into prepared serving dish.
Bake for 10-15 min or until bubbly.
Tip: if youn soften your cream cheese first, it is alot easier to mix with the sour cream.
Per1/4 cup 68 calories;2 g fat;0.8g saturated fat;4 mg cholesterol;8 g carbs;6 g protien;448 mg sodium;2 g fiber

It is obviously not as rich as the high fat version, but it is a resonable substitute.
Hope you like it, and again sorry for the wait. Cindy A.

(From: Cindy Armstrong, Junior Member posted 06-23-2000 07:56 PM)

A couple of classically popular New Orleans desserts are Bananas Foster and Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce, neither of which are in the slightest bit "light." Fresh strawberry pie is nice, as is Pecan Pie (did CL have that or am I hallucinating?) If you think you'd like to splurge on dessert, I'd be happy to provide recipes, or, maybe you might want to find a recipe for lightened bread pudding and serve with a whiskey sauce.

Good luck!


[This message has been edited by Gail (edited 12-14-2000).]

[Britin]

Thank you for all the suggestions and recipes. I am sorry it took me so long to respond but I didn't realize that there were responses until someone in my supper club mentioned it. I usually set the flag to notify me of responses but I guess I didn't this time.

Gail,

I did end up making that Cajun Shrimp recipe. It was really good and so very easy. All these other recipes are tempting too. I am planning on trying some of those as well.

Thank you everyone!!

[Leslie w]

CL has a couple of New Orleans entrees that I have made in the past that have been big hits at dinner parties. One was Shrimp Jambulaya (sp?) and the other a Crawfish Etoufee. If anyone wants the recipes I'll search through my stacks of mags. I substituted shrimp for crawfish as I can't find plain frozen crawfish in CT, and I filled frozen puff pastry shells (not exactly low fat) with the etoufee for an elegant presentation, although brown rice works just as well. You gave me a great idea for a dinner party as I love to find excuses for entertaining. What better one than Mardi Gras?!.

[SandyDee]

I have a recipe for shrimp stuffed with crab meat that is fairly light. Also have a recipe for blackened catfish. If you aren't big on catfish you could blacken any kind of fish or poultry, that's pretty New Orleansy (is that a word???) http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Britin]

LeslieW,

Thank you for the reviews. I looked and actually found a recipe for shrimp (no crawfish, though)etouffe in the CL Mastercook. There were two different recipes for shrimp jambalaya, so if anyone wanted the recipes, I would be glad to export them rather than you having to search through all those magazines. A Mardi Gras party sounds great to me!

SandyDee,

I would love it if you could post the Blackened Catfish and Shrimp stuffed with crabmeat recipes.

[Gail]

Originally posted by Britin:

...

SandyDee,

I would love it if you could post the Blackened Catfish and Shrimp stuffed with crabmeat recipes.




Britin,

I don't know if the recipe SandyDee is offering is the one in the current issue of CL, but do try it. It's easy and delicious. Last night I made it again with red snapper and thought that was even better! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[SandyDee]

I am going to try this one more time I have already typed this out twice and I keep getting knocked off line before it posts!!! uuuggghh!!! Okay let me just say "yes, my blackened recipe was the Cooking Light one, I forgot where I had copied it from...duh!!"
However the shrimp one is from a different cookbook I have and I also found another recipe that I will post for you below that is from that same book. I'll try again.

Crabmeat Stuffed Shrimp

1 1/3 pounds unpeeled large fresh shrimp
vegetable cooking spray
1 cup soft breadcrumbs
1/4 cup minced celery
2 tbls lemon juice
1 1/2 tbls water
1 tbls grated onion
1 tbls margarine, melted
1/4 tsp. lemon-pepper seasoning
1/4 pound fresh crabmeat, drained and flaked
1/8 tsp paprika

Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact.
Butterfly shrimp by making a deep slit down the back of each shrimp from the large end to the tail, cutting to but not through, the inside curve of the shrimp. Place in a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine breadcrumbs and next 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir in crabmeat. Top shrimp evenly with crabmeat
mixture; sprinkle with paprika. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until breadcrumb mixture is set and shrimp turn pink. servings: 6
per serving: calories 108; protein 16 gm; carbohydrate 3 gm; fiber 1 gm; fat 3 gm; cholesterol 127 mg; sodium 248 mg.

Cajun Catfish

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1 pound catfish fillets
1/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
vegetable cooking spray

Combine first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish. Dip fish in buttermilk, and dredge in cornmeal mixture.
Place fish on a baking sheet coated with cookin spray. Coat fish lightly with cooking spray and bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven; turn fish and lightly coat with cooking spray. Bake 10 additional minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. 6 servings.
Per serving: 126 calories; protein 18 gm; cargohydrate 9 gm; fiber 1 gm; fat 1 gm; cholesterol 47 mg; sodium 179 mg.

Enjoy and let us know how your dinner turns out. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif



[This message has been edited by SandyDee (edited 01-31-2001).]

[Britin]

SandyDee,

Thank you for posting those. I am planning to make them this weekend. With all these ideas, I may have to suggest another New Orleans/Cajun theme or have that Mardi Gras party that Gail mentioned.

We ended up having our dinner on Sunday (the original date was changed due to faulty weather reports of blizzard conditions). It worked out well, and the food was delicious as always. We had the cajun shrimp as an appetizer, spinach corn bread, and made the chicken and shrimp jambalaya together. We had some type of custard for dessert that was really good. The wine was a great choice too, but I really have to go back and ask for the name again. I really want to try that again. I always think that I will remember, but never do.

Thanks again,

Tina

[SandyDee]

I am sorry I couldn't get those to you in time for your dinner, but I hope you enjoy them when you do make them. These last couple of weeks it has been hit or miss to get the boards. Glad your dinner was a success. It sounded wonderful and what a great idea for a theme. I might just have to borrow the idea. Sorry again. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/redface.gif

[Britin]

SandyDee,

No apology necessary. I am looking forward to trying the recipes. The added plus is that they are seafood, and both look perfect for anytime that Mom is coming too dinner. She doesn't eat meat and I am always wanting to make something new when she visits.

Thank you,

Tina