Losing It: How Paul Prudhomme Dropped 130 Pounds : Dieting: The Cajun chef has his own ideas about low-cal food--and there’s nothing bland about them.

Paul Prudhomme is happy.

“I’m mobile. I work 18 hours a day. I wake up every morning feeling wonderful,” he says.

But about two years ago, at 485 pounds, he was not so happy.

“I got to an uncomfortable weight and I had to do something,” he says.

First, he tried powdered diet products and even got creative with them, inventing new recipes.

“I got sick of it and decided it was time to get serious,” he says. “With my ability to cook, I changed to food.”

For a while, he experimented with macrobiotic cooking, a vegetarian approach emphasizing whole grains and high fiber, then moved on to a variety of dishes supplanting his usual heavy hand with butter, cream and roux with a lighter touch.

The result was a 130-pound weight loss, enough to make him mobile in the kitchen. At his present weight, 360 pounds, he is comfortable.

“I can work a station,” he says. In restaurant lingo, that means cooking non-stop as customers place orders, which Prudhomme did for three months after the weight loss. “I hadn’t done that in years.” And he no longer does it, having resumed his usual role of overseeing the kitchen. “Now I don’t have to. I know I can.”

With his cholesterol, blood pressure and other vital statistics well within normal range. Prudhomme tends not to worry about excess weight as long as he’s comfortable.

“I’ve had a weight problem since I was 8 years old,” he says. The last time he can remember being thin was at a photography session when he was 4 years old.

Since weighing more than 500 pounds as a teen-ager, Prudhomme has done his time with diets, fluctuating between 350 and 500 pounds and once even fasting for 40 days.

“If it applies to me and losing weight,” he says, “it’s not an article, it’s a book.”

What are his weaknesses?

“If I have a plan, a foolproof plan, and know what I’m having, I can deal with it,” he says of dieting. “But if I don’t have it, I eat anything.”

Sweets used to be a problem. “I was always a binger,” he says. He would refrain, then buy a quart of ice cream and eat the whole thing.

“I can’t eat sweets every day or I’d weigh 1,000 pounds,” he says.

For a while, the chef hired an experienced cook who prepared low-calorie meals for him. Then, he began creating his own diet dishes and stuck to them almost exclusively for about one year. After losing 100 pounds he started eating two diet meals a day and one meal off the diet.

Although the weight loss was an achievement, he’s happiest about keeping it off for one year with the modified diet.

Says his wife Kay, “When Paul decides he’s going to diet, there’s nothing that keeps him from it--except no food at all.”

“I try never to beat myself up about gaining weight,” he says. “If I go off for a day or two, I try to forgive myself.”

Prudhomme admits his recipes aren’t the easiest and defers to his sister Enola and her new light-recipe Cajun cookbook, “Low-Calorie Cajun Cooking” (Hearst Books: 1991, $17.95). But for the cook who doesn’t mind putting some time into diet dishes, Prudhomme has come up with some winners.

His Mullacalong Chicken makes his eyes roll just talking about it. As for sweets, “you can do some neat things with artificial sweetener,” he says. One example is a flan he likes to make with canned skim milk, pureed cottage cheese, eggs and arrowroot.

Prudhomme has no plans to publish a diet cookbook, though at one time he did. His sister Enola had thought up the idea of a family cookbook around the same time. William Morrow, publisher of Prudhomme’s first cookbook, wanted Paul to write the family book so the siblings swapped ideas. “The Prudhomme Family Cookbook” was published in 1987 and now Enola’s low-calorie book is just out. Paul’s next book, “Seasoned America,” is scheduled to hit bookstores in the fall.

Meanwhile, Prudhomme is happy to pass on his successful light recipes to others wanting to lose weight. Here are some of his favorites.

MULLACALONG CHICKEN

2 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic seasoning

1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoons dried leaf cilantro

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 cups corn kernels (preferably fresh, about 4 ears)

5 1/2 cups defatted chicken stock

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts with all visible fat removed (about 1 pound 10 ounces, total weight)

Olive oil spray

2 cups chopped onions

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 sweet red pepper, seeded, stemmed and cut into strips

2 packets low-calorie sweetener

Combine Poultry Magic, turmeric, cilantro, ginger, mustard and curry powder in small bowl.

Combine corn kernels with 1/2 cup chicken stock in blender and process about 2 minutes. (Mixture should be somewhat coarse, not smooth.)

Place chicken breasts in bowl, coat with 2 tablespoons seasoning mixture, and rub in thoroughly with hands.

Preheat large pot or Dutch oven (preferably cast iron) over high heat. Lightly spray each chicken breast with olive oil spray on 1 side, and place, sprayed-side-down, in single layer in heated pot. When brown on first side, turn (no need to spray again) and brown second side. While second side is browning, add chopped onions. Remove chicken when brown.

Spread onions on pot and cook about 2 minutes, or until onions are sticking hard. Stir pureed corn onto onions. Add 2 teaspoons seasoning mix, scraping pot bottom well with metal spatula.

Cook, scraping from time to time, 6 to 7 minutes or until corn looks almost like golden brown roux. Add remaining seasoning mix, lemon zest and lemon juice and cook 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups stock, scrape pot bottom and bring to boil. Add remaining 3 cups stock. Stir well and cook, uncovered, 15 minutes. Add chicken breasts and red pepper strips. Cover and cook 5 minutes, or until chicken is tender and juicy. Remove from heat and stir in sweetener.

To serve, place 1 chicken breast on each plate and add 1/2 cup sauce. Top with 2 or 3 strips red pepper. Makes 8 servings, approximately 250 calories per serving.

MACARONI AND CHEESE

1 1/2 cups chopped onions

3/4 cup chopped celery

2 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Pork and Veal Magic seasoning

1/2 cup defatted chicken stock

5 egg whites

1 (12-ounce) carton low-fat cottage cheese

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated skim milk

1 to 2 teaspoons salt, optional

10 cups cooked small elbow macaroni (from 5 cups uncooked)

6 ounces low-fat Cheddar cheese (7 grams fat per ounce), shredded

Heat 10-inch skillet over high heat. Add onions, celery and Pork and Veal Magic. Cook 2 minutes, then stir to blend in seasoning. When vegetables begin to stick hard to pan, about 2 to 3 minutes, add 1/4 cup stock, scraping up brown bits on pan bottom. Stir well and cook 1 to 2 minutes.

Turn heat down to medium and stir. Cook until vegetables begin to stick hard again, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add remaining 1/4 cup stock. Scrape up pan bottom, stir well and continue cooking another 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Place egg whites in food processor. Process 30 to 45 seconds, or until whites are frothy (but not until they make peaks). Add cottage cheese and evaporated milk and process. (Don’t let mixture get too smooth. Bit of lumpiness in cottage cheese will give dish more texture.)

Add cooled mixture from skillet and process again, about 20 seconds. Season to taste with salt. Place macaroni in bowl, pour sauce over and mix well. Turn into unbuttered casserole. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake at 375 degrees 35 to 40 minutes, or until brown and bubbly. Makes 10 servings, approximately 235 calories per serving.

HOT CHICKEN SALAD

3 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut crosswise in strips

2 teaspoons Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic seasoning

1 teaspoon reduced-calorie margarine, softened

6 cups stemmed spinach leaves, rinsed

4 to 5 stalks celery, cut in diagonal slices

1/2 medium onion, julienned

1 fennel bulb, cut into strips, optional

2 carrots, cut into short sticks

1/4 each sweet red, green and yellow peppers, cut into strips (about 2 ounces each)

1/2 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into short sticks

1/2 medium white potato, peeled and cut into short sticks

1 cup vegetable stock (from cooked vegetable)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon tamari

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

3 packets low-calorie sweetener

Combine chicken strips with Poultry Magic and margarine in large bowl. Mix well and set aside.

Fill large pot with water (about 5 quarts), place strainer over pot so bowl of strainer is submerged. Bring to rolling boil. Place spinach in strainer and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Drain leaves into small container.

Repeat procedure separately with celery, onion, fennel and carrots, cooking 2 minutes. Repeat with peppers and sweet potato, cooking each 1 1/2 minutes. Cook white potato sticks about 3 minutes. Keep each vegetable warm in its own separate container, preferably covered, and reserve cooking liquid.

Heat large skillet to about 350 degrees. Bronze chicken over high heat, turning it as it browns. Remove chicken and set aside.

Add 1 cup vegetable stock to same skillet over high heat, scraping up all browned bits. Stir in soy sauce, Worcestershire, tamari and vinegar. Cook 2 minutes, remove from heat and add sweetener.

Arrange thin bed spinach on each of 4 (10-inch) plates. Artfully arrange small groupings of vegetables around edge, then mound 1/4 chicken in center. Sprinkle each with 1/4 cup dressing. Makes 4 servings, approximately 252 calories per serving.

Note: If tamari is unavailable, double soy sauce to 2 tablespoons.