All Blogs: Food Blog | Healthy Cooking Blog | Diet Blog | Health Blog | Food News Blog

Skinny gumbo for Fat Tuesday

By Carolyn Malcoun, March 4, 2011 - 11:42am

My cousin lives in New Orleans and just about every year my husband, Dan, and I talk about heading down there for Mardi Gras. For some reason we can’t seem to get it together enough to actually make it happen. But we still like to celebrate, so we invite a few friends over for a no-fuss Fat Tuesday celebration.

Must-Try: Catfish Etouffée, Shrimp Po' Boys and More Recipes for Mardi Gras
Shrimp Po’ Boy and More Healthy Southern Favorites

Since Mardi Gras always falls on a weeknight (duh), I like to whip up a batch of this Sausage Gumbo for the festivities (the recipe is below). It’s much healthier and easier to make than a traditional gumbo, which takes hours of cooking plus involves making a black roux that’s loaded with saturated fat (and needs careful attention). One recipe I found had 480 calories and 40 grams of total fat per serving—eep!

Our recipe takes just 40 minutes and clocks in at a mere 168 calories and 6 grams of fat per serving. Plus I can make it over the weekend and reheat it before everyone arrives—the flavor just improves as it sits so it’ll taste even better! All I need to do is whip up cornbread and a salad, boss Dan to make some fancy drink, put on our Buckwheat Zydeco album and we’re ready to party!

Get the Recipe: Sausage Gumbo

Related Links from EatingWell:

TAGS: Carolyn Malcoun, Food Blog, Dinner, Entertaining, Holidays, Recipe Makeover

Carolyn Malcoun combines her love of food and writing as a recipe contributor for EatingWell. Carolyn has a culinary arts degree from New England Culinary Institute and a degree in journalism from University of Wisconsin—Madison. Carolyn lives in Portland, Maine, and enjoys cooking, gardening, hiking and running in her free time.