Cutting the Fat

The following tips should help cut down on fat and salt, not just in soul foods but in all cooking:

* About 75% of all sodium Americans eat comes in processed foods, including everything from canned soup to fast-food burgers. Simply by scratch-cooking meals from fresh, basic ingredients and not adding salt at the table, you will dramatically reduce the amount of sodium you and your family consume.

* Like most processed foods, those used as ingredients in these soul-food recipes (tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, prepared mustard and pickle relish) have enough salt that you may not need to add more.

* Recipes made with unprocessed foods, such as black-eyed peas, have no salt added. You’ll probably want to add a little salt during cooking, but not at the table. Other recipes made with fresh unprocessed ingredients, such as Country-Style Cucumbers, taste just fine without salt.

* Health experts recommend limiting daily sodium intake to a little more than the amount in a teaspoon of salt, or about 2 grams of sodium.

* An easy way to cut down on fat is to not butter bread. When you have bread as good as Corn Sticks, you won’t miss the butter.

* Instead of using salt pork for seasoning vegetables, try olive oil, onions, garlic and herbs. A single tablespoon of oil will brown a cupful of chopped onions for flavor enhancement. Herbs that seem to go best with soul food are thyme (especially with black-eyed peas), bay leaves, basil (best with tomato-based dishes) and hot red pepper with red meats such as pork and beef.

* Use cooking methods that add no fat, such as baking, broiling, grilling, poaching, stewing. Limit methods that add fat to foods, such as deep-frying and skillet-frying, to special occasions.