Heart Healthy Recipes: Healthy Meal Recipes

Cholesterol Lowering Recipes

There are many heart healthy recipes online or in wholesome cookbooks. Recipes that are easy to prepare and that will give your heart the nutrition it needs.

You certainly won’t go hungry if you are treating your heart well. Let’s bring wholesome cooking back to America.

Heart Healthy Recipes: Curried Lentils & Rice

Many people in places like Italy, Spain and France eat lots of beans and peas, fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh fish and pure virgin olive oil. In fact the Italians have been known to bathe in olive oil. That of course is not true, but it is the only oil they use for cooking. Now thats healthy eating.

The Italians eat a lot of lentils. Here is a version of lentils that uses a great tasting spice called curry. This is a hearty meal. You can also use Italian seasonings. Leave out the rice and it would be more of the Italian version.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried lentils
• ½ cup brown rice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 roma tomatoes, chopped
• 3 tablespoons curry powder
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ½ teaspoon cayenne
• Bunch of cilantro or parsley
• Sea salt to taste

Rinse and cook lentils according to package directions. Add one extra cup of water to the pot and cook the brown rice with the lentils. Meanwhile sauté the onions and garlic in a good amount of olive oil. Add tomatoes and cook for two minutes. Stir in parsley and spices. Turn off heat.

When lentils and rice are thoroughly cooked, add your other ingredients to the pot and add sea salt to taste. Enjoy with whole grain bagels or rolls and a side green salad. If you make this in the Italian way, bring on the freshly grated Parmesan cheese!

Heart Healthy Recipes: Chickpea Stir Fry

Garlic reduces high blood pressure naturally when it is eaten on a consistent basis. This particular dish uses lots of garlic, which is great for the heart.

Ingredients

• 2 cups chickpeas
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 roma tomatoes, chopped
• 2 teaspoons pizza seasoning
• Large bunch of parsley
• Sea salt to taste
• Parmesan cheese, grated

Chickpeas need to be soaked overnight. Rinse soaked chickpeas and cook according to package directions. Meanwhile sauté the garlic and onion on medium heat in a good amount of olive oil. Don’t be shy with the olive oil.

Cook for two minutes. Add the peppers and cook for three minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and pizza seasoning and cook for another three to four minutes. When the chickpeas are done, toss with the vegetables. Add sea salt to taste.

If the dish seems too dry, you can add ¼ cup water and a good drizzle of olive oil, then quickly toss and turn off heat. This heart healthy meal goes well with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, whole-wheat pita bread, and a side green salad. Enjoy these two heart healthy recipes.

If you follow the Mediterranean diet you will be getting a balanced diet. This does away with the food pyramid guidelines for healthy eating. The only thing to make sure of is if you eat flour foods such as breads and pasta, that they are made from whole grain.

Did you know that people who live in the Mediterranean eat three times more fruits and vegetables than Americans? Perhaps that is just one more reason why heart disease is very low in this part of Europe.