Soul Food
Authentic-ish Soul Food
Grandma's Classics, Lightened
A cuisine built on greens, beans, peas and rice by people handed the worst of the animal, and usually written about as a health problem with recipes attached. Six of the seven rejected dishes are there because they were already light and every honest change made them heavier.
Not out yet. The swap kit from chapter 2 is free to read now, and it's the part of the book you'd use most.
What's in it
| Recipes | Chapters | Average calorie saving | Dishes rejected |
|---|---|---|---|
| 53 | 8 | 40% | 7 |
Every dish, and what came off it
Each figure is per serving, computed from the ingredient list. The traditional column is the real dish, not a strawman: it's costed from its own ingredient list so the saving is a measurement rather than a claim.
| Dish | Chapter | Traditional | This version | Saving | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Fried Chicken | fried | 1146 kcal | 479 kcal | 58% | 69.6g |
| Fried Catfish | fried | 529 kcal | 314 kcal | 41% | 41g |
| Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey | greens | 210 kcal | 178 kcal | 15% | 26.4g |
| Black-Eyed Peas | beans | 418 kcal | 367 kcal | 12% | 26.7g |
| Macaroni and Cheese | sides | 549 kcal | 404 kcal | 26% | 21.8g |
| Candied Yams | sides | 412 kcal | 191 kcal | 54% | 3.2g |
| Smothered Chicken | smothered | 980 kcal | 419 kcal | 57% | 48.1g |
| frying pan Cornbread | breads | 276 kcal | 203 kcal | 26% | 8.5g |
| Peach Cobbler | pudding | 406 kcal | 247 kcal | 39% | 6.7g |
| Chitterlings | pork | 492 kcal | 358 kcal | 27% | 40.2g |
| Red Beans and Rice | beans | 815 kcal | 590 kcal | 28% | 34.7g |
| Oxtail Stew | smothered | 477 kcal | 370 kcal | 22% | 47.1g |
| Fried Green Tomatoes | fried | 475 kcal | 203 kcal | 57% | 15.5g |
| Cabbage and Sausage | greens | 354 kcal | 202 kcal | 43% | 14.5g |
| Sweet Potato Pie | pudding | 386 kcal | 209 kcal | 46% | 13.4g |
| Fried Pork Chops | fried | 961 kcal | 393 kcal | 59% | 55.5g |
| Hoecakes | breads | 364 kcal | 252 kcal | 31% | 7g |
| Butter Beans with Ham | beans | 270 kcal | 169 kcal | 37% | 12.6g |
| Smothered Pork Chops | smothered | 720 kcal | 284 kcal | 61% | 41.4g |
| Potato Salad | sides | 570 kcal | 414 kcal | 27% | 15.6g |
| Pound Cake | pudding | 405 kcal | 160 kcal | 60% | 12.7g |
| Turnip Greens with Diced Turnips | greens | 231 kcal | 106 kcal | 54% | 8.7g |
| Hush Puppies | fried | 431 kcal | 326 kcal | 24% | 12.5g |
| Barbecue Ribs | pork | 809 kcal | 348 kcal | 57% | 55.2g |
| Chicken and Dumplings | smothered | 947 kcal | 380 kcal | 60% | 40.2g |
| Creamed Corn | sides | 325 kcal | 163 kcal | 50% | 5.8g |
| Pinto Beans | beans | 293 kcal | 232 kcal | 21% | 16.1g |
| Neck Bones | pork | 729 kcal | 588 kcal | 19% | 51.6g |
| Sweet Potato Biscuits | breads | 351 kcal | 259 kcal | 26% | 11.4g |
| Salmon Croquettes | fried | 585 kcal | 457 kcal | 22% | 41.9g |
| Fried Whiting | fried | 743 kcal | 365 kcal | 51% | 32.4g |
| Smothered Turkey Wings | smothered | 613 kcal | 549 kcal | 10% | 92g |
| Butter Beans | beans | 231 kcal | 126 kcal | 45% | 8.6g |
| Spoonbread | breads | 172 kcal | 108 kcal | 37% | 5.3g |
| Crowder Pea Salad | beans | 401 kcal | 341 kcal | 15% | 18.4g |
| Cheese Grits | sides | 376 kcal | 172 kcal | 54% | 8.1g |
| Banana Pudding | pudding | 412 kcal | 237 kcal | 42% | 8.3g |
| Hushpuppies | breads | 256 kcal | 148 kcal | 42% | 10.6g |
| Fried Chicken Livers | fried | 561 kcal | 277 kcal | 51% | 29.5g |
| Chess Pie | pudding | 425 kcal | 236 kcal | 44% | 6.2g |
| Smothered Cube Steak | smothered | 506 kcal | 298 kcal | 41% | 35.1g |
| Hot Water Cornbread | breads | 184 kcal | 87 kcal | 53% | 11.4g |
| Dandelion Greens | greens | 286 kcal | 188 kcal | 34% | 26.2g |
| Fried Okra | fried | 537 kcal | 199 kcal | 63% | 24.5g |
| Brown Stew Chicken | smothered | 858 kcal | 350 kcal | 59% | 43.3g |
| Succotash | sides | 435 kcal | 332 kcal | 24% | 20.7g |
| Field Peas and Snaps | beans | 312 kcal | 268 kcal | 14% | 18.5g |
| Hog Maws | pork | 582 kcal | 388 kcal | 33% | 45.2g |
| Cracklin Bread | breads | 227 kcal | 158 kcal | 30% | 12.2g |
| Giblet Gravy | smothered | 270 kcal | 158 kcal | 41% | 14.2g |
| Bread Pudding | pudding | 553 kcal | 342 kcal | 38% | 15.2g |
| Squash Casserole | sides | 468 kcal | 112 kcal | 76% | 8.1g |
| Pulled Pork Shoulder | pork | 790 kcal | 319 kcal | 60% | 51.4g |
The ones I wouldn't touch
Dishes drafted for this book that didn't survive. If every dish survived lightening, that chapter would be a marketing device and you should trust none of the rest.
Mustard Greens
Mustard greens are leaves, water and a piece of smoked meat. this version got to 74 kcal a serving, which looks like a win until you see that the protein for the calories fell with it: I had taken out the meat that was the only protein in the pot. A bowl of greens with nothing in it is not a lighter version of this dish, it is a different and worse one. The greens recipe worth having is in the chapter with the smoked turkey in it.
Turnip Greens
Turnip greens came out at 139 kcal against 137, which is 1%. The pot is already leaves and stock and a little meat. There is no lever here that is not just taking the meat out, and taking the meat out is the thing this book refuses to call an improvement.
Smothered Cabbage
Smothered cabbage is cabbage cooked down in a little fat until it goes sweet. At 158 kcal a serving the fat is already modest. I put smoked turkey in to lift the protein and made it heavier. That is a better dinner and it is not a lighter cabbage.
Smoked Ham Hocks
A smoked ham hock is a smoked ham hock. It is 441 kcal a serving and 71g of protein, which is a remarkable ratio, and the fat is what makes the meat give up and go soft over four hours. Trim it and you get a dry hock and a thin pot. This is one of the best-value pieces of protein in the whole series and it stays exactly as it is.
Red Rice
Red rice is rice cooked in tomato and stock with a little sausage through it. At 277 kcal a serving the fat is already small and the rice is the dish. I put more sausage in to raise the protein and it went up rather than down. If you want this lighter, serve less of it next to something with protein in it, which is how it is eaten anyway.
Pinto Beans with Ham
Pinto beans with ham came out 5% lighter with the protein for the calories slightly down, which means I had taken ham out and put bean in. That is a portion cut with extra steps. Beans and a ham bone is already one of the cheapest good meals anyone cooks, at 359 kcal a serving. Leave it.
Stewed Okra and Tomatoes
Stewed okra and tomatoes is 82 kcal a serving. I added prawns to give it a protein number worth printing and took it to 139, which is heavier and is also a different dish. Okra and tomatoes is a side and it should stay a side.
Where the numbers come from
- FoodData Central, SR Legacy Release (April 2018). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
- McCance & Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID) 2021. Public Health England / Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- FoodData Central, Branded Foods (October 2024 release). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
Retrieved 2026-08-21. Nothing in these books is dietary or medical advice. Danny Vale is a cook.