Antioxidant Drinks for a Healthy Heart
Red wine isn't the only beverage that helps keep your arteries clear. Here are two other mighty fine choices: cranberry juice and tea.Both are bursting with heart-protective flavonoids. To get the RealAge-recommended daily dose, you can drink several cups of tea (any kind will do) or two and a half small glasses of cranberry juice a day. Yup, it's that easy.
All About Your Arteries
Whole fruits and veggies are good flavonoid sources, too. But it's nice to know that what you drink can help nudge you toward the goal of 31 milligrams of flavonoids daily. Get enough and you'll not only help give heart disease the boot but also fend off peripheral artery disease (PAD) -- a condition that reduces blood flow to the limbs and vital organs. OJ and tomato juice have lots of flavonoids, too, by the way.
Extra Protection
Stave off artery disease with these additional love-your-heart steps:
- Kick butt. Smokers are at particularly high risk.
- Lace up your walking shoes. Carve out 30 minutes during your day to pound the pavement.
- Love the good fats. That means grabbing nuts (not chips) and olive oil (not butter) and eating lots of salmon. If you check some past posts on this blog, you’ll find some great salmon recipes.
As we all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Here is a healthy one which is good for your heart too!!
Heart-Smart Recipe: Steel-Cut Oatmeal with Antioxidant Berries
A side of sliced strawberries with your steel-cut oatmeal may make for one heck of a smart breakfast combo.That's because oats are rich in heart-healthy compounds called phenols. And it seems that adding some vitamin C (from the berries) is like adding water to a Chia Pet: It causes the heart-helping powers of the oats to grow.
Working in Synergy
When oat phenols and vitamin C were combined in a study, they worked synergistically to reinforce LDL cholesterol and make it more stable -- even better than the oat phenols alone could do. And you want your LDL to be stable, because that means it's less likely to break down and stick to the walls of your arteries. You know, that process that can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and other nasty business.
Why Steel-Cut Oats?
They take a little longer to make, but they're worth it. Steel-cut oats -- also called coarse-cut oats -- are lightly processed. And that means they probably still have most of their good stuff intact (fiber, nutrients, etc.).
Not sure how to cook steel-cut oats? Try this.
An easy way to serve a crowd a hearty breakfast before facing the elements for a day of winter sports. You can assemble it in the slow cooker in the evening and wake up to a bowl of hot, nourishing oatmeal. The slow cooker eliminates the need for constant stirring and ensures an exceptionally creamy consistency. It is important to use steel-cut oats; old-fashioned oats become too soft during slow-cooking.
8 servings, 1 cup each
Active Time:
Total Time:
Ingredients
- 8 cups water
- 2 cups steel-cut oats, (see Ingredient note)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Preparation
- Combine water, oats, dried cranberries, dried apricots and salt in a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Turn heat to low. Put the lid on and cook until the oats are tender and the porridge is creamy, 7 to 8 hours. Stovetop Variation Halve the above recipe to accommodate the size of most double boilers: Combine 4 cups water, 1 cup steel-cut oats, 3 tablespoons dried cranberries, 3 tablespoons dried apricots and 1/8 teaspoon salt in the top of a double boiler. Cover and cook over boiling water for about 1 1/2 hours, checking the water level in the bottom of the double boiler from time to time.
Tips & Notes
- Ingredient Note: Steel-cut oats, sometimes labeled "Irish oatmeal," look like small pebbles. They are toasted oat groats—the oat kernel that has been removed from the husk that have been cut in 2 or 3 pieces. Do not substitute regular rolled oats, which have a shorter cooking time, in the slow-cooker oatmeal recipe.
Nutrition
Per serving: 193 calories; 3 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 34 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 6 g protein; 9 g fiber; 77 mg sodium; 195 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Fiber (36% daily value).2 Carbohydrate Serving
WHAT’S FOR DINNER ?!
Fennel Dill Chicken Cutlets
Coarsely crushed fennel seeds enhance chicken's mild flavor, while a wine, lemon and dill sauce brighten the everyday dish. Serve with mild vegetables, like carrots or spinach, which will pick up the same flavors.
Prep Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
20 mins
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
Directions
Arrange cutlets in 1 layer on a tray or baking sheet and season both sides with fennel and salt and pepper.Heat a 12-inch heavy skillet (not non-stick) over moderately high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat bottom.
Cook chicken in batches (don't crowd pan), turning once or twice, until just cooked through (adjust heat lower as necessary to keep bits on bottom from burning and add remaining tablespoon oil when pan begins to look dry in subsequent batches), 2 to 3 minutes total per batch.
Transfer as cooked with tongs to a platter and keep warm, loosely covered.
Add wine to skillet and boil, scraping up browned bits, until reduced by half.
Add juices that have accumulated on platter and bring to a boil.
Stir in lemon juice and remove skillet from heat.
Add butter and stir until incorporated and smooth.
Stir in dill and salt and pepper to taste and spoon over chicken.
about this recipe
If you are wondering what to do with the jar of fennel seeds hanging around your cupboard, leftover, no doubt, from an Italian recipe here's one answer. Coarsely crushed and sprinkled on chicken breasts, the seeds enhance the mild meat with a delicate hint of anise that is downright bewitching. Add a little wine, lemon, and dill and you've got a quick chicken main that offers a welcome twist from the run-of-the-mill chicken in white wine sauce.
No comments:
Post a Comment