FOOD FIGHT FRIDAY|SOUL/SOUTHERN COMFORT FOOD-VEGANIZED
Food FightFriday sure does come around quickly, before I know it, it is here. This weeks focus is on cooking healthy soul food, no meat. Gotta love @fff.
The South has a rich history of foods rooted in the culture of African-Americans during slavery. The food was prepared with poor cuts of meat, if any and scraps left from meals at the plantation. These poor cuts of meats were usually fat back, salt pork, or any unwanted part of the hog or cow. These foods evolved over the centuries into foods that were a little bit healthier.
When I became health conscience, I tried to cook foods that were healthier. When I cooked greens, cabbage, or kale I would use smoked turkey instead of pork. But when it came to other comfort foods, I still used real butter, heavy cream, and 3 different cheeses in my macaroni & cheese. My candied yams were loaded with real butter, white granulated and brown sugar. My cornbread was prepared with flour, eggs, cornmeal, white granulated sugar, and butter. These foods are alright if eaten occasionally, but not for everyday. All this saturated fat is very unhealthy especially when a lot of salt is added to the diet.
I love soul/comfort food, but I now have to prepare it based on the paleo diet or a vegan diet. The other day while grocery shopping, I found a box of macaroni made from rice and corn flour, paleo no, vegan yes. I bought some Daiya Vegan cheddar cheese plus I had my vegan cheese sauce. This was the beginning of my new macaroni & cheese.
I had a head of cabbage, carrots, and other vegetables that I could use, since I couldn't add any meat to the greens. I also had 4 sweet potatoes that I could use to make healthy candied yams. When ever I have greens, I have to have cornbread, paleo no, vegan no. So I decided to make hot water cornbread.
Now I was ready to start preparing my vegan soul food dinner.
I chopped the carrots, bell peppers, celery, and onion, then shredded the cabbage.
Next I sauteed the veggies in olive oil in a 7 quart pot, then added the cabbage a little at a time. No water needed, because cabbage makes it own water. The seasonings I used were season all, organic no salt seasoning, I cooked cabbage until they were soft and limp and still crunchy.
While the cabbage simmered, I layered the potatoes with coconut sugar in a deep pan.
I cooked them until they were fork tender. I melted some ghee and added some cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg to the ghee and poured it over the potatoes.
Now it was time to create my new mac & cheese. I boiled the pasta according to the directions on the package. While the pasta was boiling, I sauteed some onions in 2 tbls. of ghee.
When the onions were translucent, I set side about 2 tbsps. I added the drained pasta to the onions and ghee. I added some season all, my vegan cheese, almond milk, garlic and onion powder, and more ghee. I added the Daiya cheese on top and baked in oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
It was ready when the Daiya cheese melted and it was hot and bubbly.
On to the cornbread. What I made is called Hot Water Cornbread. I added 1 cup of cornmeal, 1 tsp. of season all, and some of the sauteed onions to a bowl. I pour boiling hot water over the cornmeal mixture and stirred until it formed a dough. Then I formed 3 inch patties with the dough and fried them in a little olive oil until they were lightly browned on each side.
This was my vegan soul food dinner. I was not looking for the food to taste like the high fat and meat based foods. I wanted my food to taste great on it's own as a vegan meal. Dinner was amazing, my husband kept complimenting me on a delicious meal. That's what it is all about, someone enjoying what you have created or cooked.
I love it @paleotwist. I was raised in South Ga, my parents were
White of course, but were poor, raised poor, lived through the
Great Depression. I used to hear "we ate so much cornmeal,
The Weevils ate the seat of our pants off"
I'm not ready to give up meat, but I have really cut way down
From how I was raised. I applaud your efforts.
Post upvoted and resteemed
Thank you @jerrytsuseer, that was too funny, about the pants. I have a great love for corn, be it on the cobb, popped, grits, cornmeal, or in the can. Although it is not on the paleo approved list of foods, I allow myself to eat corn.
I have no Vote Power, so this
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPskcog2a4JtfjSfS3jT3fSkb74s2vU6JzjPxtpimzebL/image.png)
Will have to suffice for now
Thanks @jerrytsuseer, I understand.
The food looks like it still tastes great without the turkey meat and dairy seasonings.
@pyemoney, thank you, it was. I was surprised that the mac and cheese came out so well.
Congratulations @paleotwist! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click here to view your Board
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP
To support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness and get one more award and increased upvotes!
Thank you for the piece of history @paleotwist, I really look forward to your contenders on Friday, I think it’s safe to say this one is my new favorite.
Great to see you again, chef.
Thank you @dandays, I remember these stories that my mother told me, that her grandmother told her.
This all looks fantastic @paleotwist. It’s true, I always am so fulfilled when my husband enjoys his dinner. These dishes are spot on, and guilt free… total plus. I wouldn’t mind trying your old school cornbread recipe sometime though. I bet that and your candied yams are something else… 😋… love me some corn bread. I just found a recipe actually, it’s Keto, it’s corn bread, and it’s supposed to be southern style. I’ll play around with it and if it’s worth mentioning again I’ll send it over to you. Happy food fight my friend!
Thank you @puravidaville, My grandchildren love my old school cornbread. I even gave one of them the recipe but she never made it. Sometimes I make cornbread using almond flour, cornmeal, almond milk, ghee, baking powder, eggs, and a little bit of honey. I bake it in a cast iron skillet. It is so good.
Yes, the recipe I found calls for a cast iron skillet to bake it in. I’d use stevia instead of honey and rather than corn meal, just almond flour but when I make it I’ll let you know how it turns out. I guess it wot really be corn bread if it’s made with almond meal huh? The goal is progress not perfection right 🤷🏼♀️
@puravidaville, yes you are right, it is about progress.
Posted using Partiko Android
:)
That is a plate I can devour in no time. Wait... are those little corn bread patties?? Put some honey and butter on those things and don't turn around because they will be....gone. That is one good looking all around meal. Great contender!! By the way, I need one of them gold forks, do you know where I could get one? :wink:wink
Thanks @jlsplatts, yes, those are little cornbread patties. My mother used to make them about 1/2 inch thick, now those you could definitely slather with honey and butter. You are taking me way back.
I've had that gold silverware for about 25 years, can't remember where I bought them.
25 years?!?! Now that is some quality that you don’t see to often anymore. Wait...since it is gold why is it still called...silverware?? Uh oh...mind blown. HAHAHAHA
Posted using Partiko iOS
@jlsplatts, I've never thought about it. You are right, but probably because it is not real gold. But it still looks good.
Posted using Partiko Android