All of these meals are heart-healthy -- low in fat and cholesterol, and containing only 3 ounces of cooked protein, the per-meal protein portion suggested by the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid. As a person with diabetes (or someone cooking for a person with diabetes) it's important that you realize that heart-healthy eating is not something to do just occasionally. What counts is what you do every day of your life from this point on. For most of us who were brought up on a diet of meat and potatoes, it's not an easy task to think of meat (beef, chicken, pork, or fish) as a condiment, instead of as the main event. What we've found helps is to make those very few ounces of protein taste wonderful and to surround it with pasta, grains, and vegetables that are so good, we don't miss (or hardly miss) it.
In our first meal, we started with a bed of couscous, the North African pasta that has become so popular in recent years. Pasta? Yes, couscous is not really a grain; it is a form of pasta made by mixing semolina flour with boiling salted water. Couscous is also the name of a Moroccan (and Tunisian) dish made by steaming couscous pellets in a special pot called a couscousière. Since we don't own a couscousière (in fact the only one we've seen was hanging in Martha Stewart's kitchen on Turkey Hill Road in Connecticut), we're fortunate that instant couscous comes in a box and is available at most supermarkets. To the couscous we've added some sweet spices of North Africa, and topped the resulting pilaf with a stir-fry of swordfish and asparagus (it only uses 1/4 pound of this off-season vegetable so it's not too expensive) for an aromatic dish that's special enough for company. Since the stir-fry has a surprise addition of fresh orange, there's no need for a salad. If you feel you must have one, make it a mixture of baby greens and watercress, topped with a nonfat dressing. We suggest a banana-raspberry yogurt parfait for dessert. The whole meal comes to only 11 grams of fat and 50 milligrams of cholesterol.
(for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above)
Particularly in the dead of winter, the exciting spice combinations of Louisiana-Cajun cooking meet our need for something different for dinner. For our second heart-healthy meal, we started with an adaptation of Maque Choux, a savory mix of onion, bell pepper, corn, and cayenne pepper. The original recipe was given to Emeril Lagasse, the Louisiana chef of television fame by one of his fans. We got a lightened version from our friend Chesley, a famous chef in his own right among his fellow Texas fire fighters. We eliminated the olive oil in Chesley's recipe and kept his other fat-reducing changes, then serve the Maque Choux with strips of chicken breast which have been microwaved to perfection in some spices and lime. The result is a fabulous dish that contains only 3 grams of fat and 66 milligrams of cholesterol.. A romaine salad with a creamy herb dressing and a duo of papaya and star fruit complete our meal.
Nobody seems to know why this corn dish is called Maque Choux -- one trip to a French-English translation internet site said "choux" means cabbage, but there's no cabbage in the dish. Emeril says the elderly Cajun lady who gave him the recipe didn't know either; just knew that it's delicious, and we agree!
(for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above)
Our third meal features ostrich, a relatively new alternative to beef, now available in markets across the country. It contains about 1/3 as much fat as beef and 1/2 as much fat as chicken. According to the Southwest Ostrich Processors, it has less fat and cholesterol than beef, pork, or chicken, yet it is high in iron and protein. Because it is so lean, ostrich tends to cook quickly and if over-cooked, can become dry. This is a wonderful substitute for those of us that grew up on rare and medium rare steaks. It will lose its tenderness of cooked to well done. At my local market, I can purchase prepackaged filets that are 4 ounces uncooked, and ground ostrich for chili, et al.
The menu is Italian in motif. The main course tastes so rich with the ostrich and beans that you may wish to simplify dessert to some frozen grapes, a fresh pear, or a simple 1/2 cup of sorbet or frozen yogurt. This ostrich recipe is good enough to modify as the year and fresh produce changes. Try small beets while it's still winter, asparagus in the spring, some of the ubiquitous squash that neighbors leave on your front door step in the summer, and green beans in fall. Try varying mushrooms and tomatoes depending on what is flavorful at the time. Any leftover vegetables are wonderful the next day, warmed and served over greens, in an omelet made with egg whites or egg substitute, or as the filler for pita sandwiches along with fresh spinach leaves. The ostrich dish contains fat grams and milligrams of cholesterol, making it a perfect main dish for hearty-healthy dining.
(for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above)
