Patti Labelle's Lite Cuisine

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Acknowledgements

  Foreword

  Introduction

  Stunningly Delicious - Salads, Soups, and Sandwiches

  Fabulous Fish and Seafood

  Melt-in-Your-Mouth - Meat Dishes

  People-Pleasing Poultry

  Scrumptious Sides’

  Dreamy Desserts

  Index

  Also by Patti LaBelle and Laura Randolph Lancaster

  Don’t Block the Blessings

  LaBelle Cuisine

  Patti’s Pearls

  GOTHAM BOOKS

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  Published by Gotham Books, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.

  First printing, April 2003

  Copyright © Patti LaBelle and Laura Randolph Lancaster, 2003

  All rights reserved

  Gotham Books and the skyscraper logo are trademarks of Penguin Putnam Inc.

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

  LaBelle, Patti.

  Patti LaBelle’s Lite Cuisine: Over 100 dishes with to-die-for taste made with to-live-for recipes / Patti LaBelle and Laura Randolph Lancaster. p. cm.

  eISBN : 978-1-440-65036-9

  1. Cookery, American. 2. Low-fat diet—Recipes. I. Title: Patti LaBelle’s Lite Cuisine: Over one hundred dishes with to-die-for taste made with to-live-for recipes. II. Lancaster, Laura Randolph. III. Title.

  TX715 .L128 2003

  641.3’638—dc21

  2002155237

  Set in Simoncini Garamond and Franklin Gothic

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  Acknowledgments

  This book is the result of the efforts of numerous people who gave generously of their time and talent to make its publication possible. I would like to acknowledge them here for their many contributions.

  Thanks to David Joachim, recipe developer and tester extraordinaire, whose talent, troubleshooting, and truly spectacular cooking skills made these recipes sing.

  Thanks to the talented team at the American Dietetic Association—Jeannette F. Jordan, Registered Dietitian (RD), Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE); Jane Stephenson, RD, CED; Alison B. Evert, RD, CDE—for their informative insights and impeccable nutritional analysis. Just one question: Does the Diabetes Care and Education Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association know how lucky they are to have you three as members?

  Thanks to American Dietetic Association Publisher Diana Faulhaber, who contacted, coordinated, and coolly coaxed the many comments of the ADA contributors with remarkable poise and professionalism and uncanny skill and style.

  Thanks to Lori Ferme, American Dietetic Association Media Relations Manager, whose enthusiasm and excitement for this book was immediate, inspiring, and infectious.

  Thanks to Rick Rodgers for just the right recommendation at just the right time.

  Thanks to William R. Frederick, MD, who helped in so many ways that only he knows.

  Thanks to Al Lowman for his enlightening guidance and advice.

  Thanks to Carl Gullette for his heirloom photographs—and for all his help with research and remembrance.

  Thanks to Patti Webster for her special and spectacular public relations skills—and her spiritual support.

  Thanks to Armstead Edwards for managing the many and complex details that transform a book you have in your head into a book you can hold in your hand.

  Thanks to William Shinker and the Gotham Books family for believing in this book from the start.

  Thanks to Ronny B. Lancaster for opening his home, his heart—and his kitchen!—to me. But most of all for loving and supporting my sister-friend and coauthor through every phase of this book. I’m talking start to finish. Intro to ending. Deal to deadline.

  And last, but by no means least, a very special and heartfelt thanks to Laura Randolph Lancaster, my coauthor and sister-friend, whose patience, professionalism, and profound gifts and talent made this book possible from concept to creation.

  Foreword

  A few years ago, I was preparing an invited lecture for a group of physicians on the topic of new directions in medical nutrition therapy. I had reviewed a number of recent studies that focused on comparing the effect of reduced-calorie diets with and without exercise on weight loss in obese persons. The review of these studies was not especially illuminating except for a revelation that was crystallized for me during the process: in the course of medical training, very little serious attention was paid to the appropriate use of diet therapy and exercise in the treatment of several of the worst diseases of our time—coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes—the list goes on and on.

  And yet well over 100 million Americans are affected by these diseases, and in each case, the treatment approach begins with diet therapy and exercise. Not medication. Not surgery. Diet and exercise. This approach makes good sense because the proper use of lower-calorie diets coupled with regular programs of moderate exercise indeed results in weight loss and improvement in all of these conditions. Thus, the first line of therapy for those conditions that constitute the major epidemics of our time relates to one simple factor: how we eat.

  The importance of a more sensible approach to our eating habits has never been more apparent in our society. We are witnessing a rise in the number of overweight and obese adults to levels of 50 percent or more. Levels of obesity in children and adolescents are also rising sharply. These statistics are particularly disturbing when you consider the long list of serious, potentially lethal, illnesses directly linked to obesity—heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke, to name a few. Then there is diabetes. As a result of the sharply rising obesity levels, there is an explosive epidemic of type 2 diabetes. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it has now been proven with an important federally funded clinical trial that even those persons who are obese and at a high risk for type 2 diabetes can prevent the development of the disease by the use of two techniques: diet therapy and exercise. Consequently, our ability to manage and to prevent some of the most damaging diseases in our society, for all people, depends heavily on our society taking a more balanced and sensible approach to our food choices and eating habits.

  Given the short amount of time we now spend in both the preparation and consumption of meals, it is apparent that we are a society that worships at the throne of convenience. So-called “fast foods” have begun to domin
ate our eating habits, and because these foods tend to be high in saturated fat and in simple sugar content, when they are eaten regularly and in the portion sizes in which they are usually served, the stage is set for weight gain. Why are they so popular? Partly because they are so convenient, but also because they taste good. In fact, one of the biggest barriers to healthier eating is that most people believe that “healthy” eating must involve consumption of food that is unexciting or worse—they think it must not taste good. Enter Patti LaBelle and her cookbook Lite Cuisine. One of the many contributions Patti has made is to succeed in destroying such misguided perceptions. Patti understands how important healthier eating is for all of us—people with disorders like hypertension, diabetes, and atherosclerosis, people who are at risk for these problems, and people who are not at especially high risk but who simply want to pursue good health habits. But more importantly in this book, Patti LaBelle, again teaming up with Laura Randolph Lancaster, provides ample evidence that it is possible—and not very difficult—for us to enjoy healthier eating with food that is good for us and tastes good to us.

  To quote one of Patti’s signature songs, this is the kind of approach to eating that can lead to a “new attitude” about what it means to eat healthy. In fact, this book really highlights the notion that the presence of a disease like diabetes should not be required to force attention on healthier eating, but only the necessity for each of us to pursue better overall health. The person with diabetes and the person without any serious health issues have a similar need to pursue healthier eating. The person with diabetes or another disorder just may have a greater urgency to do so. Perhaps more important is the fact that it is not necessary to take on the frustrating challenge of “fad diets” to achieve the goal of healthier nutrition.

  Sharing a laugh with Dr. Gavin and his lovely wife Annie after I asked him to see what he could do to get his diabetes expert friends to figure out a way to remove the carbs and sugar from my Dad’s famous cinnamon rolls. Just for the record Dr. G, I wasn’t kidding! (Photo by Horace Henry)

  Patti now makes it easier for us to accomplish the important goal of healthier eating while preserving the joy that should accompany mealtimes. The recipes and offerings contained in this volume represent the kind of thoughtful attention that needs to be paid to this important problem if we are to make any progress at all in our efforts to curb the explosive epidemics of obesity and diabetes in our adults and children, and if we are to reduce the devastating impact of coronary heart disease and strokes that result from atherosclerosis. The pathway to reduction of the illness and death, and the hundreds of billions of dollars in health care costs associated with all of these diseases, begins with the same step: how we eat.

  This book is a celebration of good news about eating and its relationship to health. It is possible to eat healthier and with enjoyment. I am especially grateful to Patti for sharing her joy of food with all of us, and particularly for showing us how food that is good for us can really be good. This book deserves shelf space and regular use by all of us who are concerned not only about the improved treatment of established diseases, but also about the prevention of disease and preservation of health in the first place. It starts at the table, so I salute Patti for the gift of her insights and experiences in the kind of food preparation that will help us do all these things with joy.

  James R. Gavin III, M.D., Ph.D.

  Past President, American Diabetes Association

  President, the Morehouse School of Medicine

  Introduction

  Food. How do I love it? Let me count the ways.

  And, believe me, love is the right word here. Everything about food fills me with joy—cooking it, eating it, preparing it, sharing it. I’ve felt that way since I was a kid. When I was a little girl growing up in Philly, hanging out in the kitchen with Chubby—that’s what everybody called my mother—and her best friend, my adopted aunt Naomi, was my idea of heaven. Until I was twelve years old, in fact, the phrase “attached to your mother’s apron strings” wasn’t a metaphor to me; it was a description of me.

  To say this caused Chubby more than a few problems would be putting it kindly. But, to her credit, my mother would let me hang out in the kitchen as long as she could stand it. Many days, however, she couldn’t stand it for very long. You have to remember that, by today’s standards, you would have to enlarge our kitchen just to call it small. (Can you say walk-in closet?) Even so, I’m sure Chubby and Aunt Naomi could have found a way to maneuver around it had I complied with the only thing Chubby asked me to do when they were cooking: sit still at the table. But that would be like asking me to sit still at the New Orleans jazzfest. Yeah, right. That’s going to happen. Besides, whenever I was in Chubby’s kitchen I was on a mission. One that in no way, shape, or form could be accomplished by sitting still at a table, or anywhere else for that matter. Whenever I was in Chubby’s kitchen, I was either trying to sneak something out of whatever heavenly dish she and Aunt Naomi were cooking or trying to soak up the secrets of how they were cooking it. And even a little kid knows that to do either one right, you need a front-row seat at the stove!

  When Chubby had tripped over me one too many times, she would either bribe me or threaten me (“By the time I count to three you better have your dusty little behind out of this kitchen”) to get me to go outside and play with the other kids. But I never did. Even as a little kid, for me, the call of the kitchen was just too strong. Playing hide-and-seek couldn’t compare with playing haute cuisine. No way, no how, no day.

  Now, don’t get me wrong; that doesn’t mean I didn’t get out of Chubby’s kitchen, at least on threat days. Aunt Naomi used to say that whenever Chubby gave me The Look—the one that said, “Do-not-try-me-child-because-I-am-not-playing-with-you” —I ran out of the kitchen door so fast I left smoke. You would have, too, had you known Chubby. She was an “old school” mom. She didn’t play that I-think-you-need-a-time-out stuff. If I weren’t out of the house (or at least the kitchen) within ten seconds after the threat, Chubby would have lit my little behind up.

  But let me get back to the kitchen—my imaginary one, not Chubby’s. While all of the neighborhood kids hung out in the park across the street from our house, my refuge was the shed in the back of it. Of course, I didn’t think of it as a shed. I imagined it was an internationally famous restaurant where I was an internationally famous chef. I loved spending time in that shed almost as much as I loved spending time in Chubby’s kitchen. Because inside that shed I could be the person I was inside my head. And inside my head I wasn’t shy little knobby-kneed Patsy Holte. I was a magnificent and multitalented (did I mention head-turning-drop-dead-fall-down-on-the-floor-and-weep gorgeous?) singing star known the world over for my meals and my music. People who had heard my singing and people who had tasted my cooking couldn’t decide which was more exquisite: my four-octave range or my five-star cuisine. Ah, the power of innocence and imagination. Even now, just thinking about all the hours I spent inside that raggedy little backyard shed “cooking” all my favorite recipes gives me goose bumps.

  Almost half a century later, cooking and singing still fill me with the same intense pleasure, the same immense peace. Next to singing, in fact, there is nothing I love more in this world than cooking. (Okay, so maybe I love eating a little more, but not much.) When I go out on tour, the first two things I pack are my hot sauce and my electric frying pans. Ask anyone who knows me: When it comes to my pans, I don’t play. If my suitcases are full, I’ll leave a gown or two at home before I’ll walk out the door without them. That’s because, in a pinch, I can usually find a fabulous outfit in whatever city I’m in without too much time or trouble. But finding a fabulous pan? Sugar, that’s a whole different movie. Like I tell a couple of my in-a-hurry-to-get-married girlfriends, finding a fabulous pan is like finding a fabulous man. It takes time, honey. Time and knowledge. You shouldn’t let yourself be rushed into a relationship with either. Both are just too singular, too special, too pe
rsonal. The pan you will use to feed your stomach. And the man, well, if he’s the right one, will feed your soul.

  Then there’s all the time you’re going to be spending in one another’s company—again, I’m talking about the pan and the man. More days than not you’re going to be cooking up a lot of different, wonderful stuff together. Some days, hopefully most days, it’s going to turn out fine. But some days it’s not. Which means you need to know—not wonder, guess, or speculate but know—what’s going to happen when (a) the fire goes out as, I promise you, even in the best of circumstances, it occasionally will, (b) your appetites aren’t in synch, or (c) the mixture (either the recipe or the relationship) reaches a boiling point.

  Given those realities, you have to be clear about what you’re looking for—in the pan and the man. As a newly single woman starting a new life after years of living in a not-so-terrific marriage, and a newly diagnosed diabetic starting a new way of cooking after years of preparing not-so-healthy recipes, trust me when I tell you that the right one of each is the secret to happy results. Which is why it is so important to know just what you need in both. I’m talking exact qualities. Precise specifications. Specific traits. None of this roughly-speaking-more-or-less-something-sort-of-like-that kind of stuff. Clear-cut, nonnegotiable qualities. If, for example, you know you want to get involved in cooking with a minimum of fats, a good-quality nonstick pan is what you need. On that same tip, if you know you want to get involved in a relationship with a maximum of commitment, a good-quality stick-with-you man is the answer to your needs.

  Once you settle on the essentials, remember this: that should be all you settle on. Or I should say that’s all you should settle for. When it comes to the right pan and the right man, I’ll sum up LaBelle’s Law in four words: don’t barter or bargain. Not with anything you really need. Not with anything fundamental or elemental to your dreams and desires, I don’t care how glossy, gleaming, or glittery the promises or the packaging may be. After that, the rest is a cakewalk. After that, there are just two things to remember—again about the pan and the man. Both need to be able to simmer or sizzle with just the right amount of heat. And both should be super high quality without being super high maintenance.