As you prepare the recipes in this book, your time in the kitchen will be well spent. With each satisfying meal, you will be helping your heart. To create these heart-healthy dishes, we rely on certain principles that allow us to cut back on saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium without losing flavor and appeal. You can apply the same techniques to all the foods you cook at home.
You can avoid a great deal of saturated fat by grilling, baking, roasting, or steaming instead of deep-fat frying or pan-frying. You’ll find that these lower-fat cooking methods result in dishes that are just as tasty as their higher-fat counterparts.
As you prepare meals, use nonstick cookware, cooking spray, or a bit of unsaturated oil instead of butter or margarine to keep foods from sticking as they cook. You can follow this heart-healthy practice with most recipes and most of the cooking techniques below, which are the ones you’ll see most frequently in this cookbook.
Braising or Stewing. Braising (for a pot roast with vegetables, for example) and stewing (for stews and chilis) are similar slow-cooking methods that are great ways to tenderize tougher cuts of meat. Lightly spray a pan with cooking spray or use a small amount of olive or canola oil, then brown the food on all sides. (This step intensifies the flavor and adds color to the meat or chicken, but it can be left out if you wish.) Pour off any fat. Simmer the food in a tightly covered pot on the stovetop or in the oven, using a small amount of flavorful liquid if braising and enough to cover the food if stewing. Because braising or stewing meat or poultry cooks the fat out into the sauce, begin a day ahead if possible. Prepare the dish, then refrigerate it overnight. The extra time lets the flavors blend and causes the chilled fat to rise to the top and harden, making it easy to remove. Braising is also a good method for cooking firm vegetables, and stewing is good for some fresh fruits, such as plums and cherries, and for dried fruits. Braising and stewing are not recommended for tender cuts of meat.
Grilling or Broiling. Interchangeable in many recipes, grilling (cooking over direct heat) and broiling (cooking under direct heat) usually provide a crisp, browned crust and a moist, tender interior. While the food cooks, the fat drips away into the grill or the broiler pan, but the flavor remains. Both methods work well with lean, tender, fairly thin foods, such as fish steaks or fillets, thin steaks, chicken breasts, and hamburgers, that can be cooked relatively quickly over high heat. Trim all visible fat before grilling or broiling; doing so will not only cut down on the amount of “bad” fat but also help prevent flare-ups. Marinades provide extra flavor, but use a minimum amount of oil in them as another way to help prevent flare-ups. Vegetables and fruit also taste great when grilled or broiled. One important note about broiling: If your recipe says, for example, to broil about 4 inches from the heat, that means 4 inches from the heat element to the top of the food you are broiling, not to the top of the broiling rack.
Microwave Cooking. Fast and easy, microwave cooking uses moist heat, making it an especially healthy way to cook vegetables and fruits. That’s because very little liquid is needed, so nutrients are retained. Foods don’t stick, so you don’t need much added fat, if any, and cleanup is easy. To adapt a recipe for the microwave oven, try to find a similar microwave recipe to use as a guide. Cut the cooking time of the conventional recipe to one-fourth to one-third of the time it recommends. If the food isn’t done, gradually increase the cooking time until it is. Also, reduce the amount of liquid used in most foods by about one-third because less liquid evaporates in microwave cooking.
microwave cooking tips
• Choose foods that cook well in moist heat: chicken, fish, ground meat, vegetables, sauces, and soups.
• Choose a microwaveable container slightly larger than the dish required for cooking the recipe in a conventional oven.
• Choose pieces that are about equal in size and shape; they will cook more uniformly.
• Add fat-free or low-fat cheese and other toppings near the end of cooking to keep the top of your food from becoming tough or soggy.
Poaching. Poaching is an excellent way to prepare delicate foods, such as seafood, chicken, and fruit. To poach food, immerse it in a pan of almost-simmering well-seasoned liquid (the bubbles should not break the surface of the liquid), and cook it without a cover. Although you can use water as the liquid, some more-flavorful choices are fruit juice, wine, and fat-free, low-sodium broth. After the food is cooked, remove it from the pan and reduce the remaining liquid (decrease the volume by boiling the liquid rapidly) to make a delicious sauce.
Steaming. Steaming is appropriate for almost any food that can be boiled or simmered, including chicken breasts and vegetables. The food is cooked in a basket over simmering water and covered, thus retaining the natural flavor, color, and nutrients. To add flavor to the finished dish, put herbs in the steaming liquid, usually water or broth. Be sure the liquid does not touch the bottom of the basket.
Stir-Frying. Quickly stirring food in a minimum of hot oil seals in the natural juices of meats and seafood and preserves the texture and color of vegetables. Stir-frying is typically done in a wok, although a large skillet also works well. The high temperature and the constant movement of the food keep it from sticking and burning. Once you actually start stir-frying, everything moves quickly, so slice or dice each ingredient into uniform pieces (for more even cooking) and prepare any sauces before you begin.
Roasting or Baking. Both roasting and baking use the dry heat of an oven. The line between the two methods is blurry, but roasting is usually done without a cover and at higher heat, whereas baking may or may not use a cover and usually is at somewhat lower heat. Some sources consider meats and poultry (especially large cuts and whole birds) to be roasted and breads, desserts, and casseroles to be baked. You can use either method for firm fruits and vegetables. When roasting meat, discard the visible fat and place the meat on a rack in a roasting pan to prevent the meat from sitting in its fat drippings. If needed, baste with fat-free liquids, such as wine, fruit juice, or fat-free, low-sodium broth. Plan on removing the meat from the oven 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Letting the meat “rest” makes it easier to carve. For whole birds, discard as much fat as you can before roasting, but leave the skin on until the poultry is cooked. Discard the skin before serving the poultry. Roasting also works well for a number of fruits, such as peaches and bananas, and vegetables from asparagus to zucchini, but not green, leafy vegetables.
Here are some tips for heart-smart cooking as well as ways to help trim saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and calories from your home-cooked dishes—without trimming taste:
• Remove all visible fat before cooking meat or poultry.
• After you roast or braise meat or poultry, refrigerate it with its liquid, then discard the drippings after the fat has risen to the top and hardened. Save the defatted liquid to use as gravy for meat or poultry or in stews, sauces, and soups.
• If you’re using leftover marinade for basting or in a sauce, take precautions—be sure to boil the marinade for at least 5 minutes before using it to kill any harmful bacteria that the raw food might transmit.
• Before cooking most chicken dishes, discard the skin and all visible fat. (See the Cook’s Tip on Skinning Poultry.) Be sure to scrub the cutting surface and utensils well with hot, sudsy water after preparing poultry for cooking. If you’re roasting a chicken, leave the skin on to prevent the chicken from drying out. Discard the skin before serving the chicken.
• Baste meats and poultry with fat-free, low-sodium broth, wine, or fruit juice instead of melted butter or other liquids high in fat.
• Buy turkeys that are not self-basting. Self-basting turkeys are high in saturated fat and sodium.
• Try grilling or broiling fish, either directly on the grill or broiler pan or wrapped in aluminum foil. Using a few herbs and some citrus juice as seasoning will let you enjoy the wonderful flavor of the fish itself instead of tasting batter and frying oil.
• To retain natural juices, wrap food in aluminum foil before grilling or baking. Also try wrapping food in edible pouches made of steamed lettuce or cabbage leaves. No need for heavy sauces!
• Cook vegetables just long enough to make them tender-crisp. Overcooked vegetables lose both flavor and important nutrients. With more natural flavor, there’s less temptation to use butter or rich sauces.
• Cut down on cholesterol by using more vegetables and less poultry, seafood, or meats in soups, stews, and casseroles. Finely chopped vegetables also are great for stretching ground poultry or meat.
• Use small amounts of lean meats instead of salt pork or fatback to flavor vegetables.
• When you make stuffing, substitute chopped vegetables for some of the bread.
• After making soups and sauces, refrigerate them and skim the hardened fat off the top.
• Instead of using a butter-flour mixture or eggs to thicken soups, stews, and sauces, use pureed cooked vegetables or a tablespoon of cornstarch or flour blended with a cup of fat-free, low-sodium broth or water. Add the blended liquid and simmer until the dish thickens.
In General
• Substitute herbs, spices, and salt-free seasonings for salt as you cook and at the table.
• Substitute onion or garlic flakes or powder for onion or garlic salt.
• Add a drop of lemon juice to the water you cook pasta in, and eliminate the salt and oil.
• Reduce or omit salt in baking recipes that don’t use yeast.
• Since most recipes that include sugar call for more of it than necessary, you can usually use one-fourth to one-third less than specified.
• Use wheat germ, bran, whole-wheat bread crumbs, panko, or matzo meal in place of buttered crumbs to top casseroles.
• Instead of croutons, fried bacon, or fried onion rings in salads and casseroles, try nuts, water chestnuts, or wheat berry sprouts for added crunch.
If you’re afraid you’ll have to give up your favorite recipes to eat heart-healthy, don’t worry. You can still enjoy most of those dishes simply by making a few easy substitutions to cut back on saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium.
| When Your Recipe Calls For | Use Instead |
| Regular broth or bouillon | Fat-free, low-sodium broths, either homemade or commercially prepared; low-sodium bouillon granules or cubes, reconstituted according to package directions. |
| Butter or hard margarine | When possible, use fat-free spray margarine or fat-free or light tub margarine. However, if the type of fat is critical to the recipe, especially in baked goods, you may need to use stick margarine. Choose the product that is lowest in saturated and trans fats. |
| Butter or hard margarine for | Vegetable oil or cooking spray; fat-free, low-sodium sautéing broth; wine; fruit or vegetable juice. |
| Cream | Fat-free half-and-half; fat-free nondairy creamer; fat-free evaporated milk. |
| Eggs | Cholesterol-free egg substitutes; 2 egg whites for 1 whole egg. |
| Evaporated milk | Fat-free evaporated milk. |
| Flavored salts, such as onion | Onion powder, garlic powder, celery seeds or flakes. |
| salt, garlic salt, and celery salt | Use about one-fourth the amount of flavored salt indicated in the recipe. |
| Ice cream | Fat-free, low-fat, or light ice cream; fat-free or low-fat frozen yogurt; sorbet; sherbet; gelato. |
| Oil in baking | Unsweetened applesauce. |
| Table salt | No-salt-added seasoning blends. |
| Tomato juice | No-salt-added tomato juice. |
| Tomato sauce | No-salt-added tomato sauce; 6-ounce can of no-salt-added tomato paste diluted with 1 can of water. |
| Whipping cream | Fat-free whipped topping; fat-free evaporated milk (thoroughly chilled before whipping). |
| Whole milk | Fat-free milk. |