February is all about hearts and love. It’s American Heart Month and Valentine’s Day. Show your valentines you care about their heart with food that tastes delicious while making their heart stronger and healthier.
Helpful Heart Facts: Your heart is a muscle that needs exercise to keep it strong. A heart healthy diet helps to reduce risk factors for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. (Heart Disease is the No. 1 killer in the USA especially in women!)
Eating more omega-3 rich foods such as fish, nuts and plant based oils; adding more fruit and veggies, especially leafy greens to your meals; snacking on nuts, grapes, and berries and adding at least 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity daily (like walking) will help keep hearts strong and healthy.
For a Valentine's celebration, start with tomato basil bruschetta. Tomatoes and olive oil give you lycopene a natural antioxidant that reduces inflammation and healthy fat that helps lower cholesterol. It’s a quick snack or an appetizer. (See recipe below)
Healthy is wonderful, but delicious and quick is even better!
For dinner, skip the red meat. Serve chicken or fish with heart healthy green vegetables like spinach, kale or broccoli. Add a few almonds or walnuts. Broil, bake, or steam the chicken or fish and the veggies.
Dessert? Chocolate for Valentine’s Day. Of course!
Impress your loved one with a moist chocolate cake made with zucchini. So delicious it is hard to believe that this cake is loaded with healthy antioxidants that help prevent damage to the blood vessels. You won’t taste the zucchini, we promise.
We wish you love and hope you enjoy our delicious ways to get a healthy heart for longer love.
Valentine Feast
recipe: Bruschetta
INGREDIENTS:
2 fresh tomatoes. Roma are the best right now
½ onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of fresh basil
4 Tablespoons of olive oil
Loaf of Italian bread
Dice the tomato, onion, garlic and basil. Mix with olive oil. Cut the bread into ¼-inch thick slices and toast. Heap as much of the tomato mixture as you want on each slice of toast. In a hurry, use chunky salsa as the tomato mixture
TIPS FOR ZUCCHINI CAKE
Zucchini should be cut into fine pieces. If you don’t have a grater, you can use a veggie peeler and then chop the slices into small pieces. The small pieces make the zucchini “disappear” into the cake.
Cake Topping
Top with berries or fruit instead of frosting
Lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar
Serve with low-fat ice cream. Vanilla ice cream works well
Cream Cheese Frosting: If you must have frosting: Beat together 4 ounces of cream cheese, 2 Tablespoons of melted butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 2 cups of powdered sugar
RECIPE: Zucchini Chocolate Cake
INGREDIENTS:
4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate
½ cup vegetable oil or olive oil
½ cup butter (one stick)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs beaten
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sour cream
3 cups peeled, coarsely grated zucchini (about 3 zucchinis)
½ cup of chopped nuts (optional)
TO MAKE:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Melt chocolate & oil in a saucepan on low heat or in the microwave
Cream butter until light & fluffy
Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat well
Add melted chocolate and mix well
Sift together dry ingredients and stir in, alternating with sour cream
Add zucchini & nuts
Pour into lightly greased & floured two 9” cake pans or a 13 X 9-inch rectangular pan.
Bake for 40 minutes.
NOTE: Check at 35 minutes, best if a little sticky.