Heart healthy recipes: Lose weight while you eat your way to a healthier heart.
Heart healthy recipes take care of the most important organ in your body.
Your heart. Here's five "SUPER-FOODS" that will not only help you get healthy and lose weight, but pay extra special attention to your heart.  --CLICK ON THE ORANGE RSS BUTTON (upper left) to subscribe to Gigi's FREE Weekly Tips and Recipe Ideas for: Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner & Snacks
 1. Spinach
Your parents always told you to eat your spinach. They were right. No doubt about it, spinach is the powerhouse of the vegetable kingdom. Its rich, dark color comes from the multiple phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals (especially folate and iron) that also fight disease, protect against heart disease, and preserve your eyesight. 1. Keep frozen, chopped spinach in your freezer for an easy, quick addition to pizza, pasta, soups, and stews. Just defrost and squeeze the liquid from a box of chopped spinach before you toss into cooked dishes. 2. Mix fresh spinach with salad greens or alone, then top with peeled and segmented Mandarin oranges or sliced strawberries, nuts, and crumbled cheese for a satisfying and delicious salad. 3. Steam spinach, mix with garlic, a little olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon for a low-fat potato topper. Heart healthy recipes idea: Mix spinach with pine nuts and raisins, then stuff into winter squash and bake for a colorful, delicious heart healthy recipe for a main or side dish.  2. Oatmeal
It's the best roughage and we need plenty of it each day. Oats are nourishing whole grains and a great source of vitamins, minerals, and cholesterol-lowering fiber. Research shows oats lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk for heart disease. 1. A warm bowl of oatmeal fills you up with its high fiber content. Try it with fruit to keep things interesting (such as blueberries or strawberries) and for added fiber, vitamins, and minerals. 2. Add oats whenever you bake. Substitute up to one-third of the flour with oats in pancakes, muffins, quick breads, cookies, and coffee cakes for an added dose of fiber. 3. Use oats in place of bread crumbs in dishes such as meatloaf, meatballs, or breading on poultry. Heart healthy recipes idea: If you're ambitious, make your own crunchy healthy granola by baking three cups of oats at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Stir occasionally, then cool and mix in a variety of chopped dried fruit, nuts, and seeds.  3. Soy Protein
This is one of the easy on the pocket book recipes. It's cheap in price but rich in high-quality protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Just what you need for a heart-healthy meal. Also, a diet rich in soy protein can lower triglycerides, which help prevent cardiovascular disease and keep your heart strong and healthy. 1. Pack a soy protein bar or a bag of soy nuts for a nutritious snack during the day. 2. Edamame (the Japanese name for green soybeans) are very popular at Japanese restaurants. But you can find them in the freezer section at your supermarket. Boil them, then serve warm in the pod. Pop them out of the pod for a fun, healthy snack or appetizer. 3. Tofu, made of soy beans, takes on the flavor of spices and foods you cook with it. Saute cubed tofu with green and red peppers, sliced garlic, and a dash or two of curry powder. Or add tofu to soups for a healthy dose of fat-free protein. The possibilities are endless. Heart healthy recipes idea: Soy milk is not just for the lactose-intolerant. Make a nutritious beverage with soy milk, a banana, strawberries. Toss them all into a blender with some ice for a delicious smoothie.  4. Salmon
This fish is not only a great source of protein, it's also packed with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. You should try and eat salmon and other omega-3 rich foods twice a week for benefits that go beyond heart health. It's easy to find, easy to cook, and tastes great. 1. Look for Wild Salmon when ever you can, bit more expensive but also more flavorful and nutritious than the farmed variety. Grill it, bake it or just throw it on the stovetop. Save leftovers to toss into pasta dishes, make into salmon cakes, add to salads, or mix into dips or spreads. 2. Smoked salmon comes in two varieties: 1. The raw type is commonly used in appetizers and on bagels with cream cheese and capers. 2. The dry smoked type has more of a cooked appearance. You can enjoy it the same way as the raw style, and add it to cooked dishes such as pasta for extra flavor. 3. Salmon cooks in a matter of minutes and its delicate texture quickly absorbs and showcases the flavor of added ingredients. For example, toss chunks of salmon into a chowder of corn and potatoes, or wrap salmon with herbs and chopped onion and tomatoes in parchment or aluminum foil and grill or bake 12 minutes for a satisfying meal. Heart healthy recipes idea: Marinate salmon in a lime, onion, garlic, and soy mixture for 15 minutes. Grill. Wrap in a whole wheat tortillas for a delicious fish burrito.  5. Blueberries
Last but not least by a long shot, blueberries. They stay at the top of the list as one of the most powerful disease-fighting foods. That's because they contain what is called anthocyanins, the antioxidant responsible for their dark blue color. These delicious little power packed berries are loaded with fiber, vitamin C, and are available all year long. Add them to your diet regularly to boost health. Here's some ideas: 1. Top your whole-grain cereal (for me it's oatmeal) with fresh or frozen blueberries. You get a blast of flavor, a dose of fiber, and heart-healthy antioxidants. 2. Power up a smoothie with fresh, frozen, or dried blueberries for a nutritious meal or snack. Taste great and is great for you. 3. Eat them plain or mix with yogurt for a low-calorie, dessert, or snack. Get'em fresh, the fresher the better. Heart healthy recipes: Puree a batch of berries for a breakfast or dessert sauce. Heck, you can even put them on you're breakfast pancakes. Hope you enjoy the heart healthy recipes. If you come across any others please send them in. We'd love to share them with everybody. Smiles...Gigi
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