Recipe for Heart Healthy Garlic & Chili Bread

An "easy to make" heart healthy (high potassium/low sodium/low fat) bread recipe I recently perfected....

Garlic & Chili Bread

Nutrition (per serving, 12 servings per loaf):

• 82mg Potassium
• 9mg Sodium
• 3g Fat
• A 9:1 Health Ratio

Effort: About 10 minutes to collect and prep the ingredients; about 3 hours of "bread machine time".

1 1/4 c Water
2 T Unsalted Butter
3 Garlic Cloves (finely chopped)
2 T Green Chili Peppers (chopped)
2/3 c Frozen Corn
3 1/4 c Bread Flour
1/3 c Cornmeal
2 T Sugar
1 1/4 t Yeast

Place ingredients in bread maker and process on white bread (or basic bread) cycle. Makes a 1 1/2 pound loaf.

This bread makes great sandwich - allowing you to keep sandwiches in your heart healthy diet. It also make a great "soup dipping" bread.

Heart Healthy "Eggnog"!

Heart Healthy Eggnog?!? Impossible, you think (so did I).

Well, look what I discovered: "heart healthy eggnog" via Silk Nog (ok, so it is "heart healthy nog" - but it tastes the same)!

The vital stats on the nutrition content (1/2 cup): 150mg potassium, 75mg sodium, 2g fat. Yes, you read that right - eggnog with a 2:1 health ratio.

Consider this.... a 1/2 cup of Silk Nog and 1 banana yields 687mg potassium, 77mg sodium and 2.5g fat. Wow - a 9:1 heart health ratio with something that tastes so good it feels like you are cheating!

So, ring in the holidays: as amazing as it sounds, I'll be improving my heart health while sipping the eggnog (Silk Nog, that is).

A Banana A Day...

Looking for a way to jumpstart your heart healthy (high potassium/low sodium/low fat) diet?

A banana a day keeps the high blood pressure away!

The nutrition facts behind bananas (1 average sized banana): 537mg potassium, 2mg sodium, 0.5g fat [a 269:1 health ratio]

Consider a meal with 0mg potassium and 180mg of sodium - if all you do is eat 1 banana with this meal you have transformed it from a sodium pit into a heart healthy (3:1 potassium:sodium) fare. Now consider the impact of eating 2 bananas a day - this simple treat transforms 360mg of sodium contribution into a net healthy feast.

How about an even more compelling argument for a banana or two a day? Many people consider a potassium:sodium ratio of 1:1 to be "heart healthy". Well, ok, then eating 2 bananas a day means you can eat 1074mg of sodium in any "potassium poor" food you want and you'll maintain a 1:1 health ratio. Anyway, you get the message: bananas are a super boost to any potassium:sodium diet you are constructing.

Bananas taste good, bananas are inexpensive, bananas require no preparation. A banana a day keeps the high blood pressure away!

Healthy (Tilapia) Fish Tacos

When you see fish tacos at a restaurant, you probably think: not heart healthy. Here's a way to make great tasting fish tacos with a 3:1 heart healthy potassium:sodium ratio.

Fish Preparation:

• Spray both sides of a (4 oz) filet of frozen tilapia with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray (or similar spray) and sprinkle a teaspoon of garlic powder on the top of the filet.
• Cook the filet for 6-8 minutes in your George Foremann Grill (or similar grill).

Tacos (2 total):

• Start with 2 soft corn tortillas (slightly warmed in a toaster oven or microwave, if desired).
• 1 teaspoon of heart healthy salsa on each tortilla [2 tsp total].
• Split 1/8 a cup of low fat (2%) mozzarella across both tortillas.
• Split the (just cooked) tilapia across both tortillas [just cooked means the fish is warm and heats the salsa and mozzarella].

That's it, you have 2 great tasting tilapia fish tacos! The nutrition profile:

• Potassium (mg): 40(tortillas) + 26(salsa) + 20(mozzarella) + 424(tilapia) + 33(garlic) = 543mg.
• Sodium (mg): 10(tortilla) + 26(salsa) + 90(mozzarella) + 64(tilapia) + 2(garlic) = 192mg.
• Fat (g): 1(tortilla) + 0(salsa) + 2.5(mozzarella) + 2.8(tilapia) + 0(garlic) = 6.3g.
• Total: 543mg potassium, 192mg sodium, 6.3g fat - a 3:1 potassium:sodium ratio.

Note that the potassium:sodium ratio is technically 2.83:1 - I'll round that to 3:1 given how good these tacos taste ;-)   Seriously, though, what I do is add a serving of my Vegetable Medley to the 2 tacos to make a complete meal. The nutrition profile of the meal (2 tacos + salad) is as follows:

2 tacos + vegetable medley (w/out mozzarella) meal:

• Potassium (mg): 543(tacos) + 888(salad) = 1431mg.
• Sodium (mg): 192(tacos) + 55(salad) = 247mg.
• Fat (g): 6.3(tacos) + 1.2(salad) = 7.5g.
• Total: 1431mg potassium, 247mg sodium, 7.5g fat - a 6:1 healthy meal!

2 tacos + vegetable medley (w/ mozzarella) meal:

• Potassium (mg): 543(tacos) + 908(salad) = 1451mg.
• Sodium (mg): 192(tacos) + 145(salad) = 337mg.
• Fat (g): 6.3(tacos) + 3.7(salad) = 10g.
• Total: 1451mg potassium, 337mg sodium, 10g fat - a 4:1 healthy meal!

Good tacos, good salad ... Happy & healthy heart! Enjoy...