Katy Strong demonstrates a healthy vegetarian jambalaya by substituting vegetable oil for butter, cutting out the sausage and replacing the flavor with fennel plus garlic and spices. This Mardi Gras Cooking class was offered Feb. 8 at Langston Senior Center on Lee Highway. Photo by Shirley Ruhe
"What do you think of when I say New Orleans?" Katy Strong, dietitian, nutritionist and Extension agent, asked her Mardi Gras Cooking class the question on the day before Fat Tuesday, the celebration of Mardi Gras before the traditional fasting of Lent begins. One voice says "spicy." Another offers "all those bands."
"Yes, lots of music," Strong replied. "Has anyone here ever been to New Orleans?" For an hour 14 hungry class participants were immersed in the culture and traditions of New Orleans, "the remarkable city."
"Today we will be making a vegetarian jambalaya. It is a traditional dish but with a little tweaking I have lowered the fat and sodium in the recipe." She says she has substituted healthy vegetable cooking oil instead of butter and left out the fatty sausage. "Just red beans and butter beans. But I have to replace the flavor of the sausage so I use fennel and Italian seasoning and garlic."
Strong tells the class if they came expecting duck confit and bread pudding they won't get that today. "You know, I also talk about food safety and the first step is washing my hands. Something may taste good but if you are making yourself sick, it doesn't matter." Now on to the aromatics — onion, green pepper and celery. "Do you know what they call this in New Orleans? Right, the Holy Trinity. Did everyone get a recipe from the table inside the door?"
A voice in the front row asks if Strong is going to use the whole onion. "Yes. I have a Vidalia onion that has a little sweetness that will caramelize when it is cooked."
"Good," comes the reply. "You can never have enough onion."
Strong says she has a package of pre-chopped green pepper from the grocery store. "If chopping is too much work, you can usually find frozen chopped onions and other chopped vegetables." She scoops the slices into the frying pan with a little oil and cooks them on low. Strong says she is always trying to add whole grains to the diet so she has brown rice. "But since it takes 45 minutes to cook we couldn't finish it in our time today so I'll use instant brown rice that takes five minutes."
This "Mardi Gras Cooking with a Healthy Twist" demonstration is one class in a series on Eating Well offered by Strong. This series is part of the 55 Plus programs offered by Arlington County and is free to those who have purchased a County membership. Others in the series have included "Snow Day Cooking Favorites," "Foods and Pain," and "Warm Up the New Year with a Slow Cooker."