Cajun Food for Diabetics?

On Tuesday, February 23, 2010, I was diagnosed with type II diabetes. What a bummer!

That means having to give-up many of my favorite foods - like white rice, white bread, potatoes ... the list goes on and on.

But, it doesn't mean I have to give-up all of my favorite Cajun dishes. It just means I have to control the high calorie add-ins and side-dishes. Plus, I have to spread my lowered caloric intake over a wider span of time during any given 24 hour period.

In my opinion, it is just another fancy way of telling me to eat less and to eat the right foods. Duh?

"Lose the fat and not the muscle" is the sacrificial cry of the day.

Yea. That might be easy for them to say, but to me it becomes a big sacrifice because I love to eat the rich and tasty stuff. You know what I mean?

I like to eat the kinds of food that already come with a little fat attached to it - like those southern Sunday dinners with buttermilk crusted fried chicken (skin on), the piles of irresistible homemade mashed potatoes and pot gravy made from the fat drippings (along with buttered corn-on-the-cob as a side dish). Those were the good ol' days, ... you betcha!

Or, how 'bout those back yard bar-b-qued finger-licking delicious baby back pork ribs which produces a cloud of hypnotic hickory smoke that can par-fume the area of your outdoor patio and even invite unwanted neighbors over to see what's cooking … (that kind).

Don't you know I'm sure gonna miss that.

Alright, ... let's see? I now realize that by adjusting the quantity and quality of the foods I eat, the way that I cook it, and the times I eat will make all the difference in the world, the experts say, in the way my body will use-up its energy.

It is suppose to take some of the load off my pancreas and liver. (But doc, I love my beer! Please don't make me give that up, too.)

OK. ... I could learn to get comfortable with maybe a 2,000 calorie per day diet, but my doctor wants me on a 1,600 calorie per day regiment.

Easy for him to say. He hails from India and is barely 5 feet tall and weights about 100 lbs. … and he is in his mid-seventies.

That's not fair because I am over 6 feet tall and I weight 218 lbs. and I sincerely doubt that I will ever reach his distinguished ripe old age.

So, in the grand scheme of things, I have decided to eat more fruit and vegetables, for a change, especially when I get those occasional munchies; the severity has spiked since I quit smoking cigarettes two years ago.

One fruit I enjoy a lot is the tomato. Tomatoes are good sources of Vitamin A and other beneficial vitamins and minerals - particularly for folks with diabetes.

Tomatoes contain no fat to speak of and it is a versatile fruit for the dinner table because it can be included in so many different recipes. Tomatoes are very filling, as well.

They are good when vine ripened and eaten on the spot; they are good and better for you when cooked, and they are especially good and tasty in Creole gumbos, or fish courtbouillion, or in Cajun stews.

So, in the next few weeks, (especially during this Holy Season of Lent), I will be exploring, researching and studying a list of beneficial foods which are friendly to the body, starting with the tomato, and I will subsequently pass-on that information to you - so stay tuned.

This means I have to find, or at least create, some good Cajun-style dishes for diabetics and add them to our existing repertoire of tasty Cajun-style foods. I think it CAN be done.

So, wish me luck as I embark on this exciting new adventure and I add yet another category to our blog of Cajun recipes.

Hopefully I can uncover some enjoyable foods which are exciting to the taste-buds and friendly to everyone – including diabetics.

Audio Note

Mardi Gras Surf and Turf Platter

Ingredients

Surf

• button mushrooms (stems and gills removed)
• large wild Gulf of Mexico shrimp, (cooked and ground)
• cooked lump crab meat (6 oz.)
• 4 Tbs mayonnaise
• 2 Tbs chopped green onions
• parsley
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• Italian style cheese (finely shredded)
• ground red pepper

Instructions

Mix well the cooked ground shrimp, lump crab meat, mayonnaise, green onions, parsley and lemon juice. Stuff the button mushrooms and top with Italian style cheese. Lightly sprinkle a small amount of red ground pepper. Broil the stuffed mushrooms for approximately 4 to 5 minutes until the cheeses melt (keep a close eye on the broiling process so not to burn the cheeses). Form a circle around the outer rim of the platter with the stuffed mushrooms.

Turf

• 3 - 4 lb. beef roast
• 1 packet of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix
• 2 tsp fresh cracked black peppercorns
• 1 tsp fresh cracked coriander seeds
• 1 can beef broth
• 1 cup peanut or vegetable oil

Instructions

Pour the can of beef broth into the slow cooker. Heat oil in a heavy skillet and brown the beef roast on all sides for a couple minutes. Mix the black peppercorns, coriander seeds and beefy onion soup mix together to create a rub. Coat all sides of the roast (except the bottom), put the roast in a slow cooker and cook for 2 to 3 hours on low heat (depending how you like the beef roast - medium rare, medium well or well done). Cool and relax the roast for a few minutes before slicing.

Trimmings

• 2 cups cooked long grain rice
• baby cut carrots
• chilled asparagus spears
• liquid from beef roast
• mushroom stems, chopped
• 2 Tbs all-purpose flour

Instructions

Insert the cut baby carrots (steamed or raw) in between each stuffed mushroom along the radius of the platter. Next, form a bed of cooked rice in the center of the platter and spoon on a generous amount of mushroom gravy. Neatly layer the sliced beef on top of the bed of rice. Return the entire platter to a low heat oven for about 15 minutes at 150 degrees F. until ready to serve. Before serving arrange the asparagus spears on either side of the sliced beef.

Note: To make the mushroom gravy add the beef liquid and chopped mushrooms stems in a sauce pan along with 2 Tbs all-purpose flour (dissolved in a half-cup of cold water) and bring to a slow boil, stirring occasionally.

Did you know that different variations of Mardi Gras are celebrated the world over - including Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean nations ( Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, Curacao, Dominica,Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts , Nevis, St. Lucia, Saint Vincent, the Grenadines, St. Martin, Suriname, Trinidad, Tobago and the United States Virgin Islands), Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Italy, Netherlands, Panama, Spain, Sweden as well as several states in the United States?

Bon Appetit!

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