Can soul food known for its' use of sumptuous ingredients do an about face and become healthy? Yes! There's a new wave of African-American chefs and home chefs who are embracing this lifestyle. The result - the same delicious flavors with a new spin.
Kim Severson wrote about this movement in today's New York Times Food section.
,Typically soul food is awash in fats, dairy
,and sugar. This had led to obesity, hypertension and diabetes amongst African-Americans for decades. Many are looking deeper , going back to the vegan West African cuisine, their ancestors ate.Another game changer is infusing newer dishes with Caribbean spices to make them more exciting.\.It is catching on, There are books on black veganism by A.Breeze Harper who wrote the anthology
Sistah Vegan:
Black Female Vegans Speak On Food, Identity, Health and Society along with Tracye Mcquirte's
By Any Greens Necessary :A Revolutionary Guide For Black Women Who Want To Eat Great, Get Healthy , Lose Weight And Look Phat. These are life changers, breaking women of color from bad eating habits and easing them into healthy, more veggie-centric ones. It also doesn't hinder the fact that Beyonce and Jay-Z
have embraced the lifestyle by becoming partners in a vegan meal kit service
.Several other rap stars have also gone meatless and
dairyless.Oprah herself took the vegan challenge and even presented it to her staff to give up meat
.sports star such as the famed Williams sisters, Venus and
Serenad meat and its' trapping to improve their game.
It is tough to give up the delicious flavors like bacon infused collard greens and the classic fried chicken. The last is the hardest, partly because of tradition and partly because of the taste. Surprisingly, it can be duplicated, much to the chagrin of the naysayers. Cauliflower can be used for the meat according to chef Jenne Claiborne, It'll have the same desired crunchy crust as the chicken but without the added fat
.she also uses soy milk so there's also no added calories. Chef Caliborne has also made vegan collard greens,
subbing in the
fat back with soy sauce and smoked paprika. Ms Severson has given Chef Claiborne's Oyster Mushroom Etouffee, which is loaded with veggies and even
dulse or seaweed flakes as opposed to the usual, seafood, chicken or Andouille sausage. There is also her mall style vegetable stir fry that includes chickpeas, bell peppers and broccoli. The sauce is sweetened by the addition of
medjool dry dates.
with this recipe, you could add the soy chicken strips to make it a little more like the real deal. Even desserts have been given the vegan treatments. Butternut squash has been used for eggs in sweet potato pie.
The popularity of vegan soul food is spreading. It's not giving up old
classics but reinventing them for a healthier diet. There's the great flavors without all the fats and sugars.
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