Healthy Holiday Cooking Tips From the New Keep the Beat™ Cookbook

Sharing a healthy, homemade meal with friends and family is one of life’s great pleasures. Just in time for the holidays, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has a new cookbook, Keep the Beat™ Recipes: Deliciously Healthy Dinners. The cookbook, the first in a new series, features simple recipes that are good for your heart and taste great, and that have an American, Latino, Mediterranean, or Asian flair. The dishes were created by a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef and a James Beard Foundation award-winning registered dietitian.

Here are two recipes featured in the new cookbook.

Classic macaroni and cheese

This recipe proves you don’t have to give up your favorite dishes to eat heart healthy meals – here’s a lower fat version of a true classic.

2 C macaroni
½ C onion, chopped
½ C fat-free evaporated milk
1 medium egg, lightly beaten
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 ¼ C (4 oz) low-fat sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded
Cooking spray

1. Cook macaroni according to package directions – but do not add salt to the cooking water. Drain and set aside.
2. Spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Preheat oven to 350 °F.
4. Lightly spray a saucepan with nonstick cooking spray. Add onion to saucepan and sauté for about 3 minutes over medium heat.
5. In a bowl, combine macaroni, onion, and the remaining ingredients, and mix thoroughly.
6. Transfer mixture into casserole dish.
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 C)
Each serving provides 200 calories; 4 g total fat; 2 g saturated fat; 34 mg cholesterol; 120 mg sodium; 1 g total fiber; 11 g protein; 29 g carbohydrates; 119 mg potassium.

Autumn salad

Fruit and nuts make this salad a fun starter or side dish to most main meals…and it can be served year around!

1 Granny Smith apple, rinsed and thinly sliced (with skin)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 bag mixed lettuce greens (or your favorite lettuce) (about 5 C), rinsed
½ C dried cranberries
¼ C walnuts, chopped
¼ C unsalted sunflower seeds
1/3 C low-fat raspberry vinaigrette dressing

1. Sprinkle lemon juice on the apple slices.
2. Mix the lettuce, cranberries, apple, walnuts, and sunflower seeds in a bowl.
3. Toss with raspberry vinaigrette dressing, to lightly cover the salad.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 C salad)
Each serving provides 138 calories; 7 g total fat; 1 g saturated fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 41 mg sodium; 3 g total fiber; 3 g protein; 19 g carbohydrates; 230 mg potassium.