Paula Deen's 5 healthiest recipes

June 23, 4:17 PMKnoxville Healthy Food ExaminerElizabeth Kelly

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Abandon health, all ye who enter here. (Jason Rowland)

You have to wade through a lot of lard to find a healthy recipe in Paula Deen's repertoire. We're talking about a woman who deep fries lasagna, and of course it's no ordinary lasagna to begin with: Paula Deen's lasagna recipe has five cups of cheese even before deep frying.

I'll likely take some flack for condemning the recipes of Paula Deen, a cook who has probably single-handedly raised the personal wealth of butter stockholders. On the other hand, I can't sit quietly while folks at home cook and eat recipes that contain more artery-clogging fat than a trip to the fast food counter.

If you're dead set on cooking like Paula Deen, then there are some recipes of hers I can advocate trying, though finding them is like finding a needle in a deep fried haystack. The following five may soak up some of the grease from the bacon-wrapped hot dog, or the burger on a Krispy Kreme bun.

Paula Deen's Couscous Salad Recipe

I can't help but praise Paula Deen for having a couscous salad recipe. After all, I have one too. Though my couscous salad recipe  is a tad healthier (it doesn't have cheese), and naturally I prefer it because it's made to my own taste, Paula Deen lovers can name drop her when they serve up this one. How she used enough restraint to stop at one teaspoon of oil is beyond me.

Paula Deen's Green Beans Provencal Recipe

Even Paula Deen's side dishes usually use bacon, cream or other high fat ingredients, so this green bean dish is a refreshing change. The flavor comes from garlic, fresh herbs, and a dab of oilive oil, all of which should be in frequent use by anyone interested in cooking food that is low in fat but high in flavor.

Paula Deen's Lightening Fast White Bean Dip Recipe

Don't blame me for the spelling. I'm sure Paula Deen means to say that it's fast as lightning, but if she thinks it's fast as "lightening," maybe she means bleaching her hair? This is another (rare) case where Paula and I are on the same page, as my Hummus with Five Variations is similar, and you have your choice of flavors.

I would, though, hold the salt in Paula's recipe. Canned beans are already plenty high in sodium.

Paula Deen's Marrakesh Chicken Recipe

This Indian-inspired recipe is one of the only Paula Deen main dishes that won't clog your arteries, and it's actually even healthier than real Indian food, as it doesn't use ghee --the clarified butter product found in most Indian cooking. You might not be surprised to find that Paula credits someone else with this recipe. It stands to reason that she wouldn't hold the butter voluntarily!

Paula Deen's Watermelon Salad Recipe

This one makes my mouth water. A tantalizing combination of fresh watermelon, vidalia onion, and feta cheese, it contains several of my favorite tastes in one. Sub reduced fat feta for a calorie purge. It's one of the few cheeses that hardly seems different at all in the lower fat version. The texture is the same.

If you're dead set on cooking like Paula Deen, please do me, yourself, and your heart a favor, and try these healthful recipes the next time you cook. You'll find that delicious food doesn't have to start with a stick of butter.

-Liz Kelly