Yes, it’s quite possible, I believe, to eat “soul food” while watching your diet, and working towards a body builder’s physique. You just have to have some imagination, taste buds and willingness to try out different techniques, combinations, variations and not to mention, spices. These dishes are not exactly reinventing the wheel, but they offer enticing flavors and are in addition quite easy to prepare.  The first dish below is a bison and ground turkey chili – quite spicy using cayenne, chili powder, chipotle, dried oregano and cinnamon. I added in some pinto beans and topped it off with a non fat sour cream and part skim cheddar cheese along with some green onions.

The next night I used the left over spice mix from the chili to rub our chicken breasts – and we cooked some brown rice and prepared black beans cooked in chipotle sauce, cumin, onions, garlic and finished with lime juice and cilantro. Served with a few slices of avocado for some healthy fats, along with a dollop of low/non fat sour cream and you have a delicious, healthy dinner, once again!

Finally, tonight was a dish we thought of last minute – I had to go to Mahopac this afternoon to visit my wonderful sports doctor for my shoulder again (who I just found out, has five children under the age of 6 – my heartfelt sympathy goes out to his wife, lol!) and we still hadn’t thought about dinner at 5 pm. We ended up buying some shrimp at  a local fish monger in town that was supposed to have really good sea food.  Our decision fell on a dish of sauteed shrimp and grilled asparagus served with a quinoa/mushroom/edamame mix. It was gorgeous- flavored with yuzu juice (Japanese citrus) and red pepper flakes.  I’ll have seconds, please!  Going to bed quite happy tonight and hopefully my muscles are equally content… 🙂