Sunday, January 17, 2010

Salt, Half Salt or No Salt!

Most people at the grocery store today would've thought I was crazy, I was standing in front of the salt rack for 15 minutes debating and talking to myself about what I wanted to get for salt!

I had three options, regular table salt (sodium chloride), half salt (mix of sodium and potassium chloride) and no salt (potassium chloride). It was a hard decision for me, the cook in me wanted the regular salt and the health fanatic in me wanted the no salt, normally I would've picked the half salt as a balanced mid point but then I remembered my mother telling me my salt isn't salty enough when she was visiting during the summer and she cooked using the half salt!

But before I tell you how I made my decision let's think why is sodium so bad for us?

Well sodium isn't really bad for us, it's too much sodium that's bad for us, here's a quote from Health Canada on the issue of sodium:
Sodium is a nutrient found in table salt and many other foods. While the body needs some sodium to function, too much may lead to high blood pressure, a major risk factor for stroke, heart disease and kidney disease. Most Canadians consume more sodium than may be good for their health.
Source: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/food-aliment/sodium-eng.php

Health Canada recommends that adults do not exceed 2,300 mg of sodium per day!

I haven't used salt in my cooking in nearly 3 months, but I wanted to make a dough and you just need to use salt when making a dough. So I had to make a decision, I was strongly against the regular table salt and figured if the half salt wasn't salty enough then the no salt wouldn't be salty at all, and that's when the decision was made, Half Salt it is!

Everything in moderation is a good thing, but we seem to forget that quickly when it comes to convenience!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Tuna n' Egg Salad

Here's an old favorite that's quick and high in protein.

Total time to make: 5 minutes (20 minutes if you count boiling the egg)

Ingredients (makes 1 serving):
1 Large hard boiled Egg
1 Can Tuna in water (120g drained)
1 Cup Tomatoes diced
0.5 Cup Green Peppers diced
2 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Raspberry flavored red wine vinegar
Black Pepper to taste

How to:
1- Dice the hard boiled egg
2- Drain the can of tuna
3- Dice the vegetables
4- Mix it all together

Done!

Nutritional Information:
Calories 326
Fat 16g
Saturated Fat 3g
Monounsaturated Fat 9g
Cholesterol 212mg
Sodium 434mg
Potassium 622mg
Carbohydrate 11.1g
Dietery Fiber 3.5g
Sugars 7.1g
Protein 38.5g

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Grilled Eggplant Salad

I wanted to make something new and different with eggplant and I wanted it grilled and this is what I came up with.

Total time to make: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients (makes 1 serving):
1 Eggplant (yields 2 cups cubed)
1 Tomato
a few sprigs of parsley (yields about 0.25 cups chopped)
1 Garlic clove
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

How to:
1- Pre-heat your grill to high, I use an indoor electric grill
2- Peel the eggplant and cut it into slices that are 1/2-3/4" thick, I got about 3 slices from the eggplant I had
3- Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with the olive oil and place them on the grill, cook for 5 minutes on each side
4- Take the eggplant off the grill and set it aside allowing to cool for 5 minutes while we prepare the rest of the salad
5- Dice the tomato and chop the parsley and put them in a serving bowl
6- Crush the garlic using a mortar and pestle and add the lemon juice and balsamic vinegar to the crushed garlic and mix it up
7- Cut the cooled grilled eggplant into cubes
8- Mix everything together, diced tomato, chopped parsley, cubed grilled eggplant and the garlic mix

Enjoy!

Nutritional Information:
Calories 219
Fat 15g
Saturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 9.85g
Sodium 29mg
Potassium 933mg
Carbohydrate 22g
Dietery Fiber 8.35g
Sugars 11.5g
Protein 4g




Welcome!

I'm going to try and come up with healthy recipes as often as I can, typically to do that I start with one main ingredient and then go through tons of recipes online, from there I will take the ideas I've collected and make them healthier by substituting some ingredients and sometimes taking out others.

when coming up with a recipe I have a few rules:
1- mostly natural ingredients, as in the less processed foods the better
2- low in sodium
3- contains healthy fats (olive oil or nuts for example)

Hope you find my recipes delicious and healthy for you!