If you love Paula Deen’s recipes but prefer to reserve the decadent southern dishes for a special occasion, check out her son’s new show on the Cooking Channel tonight.
Each week on “Not My Mama’s Meals” Bobby Deen will recreate some of his mother’s meals with substitutions that cut down on calories and fat, but still deliver on taste.
On Wednesday, Bobby took time to tell me a little bit about the show and offer some quick tips for cutting calories.
“We are just trying to give people an alternative by cutting back in small ways but still serving traditional southern foods,” Deen said.
I don’t know about you, but I am wondering how he is going to slim down dishes such his mother’s Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding, Chocolate Mousse Pie and Gooey Butter Cake.
Here are some tips that Bobby offered to easily slim down certain foods:
- Replace mayonnaise and sour cream with Greek yogurt. Bobby says it makes a great substitute for the sour cream on baked potatoes without loosing any of the creaminess.
- Find the main calorie culprit in a dish and replace some of it with something healthy. To see what he is talking about take a look at the Cheesy Mac recipe below. He substituted some of the cheddar cheese with veggies and parmesan cheese.
- Go ahead and get rid of that chicken skin and you will lose a lot of the cholesterol and calories.
Bobby’s show airs at 8 p.m. tonight on the Cooking Channel, cable 172.
Read more about what Bobby said – and find out what his mother thinks about the show - in an upcoming interview in the Tulsa World Scene section.
GUILTLESS CHEESY MAC
Recipe Courtesy Bobby Deen
4 cups cooked multigrain elbow macaroni, drained
3 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
3 ounces shredded Parmesan
1/2 cup skim milk
2 egg whites
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 bag (16 ounces) frozen petite peas, thawed
1 cup finely chopped cauliflower
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
Cooking Spray, for baking dish
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, add the cheeses, milk, egg whites, reduced-fat sour cream, mustard, salt, pepper, peas, and cauliflower. Mix ingredients together until combined.
After the macaroni has been cooked according to package directions and drained, add your cheese mixture into the warm pot you cooked the macaroni in and stir, the residual heat will help the mixture combine.
Pour into your prepared casserole dish. Evenly sprinkle the whole wheat bread crumbs over the macaroni. Bake, until the filling is hot and the topping is golden, 35 or 40 minutes.
Yield: 10 servings
