Following a healthy diet is one of the primary ways to prevent heart disease. Healthy eating can also help you manage your weight and reduce your risk of developing other chronic health conditions. If you think eating healthfully means meals of salads and steamed vegetables, think again. Whole, natural foods can taste good and meet your nutritional needs.
Ingredients
Limiting processed foods helps you avoid unhealthy additives like excessive sodium, sugar, and trans, hydrogenated and saturated fats. Stock your kitchen with fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, beans, nuts, whole grains, low-fat dairy, unsaturated oils and whole-wheat cereals breads and pasta. Instead of frozen dinners and canned soups, rely on less-processed convenience foods, such as plain, frozen vegetables, canned low-sodium chicken broth, canned diced tomatoes and canned beans. A full spice cabinet, fresh herbs, garlic, onions, vinegar and citrus provide healthy flavoring alternatives to seasoning packets and bottled sauces, which often contain artificial ingredients, preservatives, flavor enhancers and sodium.
Techniques
When cooking meats, fish and chicken, choose cooking techniques such as grilling, broiling and roasting which do not require extra fat. Instead of cooking vegetables in oil or butter, steam them and add herbs, lemon juice or a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese for flavor. Vegetables, such as winter squash, eggplant, asparagus, cauliflower and tomatoes, take on a sweet, rich flavor when tossed with a modest amount of olive oil and roasted until brown and caramelized. Cook whole grains, such as brown rice and quinoa, in chicken broth or with canned, diced tomatoes to add flavor. Substitute beans for meat once or twice per week to reduce your intake of saturated fat and increase your vegetable consumption. Make chili or tacos with pinto or black beans instead of ground beef to fit in extra vegetable servings while enjoying a lean source of protein.
Breakfast
Healthy and tasty breakfasts can still include some of your favorite foods. Make a healthy version of eggs Benedict by placing a slice of tomato and a poached egg on each half of a whole-wheat English muffin. Top with a mock Hollandaise sauce made by mixing together 1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, a pinch of salt and 1 tsp. fresh chives. Pancakes made with white flour and doused in butter and syrup are not the healthiest choice. Use whole-wheat flour and canola oil instead of white flour and butter in the batter and top with fresh fruit and yogurt to make a healthy, tasty version. Breakfast sausages are often full of fat and sodium. Make a healthy homemade version by blending extra lean ground turkey with fennel seeds, Italian seasoning and a pinch of salt and cayenne pepper. Form into patties and saute in a pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
Lunches and Dinners
Give your lunchtime sandwich a healthy makeover by using a whole-wheat wrap, lean turkey breast, mustard, cucumbers and tomatoes instead of white bread, salami, mayonnaise and cheese. Create a homemade, healthy soup by heating low-sodium chicken broth and adding cooked chicken, whole-wheat egg noodles, fresh carrots and zucchini. Turn salads into nutritious meals by using olive oil-based dressing, instead of ranch or blue cheese, dark-colored greens, and other colorful vegetables. At dinner, marinate your meats in homemade marinades consisting of lemon juice or vinegar, fresh herbs and olive oil. The marinade helps add flavor and juiciness to lean meats. For casseroles, substitute vegetables for some of the pasta, cheese or meat. For example, make your favorite lasagna recipe with whole-wheat noodles, slices of zucchini and red bell pepper, half the regular amount meat -- use extra lean ground beef -- and low-fat ricotta and mozzarella cheeses.
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