‘But Baby It’s Cold Outside.’

Wait a minute, shouldn’t I be singing this at Christmas and not Mardi Gras?

Happy Mardi Gras friends! If you are anywhere on the east coast and in the south, you are experiencing snow, ice, cold rain, and just plain cold!

Nothing makes me feel better on a cold, rainy day than flannel pajama bottoms AND soup! What about our Mardi Gras celebrations, can we have a great bowl of soup? You bet! If you are from my hometown of Houma no Mardi Gras parade is passing because of the weather, so you have no excuse to make soup.

Mardi Gras is such a celebration. From ‘throw me something mister,’ to having our kids run for beads, this cold celebration is perfect for my Skinny Crawfish and Sausage Chowder.

Many of us welcome a crawfish (or seafood) based chowder, and while warm and delicious, it can give our waistlines a bit of expansion due to:

• Tons of flour (carbs)
• Tons of potatoes (more carbs)
• Tons of corn (more carbs)
• Heavy cream (additional fat and calories)

We can ‘skinny’ this chowder with very simple changes including:

• Cutting flour in half (decreasing carbs)
• Eliminating potatoes and corn (bye carbs)
• Replacing heavy cream with half and half (decreasing fat and calories)

I took a traditional corn, crawfish, and sausage chowder to the ‘skinny’ side and offered the first bowl to my ‘Yankee’ husband. He is from the land of the chowder lovers, and if he liked it, we were good to go. When he went for his second bowl, I knew this would be a hit! Stay warm this Mardi Gras and enjoy the flavors of this yummy chowder!

Skinny Crawfish and Sausage Chowder

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound of sausage (look for lower sodium turkey or chicken varieties)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cans low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound cooked, peeled Louisiana crawfish tails
1/2 cup half and half

Directions.

1. Place olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add sausage. Stir. Cook 5 minutes.
3. Add onions and celery. Cook 5 minutes.
4. Add green pepper and garlic. Cook 5-10 minutes or until soft.
5. Sprinkle flour over vegetables. Stirring constantly, cook 2 minutes.
6. Add chicken broth. Stir.
7. Add Cajun seasoning, salt, cayenne. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer. Cook 20 minutes.
8. Add crawfish and half and half. Cook 5 to 10 minutes or until crawfish are heated through.
9. Dish into soup bowls. Serve.