Cajun food is a southern style of cuisine that features fresh and spicy regional ingredients. Many recipes may require you to deep fry foods or coat them in oil, but you can use other cooking methods to create these dishes, making them more nutritious and healthy for your heart.
Vegetables and Seasonings
Typical Cajun dishes are high in salt. When you make your favorite recipe at home, replace the excess salt with southern spices and herbs to add flavor to your dish. Include thyme, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, sassafras and freshly ground black pepper. The strong flavors in these seasonings can help reduce the need for salt, suggests the National Food Service Management Institute. Too much sodium in your diet may increase your risk for heart disease.
A common characteristic of Cajun cuisine is the use of holy trinity seasoning. This blend of sweet bell pepper, onion and celery can be added to any Cajun dish for additional flavor.
Cajun-Style Meats
Cajun meats are typically lean, but the cooking methods increase their fat and calorie content. Blackened chicken, steak and other meats are coated in fat, covered in spices and then seared to seal in flavor. If you eat out, ask the cook to cut some of the fat by using a nonstick spray. Instead of frying your shrimp or crawfish, boil them to cut out the fat, suggests the American Heart Association. You can also grill your shrimp on skewers for added flavor. Sausage is a Cajun cuisine staple, for example in jambalaya and served with beans over rice. Try replacing fatty pork sausage with lean turkey sausage.
Frying Alternatives
Deep-frying is a popular cooking method for Cajun foods. Fried foods are high in saturated fat. Consuming too much saturated fat may increase your risk for heart disease. You can eliminate the unhealthy, fatty fried foods by making some changes in your cooking methods. Shrimp, oysters and clams can be coated and baked rather than fried and still maintain their crunchy texture. To create a coating, crush crispy rice cereal and blend it with pepper and blackening seasonings. Dip the seafood in flour, egg wash and finally your crispy coating. Baked on a cookie sheet, this is a way to minimize fat and prepare heart-healthy Cajun seafood. The Po' Boy is a popular Cajun sandwich, filled with fried seafood such as shrimp or oysters. Replace the fried seafood with baked seafood as a healthy alternative.
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