Culinary Adventures in Mush-land

Still experimenting with how many different ways one can find to eat mush. Yesterday's effort was low-fat grits n' gravy.

As with my previous experiments with low-fat poutine, I recognise that there is something fundamentally heretical in the idea. Dammit, Southern gravy is supposed to be fattening! Whilst I have been able to concoct a tolerable low-fat poutine, the grits n' gravy was a decided flop.

The reason, of course, is that there isn't all that much to grits in the first place. If y'all mean to put some meat on your bones, you have to have some substance with it. McCormick's low-fat gravy mix, which comes in at about 20 cal. per tablespoon with some absurdly low fat content, does not get the job done: not even close. Like poutine, grits n' gravy is meant to be one of those dishes where you call your cardiologist before you sit down to dinner, so the defibrillator will be en route before you get up from the table--or collapse out of your chair.

In this contest, the Italians get the upper hand. One can do a low-fat dish of polenta with spinach in marinara sauce and skim-milk mozzarella, and come away feeling as if one has actually had a meal. It does make a change from yogurt or oatmeal.