Many of your favorite recipes can be converted to heart-healthy versions by changing the cooking technique or by changing one or more ingredients. Heart-healthy ingredients can be substituted when they do not compromise the basic structure or chemical balance of a recipe. Some ingredients cannot be replaced successfully, but they might be reduced or even eliminated.
• Use a nonfat, lower-fat, lower-calorie, or lower-sodium version of the ingredient (such as reduced-fat mayonnaise, low-sodium soy sauce, reduced-calorie syrup).
• Eliminate unessential high-fat ingredients (such as chocolate chips or coconut).
• Use a low-fat method of cooking, such as baking, broiling, grilling, poaching, steaming, or stir-frying.
• Use nonstick cookware and sauté foods in cooking spray and/or low-sodium broth or water instead of oil, butter, or margarine.
• Cook pasta, rice, grains, and vegetables without oil, butter, margarine, or salt.
• Buy only the leanest meats-select is most lean, choice is medium, and prime is the fattiest (with the greatest marbling).
• Buy the leanest chicken-fryers and broilers are more lean than roasters; hens and capons have the most fat. Turkey breast meat is leaner than chicken. White meat poultry is more lean than dark.
• Substitute poultry, fish, or shellfish for red meat.
• Rome and min and vee at from other complementary seasonings.
• To thicken sauces or cream soups, use buttermilk or evaporated skim milk instead of cream.
• To thicken vegetable soups, purée some of the vegetables and stir them back into the soup.
• Reduce the amount of fat in baked goods by one-fourth to one-third; a little water, skim milk, or fruit juice may be needed to maintain the moisture content.
• Replace the fat in baked goods with an equal amount of unsweetened apple-sauce, yogurt, or prune purée.
• Reduce the amount of sugar by one-third to one-half and add spices, extracts, or dried fruit as you like.
Be prepared to experiment. You may need to try several versions before hitting on the perfect recipe. Cooking times and assembly instructions may need to be modified along with the ingredients. Make written notes with each test so you can duplicate the successful result. With experience, you’ll know how to modify recipes and create new ones with little trouble.