It’s easy to sit down to a dinner that’s tasty and heart-healthy. Whether you’re preparing a meal for your significant other, for your spouse and kids, or dining solo, here are some tips to make your dinnertime meal — from appetizers to dessert — both heart-healthy and delicious.
Start with heart-healthy appetizers
Appetizers can be a wonderful way to offer a variety of heart-healthy nutrients without loads of fat and calories, says Sari Greaves, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, and co-author of The Cardiac Recovery Cookbook. “You want to be mindful of portions; use heart-healthy fats, and eat lean proteins,” she says.
Greaves says heart-healthy, delicious appetizers that fill you up include:
A vegetable crudité platter with a hummus or salsa dip
Shrimp cocktails
Low-fat cheese with three grams of fat or less per serving
A platter of colorful grapes and berries
Whole grain crackers
Whole wheat pitas
Another tasty, heart-healthy appetizer is a vegetable-based soup, says Riska Platt, RD, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association. “You can use that soup over and over by adding some chicken or fish one day or some beans another day. It’s very heart-healthy and not too time-consuming or expensive to make,” she says.
Serve heart-healthy entrees
One key to preparing a heart-healthy dinner is making vegetables, not meat, the centerpiece of the meal, Greaves says. “Instead of eating a big piece of meat, you can make a vegetable stir-fry using heart-healthy oils such as olive, peanut, or canola oil,” Greaves says, “and throwing in some tofu, cubed salmon, skinless chicken or some sirloin cuts of beef.”
Grains and pasta options
You can also serve whole wheat couscous and barley, which has nutrients like fiber, B vitamins, and antioxidants found in whole grains.
Another heart-healthy choice when it comes to entrees is pasta, says Platt. “The whole grain pastas have a good, subtle flavor, and you can add a mixture of beans and chicken. You can also add brown rice as a base and stir in some veggies or go to the store and buy some deli chicken and cut the skin off. Or you can add some frozen or canned soybeans that are rinsed, which removes the sodium. All of this is very heart-healthy,” Platt adds.
Heart-healthy desserts
You can finish your dinner with a dessert that’s tasty yet heart-healthy as well. “Desserts don’t have to be heavy and rich to be delicious,” Platt says. Here are her ideas:
Freeze a banana and dip it in low-fat chocolate
Enjoy frozen grapes in the summertime
Create a parfait from non-fat Greek yogurt and fruit
Bake an apple pie without the crust
Serve angel-food cake with berries and nonfat topping
Heart-healthy dinner ideas
By Karen Schwartz
It’s easy to sit down to a dinner that’s tasty and heart-healthy. Whether you’re preparing a meal for your significant other, for your spouse and kids, or dining solo, here are some tips to make your dinnertime meal — from appetizers to dessert — both heart-healthy and delicious.
Start with heart-healthy appetizers
Appetizers can be a wonderful way to offer a variety of heart-healthy nutrients without loads of fat and calories, says Sari Greaves, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, and co-author of The Cardiac Recovery Cookbook. “You want to be mindful of portions; use heart-healthy fats, and eat lean proteins,” she says.
Greaves says heart-healthy, delicious appetizers that fill you up include:
Another tasty, heart-healthy appetizer is a vegetable-based soup, says Riska Platt, RD, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association. “You can use that soup over and over by adding some chicken or fish one day or some beans another day. It’s very heart-healthy and not too time-consuming or expensive to make,” she says.
Serve heart-healthy entrees
One key to preparing a heart-healthy dinner is making vegetables, not meat, the centerpiece of the meal, Greaves says. “Instead of eating a big piece of meat, you can make a vegetable stir-fry using heart-healthy oils such as olive, peanut, or canola oil,” Greaves says, “and throwing in some tofu, cubed salmon, skinless chicken or some sirloin cuts of beef.”
Grains and pasta options
You can also serve whole wheat couscous and barley, which has nutrients like fiber, B vitamins, and antioxidants found in whole grains.
Another heart-healthy choice when it comes to entrees is pasta, says Platt. “The whole grain pastas have a good, subtle flavor, and you can add a mixture of beans and chicken. You can also add brown rice as a base and stir in some veggies or go to the store and buy some deli chicken and cut the skin off. Or you can add some frozen or canned soybeans that are rinsed, which removes the sodium. All of this is very heart-healthy,” Platt adds.
Heart-healthy desserts
You can finish your dinner with a dessert that’s tasty yet heart-healthy as well. “Desserts don’t have to be heavy and rich to be delicious,” Platt says. Here are her ideas: