Food

This salad provides more than just a delicious flavour combination. Each one of the three parts - from the nuts to the dressing - adds vital nutrients to help form a well-balanced meal. Fresh nuts and seeds aid heart health as they add natural polyunsaturated fats and minerals such as calcium. Cashews, in particular, provide copper, zinc, and magnesium, which are essential for many body processes. Recent research shows that consuming a small amount of nuts daily not only promotes heart and cardiovascular health but can also reduce gallstone risk.

This dish can be served as a meal, an appetizer, or as a side salad. It’s an easy way to get children to eat their vegetables as they love to dip and they love peanut butter! Go crazy choosing all kinds of vegetables for the platter. Choose fresh produce in season, such as snow peas, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and bell pepper. Bean sprouts, eggs, and tofu add protein to the dish (along with the peanut butter in the Satay Sauce) to help make it a complete and easy-to-prepare meal.

Beets can be eaten raw, boiled, steamed, roasted, or sautéed. They are high in carotenes, which have proven antioxidant activity and help to protect us from heart disease and other chronic degenerative diseases. Beets have also been shown to protect against carcinogens, support liver cleansing enzymes, and protect against colon cancer. They contribute folic acid and potassium.

This creamy and rich recipe is a great way to start or finish your day, as it is ideal for breakfast or dessert. Whole grains provide essential minerals such as chromium, which help insulin to regulate blood sugar. Grains also provide B vitamins, which are essential for cell reproduction and help to manage stress. Almond milk and date sugar can be found in the health section of large supermarkets, in natural food stores, or your local specialty cooking store. You can also make your own almond milk by soaking almonds in water, pureeing the two in a blender, and then filtering the puree through cheesecloth.

There is one guarantee with this sandwich—the lunch box will be empty when it returns home. Despite its decadent concept, this sandwich provides healthy whole grains, a serving of nuts provides good fats, and the strawberries provide vitamin C and antioxidants. You can also experiment with other fruits such as bananas and peaches, but I like the vitamin C hit from the strawberries. Commercial chocolate hazelnut spreads are available but often contain hydrogenated fats, so feel free to make your own. Always serve this treat on thickly sliced whole grain bread, homemade or from the bakery; do not waiver and use white bread or the commercial variety sold in plastic bags as the whole grain loaf really makes this sandwich hearty and nutritious.

School lunches can be both fun and easy when you buy a special soup Thermos for your child. Brightly coloured Thermoses are available at most supermarkets and drugstores and come in children’s sizes. Fill them with long, thin noodles to slurp up or bicycle-, star-, and alphabet-shaped noodles, which you’ll find at specialty cook shops. It is very low on seasonings so it’s perfect for picky eaters. Try making this Alphabet Soup as an easy weekend dinner, then serve leftovers for lunch during the week. To add protein, add 1/2 cup (125 mL) red lentils.

Pizza is ideal for the lunch box as you can use any combination of vegetables you know your kids will like in order to slip in some veggie servings. To add protein, try using veggie salami slices, or add pineapple tidbits for a little sweetness. For the healthiest pizza, buy in bulk and freeze whole grain pizza crusts, made from whole wheat or spelt flour. Freeze and use as required. Children are more likely to eat something they helped prepare, so share the pizza building at dinner the night before. The next day, use cookie cutters to cut cold pizza into shapes for the lunch box.

A hit with adults and children alike, Chocolate Energy Orbs can be made on the weekend to be enjoyed throughout the week. They’ve got lots of the protein and fat that children’s bodies need for growth, along with fibre, protein, and antioxidants from the cocoa powder. The orbs are lower in sugar than their processed energy bar counterparts and include natural ingredients for maximum nourishment. Tahini (sesame seed paste) adds calcium.

This soup is ready in 15 minutes and really packs a punch, providing 189 percent of your recommended daily dosage of vitamin C with each serving. It’s also loaded with beta carotene from the peppers, tomatoes, and orange juice. Tomatoes also contain lycopene, which has been shown to have protective effects against prostate cancer. The extra-virgin olive oil helps in the absorption of this important phytochemical. Seasonings such as cayenne pepper and cinnamon also help with heart health. Enjoy this soup for lunch or dinner along with fresh whole grain bread or dinner rolls. To save time, use a food processor to chop garlic, ginger, onions, and bell pepper.

Green peas provide protein and minerals, and this recipe can be made with fresh or frozen peas. Their fabulous colour is both refreshing and inspiring when you’re tired of mushroom soup. If chopping vegetables is a problem, this recipe is perfect as it uses the power of the blender to do the hard work. Fresh mint is available year-round in the produce aisle of most major supermarkets. Enjoy this soup warm or chilled, depending on the weather.

This is a much “meatier” version of a simple salad. The greens provide folate and vitamin C, the beans provide protein and fibre, and the walnuts provide essential fats. Topped with a delicious dressing that can be used for all kinds of salads, this dish will become a nutritious regular in your cooking repertoire. Feel free to substitute ingredients as required. Almonds and pecans can substitute for walnuts, and chickpeas or even lentils can substitute for the beans. A 1/4-cup (60-mL) serving of nuts may improve cardiovascular health, and beans provide fibre, which is important to help detoxify the liver. Use a digestive enzyme from a natural foods store if digesting beans is a problem for you. Most people over age 60 benefit from using these enzymes with main meals.

This recipe is so versatile it works well for lunch, brunch, or dinner. Feel free to substitute any greens you have on hand, depending on what’s in the garden and what’s in season. You might even try zucchini or asparagus tips. Healthy versions of frozen potatoes are now available in the natural foods section of large supermarkets. They are trans fat free and come pre-seasoned with herbs, yet provide the zinc and vitamin C of fresh potatoes. To reduce chopping, use minced garlic in oil found in jars in the produce section.

I love the colour of this healthful dish. The red pigments found in both the cabbage and the beans provide powerful antioxidant properties to help protect us from disease. Generally speaking, any bean can be substituted in this recipe. Simply keep to the same colour: substitute chickpeas for navy beans, red kidney beans for pinto beans, and black beans for something like black soy beans. High in fibre and cancer-fighting enzymes, this dish is a sure-fire winter warmer. Using a natural apple cider vinegar in this recipe aids in the digestion of both the beans and the cabbage. Chew well!

Most people don’t know that whole grain pasta takes longer to digest and doesn’t put blood sugars out of balance. For more fibre, add a bean of your choice. Chickpeas in particular go well with most Mediterranean-style dishes. Freeze any leftover Basil Pesto in small portions for use throughout the year as a quick and tasty sauce or as a spread on whole grain toast topped with fresh tomato and ground black pepper.

Traditional bean salads, especially those from the can or from the deli, are very low on colourful fresh ingredients and seasonings. It’s well worth the effort to chop up some vegetables to add to this dish. Anything seasonal will work, even zucchini and carrots, or green beans, asparagus, and bell peppers. This salad is filling enough to be used as a main meal, light lunch, or as a side dish. It is also a versatile and easy potluck item. Be sure to use plenty of parsley as it is a good source of vitamin C, iron, and calcium.

 A fresh herb garnish will highlight its pale green colour. You will find canned green chillies in the Mexican section of the supermarket. Be careful to look for mild or hot varieties, according to taste.

This burger is a little unusual in that it features bulgur, a grain that adds fibre to a burger! Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health showed that men whose diets contain lots of whole grains appear to have a lower risk of heart disease than men who consume only small amounts of foods such as oatmeal, brown rice, barley, bulgur, whole grain breads, and breakfast cereals. Black beans are also a healthful addition, as they add quality protein and fibre without the saturated fat of beef. We’ve used a meat substitute here to implement some soy and reduce the overall fat content. These burgers grill up just as dark and delicious as any beef burger and you’ll be hard pressed to tell the difference.

The downfall in an ol’-fashioned potato salad is the saturated fat in the mayo and bacon bits. This recipe provides the same creamy buttery flavour through the addition of edamame beans. “Edamame” is the Japanese word for the fresh green soybean, straight out of the pod. Look for them in the frozen food section of your local supermarket. Onions are also good for cancer and heart disease prevention and potatoes contribute zinc, a mineral that’s vital for men’s reproductive health. Apple cider vinegar also stimulates digestion. What a perfect combination.

Fruit servings aren’t high on the priority foods list of most men so I’m always looking for ways to slip in a serving here and there. Mangoes are rich in antioxidants and vitamins and red bell peppers pack a punch of vitamin C—even more than oranges! Use this relish as another dipping option, to serve on the side with burgers, or to use with any Mexican dish.

This salsa verde (Spanish for “green sauce”) is a combination of salsa and guacamole. It features the zesty spice of salsa, married with rich creamy avocado. What’s missing is the artery-clogging sour cream. Garlic is a known immune booster, cancer fighter, and blood pressure regulator, so use it plentifully in your dips and cooking. This salsa verde is perfect for dipping with natural roasted corn chips. You could also use it for topping the black bean burger or any Mexican dish such as enchiladas.

From high in the wilderness of the Cedarberg Mountains of South Africa comes rooibos tea (pronounced roy-boss). The word “rooibos” is South African for “red bush” and the tiny red leaves pack a powerhouse of health benefits. They have been used traditionally by the local people to help regulate blood sugar levels, improve digestion, calm nerves and improve sleep, lower allergic symptoms, and improve skin conditions. Research at the Medical Research Council of South Africa is now revealing that rooibos tea is high in antioxidants and flavonoids, both of which have been repeatedly shown to prevent heart disease and stroke, reduce the risk of cancer, and slow the aging process.

Rooibos tea is actually a herbal tea so it’s low in tannins and has no caffeine. This means the tea is never bitter, no matter how long it is brewed. This also means rooibos is ideal for cooking and can be used in soups, stews, and anywhere water would be used. Simply replace the water with an equivalent amount of rooibos tea for an increase in antioxidants and minerals such as calcium and magnesium. Because rooibos is caffeine free, you won’t be kept up into the wee hours.

Green tea is the unfermented leaf of the Camellia sinensis plant. The leaves are dried right after picking and researchers believe that it has more powerful antioxidant activity because it is less processed (fermented) than black tea. The American Journal of Cardiology reported in 2002 that participants in a Japanese study who drank at least one cup of green tea per day were 42 percent less likely to suffer heart attacks than those who did not. Heart disease is less common in Japan than in the West, and heavy consumption of green tea may explain why.

Traditionally served to emperors and monks, green matcha tea is the tea used in Japanese tea ceremonies. Unfermented green tea leaves are ground into a fine powder and then mixed with hot (not boiling) water and stirred with a bamboo whisk. Researchers in Colorado found in 2003 that matcha tea has 200 times more epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) - a powerful antioxidant - than common North American green tea. This is probably because the whole leaf is consumed rather than just an infusion brewed from leaves, as in regular green tea. This cookie recipe uses the green matcha powder.