Healthy Red Meat Choices

Many health-conscious people tend to avoid red meat due to its negative media portrayal. However, it's not that red meat is bad for you, but that that people generally eat too much and also don't choose the right cuts. Here's a guide to making the right choice when you are at market.

Beef

Beef is OK for you, but it's best to not to eat it more than about once a week. It's the amount of fat in beef that you want to keep an eye on, so choosing lean beef is the key. Keep your choices under 10 g of fat with less than 4 g of saturated fat in a 4-oz. serving.

The leanest cuts come from the loin and the most tender section is the tenderloin. There are a number of tenderloin cuts to choose from. At the smaller end are the tournedos (or medallions) and the center is filet mignon. These steaks are most often pan fried or grilled. At the head is the Chateaubriand, which is usually roasted and is large enough for 3 to 4 servings. For most tenderloin recipes, the choice is filet mignon.

Flank steak is a good choice, since it has only about 6 g of fat in each serving. It is less tender than some cuts because it comes form an area that gets more muscular action, but marinated and cooked quickly over high heat, it makes for a truly succulent steak. Flank steak also works well in stews because it tenderizes quickly during the stewing process.

Skirt steak is a great cut. It's from the same area as the flank steak but is actually the diaphragm muscle. It is more marbled with fat than flank steak, and makes for a fantastic dinner. Try it simply pan seared until just medium rare.

As for ground beef, get the leanest you can find. The redder it is, the better, because the higher fat content will make the ground beef look pink. Butchers are allowed to label their beef 80 percent lean or 90 percent lean. Keep in mind that you have to subtract this from 100 to get the fat content (20 percent fat for the 80 percent lean ground beef, for example). Most groceries carry 90 and 95 percent lean, and these are your best choice (these might be labeled "Extra Lean").

Top round is often sold as "London Broil," although traditionally London Broil recipes use flank steak. Cuts from the round are lean and muscular, coming from the hip of the cow. You can use this cut for London Broil recipes because it's more economical. Try using top round for stews. It also makes for terrific lean beef for grinding.

Liver

Since there's a lot of cholesterol in liver, there's a lot of confusion about whether you should eat it. Liver does contain a lot of cholesterol, with a 4-oz. serving having 374 mg. That said, there's so much in liver that's good for you that if you like it, everyone agrees that having it once a month or so is fine. Choose calf's liver; it's very low in fat (5 g fat and 2 g saturated fat in 4 oz.).

Lamb

The most popular cut these days in America are lamb chops. They are generally pretty high in fat. Trimmed to 1/8-inch fat, 4 oz. of lamb chops still have about 383 calories and 34 g of fat (15 g of saturated fat). Save eating lamb chops for special occasions.

Lamb shoulder is a great cut for many uses. Sometimes lamb shoulder can be harder to find, but it's worth looking for or asking for your butcher to order it. Shoulder steaks are leaner and have all the great lamb flavor with only 148 calories in a 4-oz. serving (6 g fat and 2 g saturated fat). The shoulder steak is wonderfully tender and could be used in almost any recipe calling for beef steak. Likewise, lamb shoulder makes great cubes for kabobs and stews.

Pork

A favorite cut of pork is the tenderloin. This is juicy, succulent and very lean. There's so many great recipes that you can use this cut for--it can make for an elegant dinner party meal, a weeknight recipe or an outdoor barbecue.

Try cooking with center cut loin pork chops; when well-trimmed, these are low in fat and calories. Likewise, the pork loin itself makes for a great roast and is also relatively low in fat and calories when carefully trimmed.