Recipes

I love Rachael Ray, although many of her recipes are not heart healthy, her bubbly personality just makes me feel good. Even though heart healthy cooking is not her speciality on her show this morning she offered a great tip for a salt substitute. 

Lime zest, the food taste as though you have added salt without the addition of sodium and the added bonus of vitamin C.

Rachael had First Lady Laura Bush as a guest this morning; in honor of the First Lady she prepared a great turkey burger. Go to www.rachaelray.com click on Rach cooks and you will find the recipe there.  

Like most of you I am on-the-go all day-every day, so I love recipes that are not only good for me but can be prepared ahead and fast. Butter beans (also known as lima beans) are one of my favorite vegetables so this recipe for a butter bean spread from Eating Well caught my eye. You can use it as a dip for raw vegetables or a sandwich spread.

For a great Butter Bean Spread click on this link  http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/butter_bean_spread.html

1 cup butter beans contains            Iron-4.5 mg.

                                                    Potassium-955 mg.

                                                    Folate-156 mcg. 

There is no food that taste any better to me than the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. I can polish off a bag of minature peanut butter cups in the same fashion that most people consume a bag of potato chips; unfortunately this is neither figure or heart friendly. To satisfy my love for the combination of chocolate and peanut butter I created a Chocolate-Peanut Butter Smoothie.

1/2 cup low-fat or non-fat yogurt

1/2 cup milk (your choice)

2 Tblsps. unsweetened cocoa (like Hersheys)

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 Tblsp. honey or pure maple syrup

2 Tblsps. natural peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

1 small frozen banana, cut into chuncks before freezing

Place ingredients into blender in order listed, blend until smooth, you may need to scrape sides of blender with spatula. Pour into large serving glass and enjoy!

Light And Lively Lima Bean Dip

From the January issue of The Herb Campanion www.herbcampanion.com  

This is a tasty way to eat your vegetables. The one change I made in the recipe is rather than a vegetable bouillon cube and two cups water, I combined one cup Wolf Gang Puck’s vegetable broth and one cup water to cook lima beans.

Two 10-ounce packages frozen baby lima beans

1 medium onion, chopped

1 vegetable bouillon 

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

2 cups water

1 teaspoon dried cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons minced fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried

3 cloves garlic, minced and mashed

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup low-fat sour cream

 juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup minced red bell pepper, for garnish

1 lemon, cut into weddges

In a medium saucepan, simmer beans, onion, bouillon cube, and lemon peel in water until beans are soft, about eight minutes.

Drain: return to pot and mash with a potato masher or pastry blender. Add cumin, oregano, black pepper, garlic, dill, 3 tablespoons olive oil and sour cream, stir to combine. Stir in lemon juice. Add salt to taste. Mound into a serving bowl and cool to room temperature.

To serve, drizzle remaining teaspoon olive oil on top, sprinkle with minced bell pepper and place lemon wedges alongside. Dip keeps for three days covered and chilled.

I found this is best made the day before you want to serve

Make pita chips to serve with dip. Cut pita bread into triangles and toast in oven.

I just read a great tip for making your own taco shells, the ones you buy are usually fried.

Hang soft corn tortillas directly over rack (with sides hanging down), bake at 400 degress until crisp.

Check ingredients label when buying tortillas, some contain lard or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.