Cobb Salad: A Quick, Easy Lunch or Dinner

I love Spring! This year, I started a small herb garden. Herbs and aromatic vegetables are a great way to add flavor to dishes without adding fat, sugar, or salt. Since I am a clinical dietitian (aka I work mainly in a hospital setting), I have many patients who are trying to limit added fat, added sugar, or sodium in their diet for various health reasons. 

So this week, I am sharing some healthy recipes that are limited in added sugar, added saturated fat, or sodium. These recipes are healthy and full of flavor! How can that be?!? Well, we are using some fresh, seasonal ingredients. We are also going to be using local herbs (out of my garden) and aromatic vegetables to bring tons of flavor without all the fat, sugar, and salt. 

Today, I am featuring one of my favorite salads, a Chef Salad. It has vegetables, protein, and creamy avocado  It is a great salad to give your favorite carnivore . . . and maybe help them become an omnivore!

Ingredients
Spinach or Romaine lettuce
Avocado
Green onions
Ham
Turkey
Red onion or shallot
Hard boiled egg 
Vinaigrette (I used a olive oil and vinegar; it was delicious.)

Hard boil your eggs. I removed the yolk because I do not prefer the texture of hard-boiled egg yolk. Slice the egg whites. Set aside.
Sautee onions until golden brown and caramelized. I used shallot for a milder flavor, but I also like red onions in this salad.
Wash all your vegetables. 
Slice avocado. Chop green onions.
Warm ham and turkey. Cut meat into long strips making a chiffonade. 
Combine all the ingredients together. I choose to make this a composed salad by having all the ingredients grouped together. I love the blocks of color, and I think it looks appetizing.
Dress with vinaigrette before serving. Enjoy!

If you don't think this will fill you up, make a whole grain grilled cheese. You can even cut the grilled cheese into cubes to make grilled cheese croutons. Your kids will love it! 

I loved this salad so much that I brought it to work in a cool to-go container that my husband got me. It has separate storage for the salad greens, toppings, and dressing.

For even more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter .

Spring Salad Recipe: Fresh Fruit and Spinach Salad

I love Spring! Everything seems green, new, and alive! I even love the rain . . . it's good for naps (hahaha). And, we all know April showers bring May flowers.

This year, I started a small herb garden. We will see if I have my grandfather's green thumb . . . or not. Let me know if you have any tips for growing herbs in containers. I would love to hear from you.

I love herbs! They are a great way to add flavor to dishes without adding fat, sugar, or salt. Since I am a clinical dietitian (aka I work mainly in a hospital setting), I have many patients who are trying to limit added fat, added sugar, or sodium in their diet for various health reasons. 

So this week, I plan to share some healthy recipes that are limited in added sugar, added saturated fat, or sodium. These recipes are healthy and full of flavor! How can that be?!? Well, we are using some fresh, seasonal ingredients. We are also going to be using local herbs (out of my garden) and aromatic vegetables to bring tons of flavor without all the fat, sugar, and salt. Stay tuned!

Today, I am featuring one of my favorite salads. It reminds me of Spring and provides fruit and vegetables in one dish! I made this for my family on Easter, and it was a hit!

Ingredients
Strawberries
Blueberries
Pecans
Spinach
Mint
Vinaigrette (I used a raspberry vinaigrette; it was delicious)
*Feta 
(*Optional: you may omit the feta if you don't like this cheese, or if you are watching your sodium or saturated fat intake.)

Wash all fruits, herbs, and vegetables. Toss all the ingredients together. Dress with vinaigrette before serving. Enjoy!

If you've never tried a salad that mixes fruits and vegetables, this is a great one to start with. If you have a friend or family member with a sweet tooth, this is also a great salad to make for them. Try it!

For even more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter .

February is American Heart Month

I hope you have enjoyed this month's celebration of American Heart Month. If you missed any of the ways you can improve your heart health, check out these posts on:

• Cholesterol and Heart Health
• Dietary Fats and Heart Health
• Fiber and Heart Health
• Sodium and Heart Health
• Physical Activity and Heart Health

So, how can you be heart healthy?
- Eat a Healthy Diet
- Be Physically Active
- Check in with Your Doctor

Food choices and physical activity level are modifiable factors that you change to improve your heart health. Please check with your personal RD or MD before staring a new diet or exercise program. 

For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

Dietary Fats and Heart Health

February is American Heart Health Month, so we are looking at lifestyle changes you can make to be more heart healthy.

So, how can you be heart healthy? 
- Eat a Healthy Diet
- Be Physically Active
- Check in with Your Doctor

Today, we are focusing on healthy dietary choices to be more heart healthy. A diet moderate in fat can help keep your heart healthy. We need fats for energy, cushioning of vital organs, absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and much more. But, the types of fat you choose are important. Today, we are discussing the four types of fats: saturated fats, trans fat, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). Saturated fats and trans fats are usually lumped together as "bad fats" and PUFA and MUFA are usually lumped together as "good fats." But lets look at each type of fat in a little more in depth.

Types of fat
1) MUFA
Dietary Reference Intake encourage linolenic acid, which is an essential MUFA in the omega-3 family, to 5-10% of total calories. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. Some examples of foods high in linolenic acid are: nuts & seeds (flaxseeds, walnuts, soybeans), vegetables (soybeans), and oils (canola, flaxseed, soybean, walnut, and wheat germ).

2) PUFA 
Dietary Reference Intake encourage linoleic acid, which is an essential PUFA in the omega-6 family, to 0.6-1.2% of total calories. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. Some examples of foods high in linoleic acid are: nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils(corn, safflower, sesame, soybean, and sunflower).

3) Saturated fat
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature. The name 'saturated fat' comes from the chemical structure of these fats which are 'saturated' with hydrogen atoms.The American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fat to <7% of total energy. The Dietary Reference Intakes recommend limiting straight fat to <10% of calories within a healthy diet. the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 (DGA 2010) recommend limiting solid fats like milk fats, high-fat meats and cheeses, hard margarine, butter, lard, and shortening. DGA 2010 recommends limiting saturated fats to 10% of calories and replacing foods high in saturated fats with foods high in MUFA and PUFA.

4) Trans fat
The American Heart Association recommends limiting trans fats in your diet to <1% of total energy intake. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 encourages you to keep trans fat intake as low as possible by limiting foods that are synthetic sources of trans fats. For example, you can limit your trans fats by limiting your consumption of partially hydrogenated oils. 

I hope this information was helpful to increase your knowledge of the types of fats and recommendations for consumption. Some disease states require higher or lower fat consumption. Please check with your RD or MD before starting a new diet. If you have a family history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart attack (myocardial infarctions), please check in with your doctor to get a physical. Tell your doctor your family history of heart disease, your concerns for your health, and ask about what screening you should do.

We will go through each of the dietary and lifestyle topics this week to look more in depth on how you can be heart healthy. Tomorrow we are discussing cholesterol and heart health. Stay tuned.

For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter . You can subscribe to this blog, RDtipoftheday.blogspot.com, through BlogLovin.