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Healthy Rice and Potato Dishes That Won’t Weigh You Down

August 20, 2015 by

Starches and whole grains are important for feeling energized, but if eaten in excess, they can make you feel heavy or weighed-down. These delicious and nutritious recipes from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute incorporate rice and potatoes into your diet in a way that benefits your body and provides proper portion sizes.

Delicious Oven French Fries
Though fast food French fries are anything but healthy, this oven-baked alternative provides the same classic taste without the added fat and salt.

Wonderful Stuffed Potatoes
By stuffing a baked potato with low fat milk and cottage cheese instead of the usual sour cream, you can save calories and still get the same savory taste.

Candied Yams
The holiday favorite gets a healthy makeover in this fast and easy recipe, with sweet brown sugar and tangy orange juice for a boost of added flavor.

Scallion Rice
The addition of green onions and bullion gives this simple, low-calorie rice dish a little something extra, and makes it perfect for eating with a variety of meats, vegetables or stir-fries.

Sunshine Rice
Perfect for pairing with grilled chicken or for eating on its own, this rice recipe contains unique ingredients like hot sauce, almonds, and lemon juice for a distinctly flavorful taste.

For more healthy rice and potato dishes, visit the NIH website by clicking here.

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Want to Cut Calories in Your Favorite Baked Goods? Try These Oil Substitutes!

March 5, 2015 by

Replacing the oil in a recipe is a simple way to make your baked goods a bit healthier, but choosing the right oil substitute and the correct amount can be complicated. Here are a few of the best foods to substitute for oil in your cakes, cookies, and breads.

  1. Fruit purees. Fruit purees like canned pumpkin, applesauce, and bananas are sweet and tasty substitutes for fattening oil. They impart the same moist texture to your baked goods, and they have a light, flavorful taste. Most chefs recommend using between 3/4 cup and one cup of any puree for every cup of oil.
  2. Yogurt. Plain yogurt also makes a healthy oil substitute. Simply replace half of the oil with 3/4 of the amount of yogurt in order to cut fat and add a creamy texture to any dish. You can also use low-fat or fat-free yogurts to make it even healthier.
  3. Buttermilk. Replacing the oil in a recipe with buttermilk is an easy way to maintain the moisture while also cutting calories. Simply replace every cup of oil with 3/4 cup of buttermilk mixed with 1/4 cup of butter or margarine and prepare the rest of the recipe in the usual way.

Common Ingredient Substitutions [AllRecipes]
What Can You Substitute for Oil While Baking a Cake? [Livestrong]
Healthy Substitutes for Oil [FitDay]

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Three High-Potassium Foods Beyond the Banana

February 19, 2015 by

Potassium has many important health benefits beyond preventing muscle cramps after a workout. This essential mineral helps prevent hypertension and fatigue, and it also regulates your heart rate. Here are three foods that are high in potassium for you to add to your diet:

  1. White beans. Cook up one cup of these beans to get 29 percent of your daily value of potassium. Add them to your soups or make hummus for a healthful boost.
  2. Avocado. Here’s a good excuse to go in for seconds on the guacamole: 1/2 cup of pureed avocado contains 16 percent of your daily value of potassium.
  3. Mushrooms. Add them to stir-fry or saute them alone; mushrooms pack in the potassium in small doses. One cup of sliced white mushrooms gives you 12 percent of your daily value.

Top 10 Foods Highest in Potassium [Healthaliciousness]
15 Foods That Are High In Potassium [Health.com]
Food with More Potassium than a Banana [Huffington Post]
Potassium and Your CKD Diet [National Kidney Foundation]

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Think Beyond the Bouquet With These Lavender-Centric Recipes

August 21, 2014 by

Though lavender is a flower, it’s also a deliciously fragrant herb that can be used to add flavor to many sweet and savory dishes. By simply cooking or garnishing with this beautiful flower, you can transform the taste of an entire dish. If you haven’t yet explored the culinary wonders of lavender, these two simple recipes will give you a bit of inspiration.

Lavender Shortbread [Food Network]
Shortbread is known for its rich, crumbly texture and buttery flavor, which makes it a perfect companion for the floral notes of lavender. This recipe uses only six simple ingredients and takes just 50 minutes to make, but after it’s complete your whole home will be filled with the sweet, delicious scent. Simply knead the ingredients together, adding dried or fresh lavender flowers, and bake in the oven until each bar reaches the perfect golden brown.

Pepita and Lavender Brittle [Martha Stewart]
Most brittle candies have a rich, caramel texture, but this particular brittle is uniquely earthy and fragrant. The recipe uses Martha Stewart’s basic brittle recipe to create a crunchy base, while the pepitas, or green hulled pumpkin seeds, offer even more texture. To top it off, dried lavender cooked throughout adds a floral flavor that only the small purple flower can provide.

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Two Great Places for Risotto Recipes

March 20, 2014 by

Say your usual mushroom risotto is always a dinnertime hit, but you want to switch things up and try a new recipe. These informative, step-by-step websites offer simple recipes for truly unique risotto dishes. Whether you’re looking for something spicy and savory or seasonal and sweet, you’ll find it on these recipe websites.

Health.com
Risotto is typically a healthy dish, but it becomes dangerous when you start adding butter, oils, and salty seasonings. If you want to jazz up your risotto without adding extra calories, Health.com’s 7 Healthy Risotto Recipes is the place to look. The Brown Rice Risotto with Pumpkin adds a bit of sweetness to a healthier brown risotto, while the Beet Risotto with greens, goat Cheese, and walnuts is a vibrantly colorful dish that’s simply packed with healthy vitamins and nutrients.

Cooking Light
For even more creative risotto dishes, Cooking Light is another wonderful online resource. Each of their recipes offers nutritional information to help you stick to your diet, and the easy instructions are simple enough for even amateur chefs. Try the Mushroom and Barley Risotto for a healthier take on the traditional dish, or experiment with something more unique like the Risotto with Champagne and Radicchio.

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