Healthy Eating Tips – Part 2

Heart disease is a leading cause of death, but making some simple changes in your diet may be easier than you think. You can help lower your cholesterol, blood pressure, and body weight by choosing foods low in calories, fat and sodium.

Memorial Medical Center’s registered dietitians offer some tricks to help you make educated food choices, as well as an easy recipe for heart-healthy meatless meal.

7 General Food Tips

• When grocery shopping, stay on the perimeter of the store; the aisles tend to be filled with foods high in sodium and saturated fats. In the meat aisle, choose lean cuts of red meat and pork labeled “loin” or “round.”
• When dining out, ask that your food be prepared without added salt, and choose fruit or sherbet for dessert.
• When cooking, avoid adding fat or oil to the meal by baking or boiling foods instead of frying. Trim visible fat from meats and skin from chicken.
• Aim for two servings of salmon, tuna, mackerel and/or sardines each week to get heart-healthy fats.
• Increase your intake of fiber-rich foods such as fruits, veggies and whole grains to help lower cholesterol.
• Consider getting your protein from plant-based foods such as nuts, seeds, peas, beans and soy products. Many nuts and seeds also can help lower cholesterol.
• Add flaxseed to a meal, such as your morning bowl of oatmeal, to lower the risk of blood clots, stroke and cardiac arrhythmias.

Crustless Spinach, Onion, and Feta Quiche – Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 6 oz fresh baby spinach
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup egg substitute
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 1/3 cups nonfat milk
• ½ cup feta cheese

Crustless Spinach, Onion, and Feta Quiche – Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray pie pan with no-stick spray. Spray a medium skillet with no-stick spray and add diced onion. Cook over medium heat until translucent and tender. Add in spinach and cook until just wilted. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, egg substitute and flour. Whisk in milk, then stir in spinach-onion mixture. Pour quiche base into prepared pan. Top with feta cheese.
• Bake for 25 minutes, or until center is set and the outside edge is golden brown. Let set for 5 minutes, then slice and serve.
• Yields 8 servings. Each serving: 103 calories, 3.5 g fat, 1.9 g saturated fat, 10.4 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 7.4 g protein and 190 mg sodium.