Throughout her time counseling clients at Ochsner Fitness Center, registered dietician Molly Kimball would hear from clients who could stick to their meal plans when cooking at home but who had trouble knowing what to order when dining out or attending festivals. When Ochsner Health System asked her how they could have a bigger impact on the community, she proposed Eat Fit, a program that collaborates with local restaurants to offer nutritious options. Eat Fit launched in 2013, and today, with the help of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, it has expanded statewide, with about 350 restaurants participating. Now, Molly is sharing recipes for her favorite Eat Fit dishes in The Eat Fit Cookbook (River Road Press, 2019).
Eat Fit-approved dishes must meet certain nutrition criteria—no refined carbohydrates, low sodium, little or no added sugar, and more plant-based fats. In The Eat Fit Cookbook, Molly shares recipes from local restaurants, including Commander’s Palace, Broussard’s, and Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse. Each recipe breaks down the nutritional information, and many are paired with tips for successfully executing the dishes.
“The idea behind [the cookbook] is making it possible to create these restaurant-quality dishes at home that are nutritious as well as delicious,” Molly says.
Readers can accomplish that with recipes like Jacques-Imo’s Café’s Crabmeat + Artichoke Salad with Citrus Dressing and SoBou’s Creole Chili Mustard-Painted Black Drum. The book also shows how to make a few beloved Louisiana dishes more healthful, such as using cauliflower rice or quinoa as rice substitutes in red beans and rice.
“A lot of [these recipes] are flavor-packed dishes that are relatively simple and don’t take a lot of time,” Molly says. “And you might start with a recipe for a dish, but you could do a different portion or substitutions. The goal with it is to educate and also to inspire people to take it into their own hands.”
- 2 pounds jumbo lump crabmeat, picked free of shell
- 6 ounces Ravigote Sauce
- (recipe follows) (about ⅔ cup)
- ½ red onion, diced (about ⅔ cup)
- ½ small red bell pepper, diced (½ cup)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Garnish: microgreens, Ravigote Sauce
- In a large bowl, place half of crabmeat, and break up into smaller pieces. Add remaining crabmeat, Ravigote Sauce, onion, bell pepper, parsley, and black pepper, tossing until well combined.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place approximately ½ cup crab mixture into a 2½-inch ring mold; cook crab cake, still inside mold, until seared and golden brown on bottom, about 3 minutes. Wearing an oven mitt, use a spatula to carefully turn crab cake. Cook until seared and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Repeat with remaining crab mixture. Garnish with microgreens and Ravigote Sauce, if desired. Serve immediately.
- 2 cups mayonnaise
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped capers
- 1 tablespoon Creole mustard
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce
- ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- Pinch sea salt
- Pinch ground black pepper
- In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients until well combined.
