Soul food has gotten quite a lot of flak in recent times for being high in fat. However, I think much of this is actually misdirected. Traditional soul food emphasizes on minimal food wastage; this meant that many cooks reused their cooking oil again and again.
But actually, soul food has undergone a renaissance in the past few decades, as health experts learn more and more about what are good fats and what are bad fats. It seems cholesterol is not so bad after all, and neither is monounsaturated fat. What scientists learned is that trans fats are bad, and they can be significantly reduced by taking care to use the right frying oil and not to reuse oil for cooking.
As a result many cooks today practice healthier cooking procedures and this results in healthier soul food. Many soul food recipes are actually nutritionally balanced and ideal for people who worry about not getting enough healthy sustenance (soul food is filling). Most soul food contain good amounts of protein, fat, and carbs and are an ideal food to get buffed up on!