Thursday: As the week wears on, one-pot meals are in order, especially ones that add zesty ingredients like hot red pepper flakes and balsamic vinegar. Plus, the spaghetti switch gives you 3 grams of fiber and helps you cut the carbs and calories. Wednesday: With 33 grams of lean protein per serving, this delicious Meatballs and Zucchini Spaghetti dish is as satisfying as any bowl of regular noodles. It contains only 5 grams of carbs, which means you have plenty of wiggle room to enjoy a baked sweet potato on the side. Tuesday: All you need is 30 minutes to whip up my Lemon Garlic Shrimp. You can serve it with a fresh green salad or a side of my Sesame Green Beans. Try my Apricot Chicken, which features 26 grams of lean protein. Monday: Liven up your usual grilled chicken recipe with the addition of a few fresh apricots-the two foods are the perfect pair.
You’ll even find a few surprising twists. That’s why I created this week of dinner recipes-all qualify as heart-healthy and delicious. But you need a few key factors to make that happen: the time, the right ingredients and easy recipes to satisfy a whole family of appetites. We all want to put heart-healthy meals-made with lean proteins, healthy fats, whole grains and antioxidant-rich vegetables-on the table for dinner each night.
There are ways to incorporate heart-healthy ingredients into your favorite dishes and enjoy delicious plant-based meals that are full of fiber, antioxidants that help keep markers for heart diseas, like cholesterol and blood pressure in check.įor more great-tasting plant-based recipes that are healthier for you, go to The Beet's recipe library for ideas that are easy, quick and won't break the bank.Check out these easy, heart-healthy dinner recipes!
Just because you want to be heart-healthy doesn't mean a lifetime of boring salads or rabbit food.
Here are your recipes that incorporate most of what you need, but of course feel free to improvise.
Red and green peppers, full of vitamins.Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower.Whole grains like quinoa, oats, barley, whole wheat, and wild rice.Legumes such as beans, chickpeas, and soybean high in fiber.Berries including blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries are full of antioxidants.Leafy greens like spinach and kale for fiber.When shopping and planning your daily menu, choose foods that have colorful pigments, since the same compounds that make beets dark, rich red are also powerful flavonoids that can fight inflammation in the body, and lower your risk of heart disease. What should you eat? High-fiber foods full of antioxidantsįocus on eating foods that are high in fiber, low in fat, and minimally processed, which essentially means focusing on whole plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and as many leafy greens as possible. Studies have shown that many plant-based foods help lower your risk of heart disease, by lowering your LDL cholesterol, or so-called "bad" cholesterol that leads to blockages in the arteries, blood pressure, and chances of heart attack or stroke. Luckily, eating certain foods that improve heart health help to lower your risk for heart disease as well as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure, which all are connected to lifestyle choices that you make every day, to exercise and eat healthy. It is also one of the most preventable illnesses that consumers face, along with type 2 diabetes and obesity. Heart disease will kill an estimated 659,000 Americans this year alone and is the leading cause of death in this country. Heart disease is effects half of all Americans