7 heart-healthy dinners
A heart-healthy diet is one of the best things you can do to fight cardiovascular disease, still the leading cause of death in Americans.
The MultiCare Center for Healthy Living — and the American Heart Association — recommends a diet with a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, poultry and fish, nuts and legumes and plant-based oils. Limit your intake of saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, red meat, sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages.
Here are seven heart-healthy dinners full of nutrients — and flavor.
Chipotle-loaded sweet potatoes with avocado, black bean and kale: Full of vegetables and flavor, this satisfying weeknight meal is full of nutrients.
Winter panzanella salad: Butternut squash and artisan bread are the main ingredients in this hearty salad.
Curried chicken salad pita pockets: This quick family dinner is easy to prepare and comes out tasting sweet and creamy. It’s also easy to sneak in extra vegetables.
Wild rice and quinoa stuffing: This hearty stuffing replaces bread with wild rice and quinoa, making it a tasty gluten-free main dish or side.
Pasta e fagioli soup: Soups are a great way to incorporate lots of vegetables, and give you more control over sodium when you add salt to taste at the end of the cooking process.
Almond-breaded chicken with cauliflower puree and piquillo pepper sauce: This is a healthier take on chicken parmesan, replacing bread crumbs with almonds and mashed potatoes with cauliflower puree.
Butternut squash soup: Sweet apple combined with savory onion and creamy butternut squash round out this versatile soup, which can be paired with salad or whole-grain bread on the side.
