The Heart-Smart Diabetes Kitchen: Fresh, Fast and Flavorful Recipes Made with Canola Oil by CanolaInfo.org and The American Diabetes Association
Stars: ***1/2
American Diabetes Association (2009)
222 pages
Colour Photos
Summary: Bring the taste of fresh, natural ingredients and wholesome meals to your table. Featuring 151 recipes made with canola oil—one of the healthiest cooking oils available—you will be serving dishes that are low in saturated fat and cholesterol but high in flavor in no time. It’s just what the doctor, and your inner chef, ordered. – from Amazon.com
I am not Diabetic nor do I have heart problems but I’m always for cooking healthier and Diabetes and Heart Disease runs in our families. This cookbook is by CanolaInfo.org so of course every recipe is made with Canola Oil and the book touts the benefits of it but this was all fine with me. I wanted to know more about oils and Canola Oil is a healthier choice.
Before the recipes, there is an introduction section with lots of information such as:
- Top 10 Rules for Healthy Living
- Fat Facts and Comparison of Dietary Fats
- Eating Fresh
- Making Meals Faster
- Fast Facts About Canola
- Making Food Flavourful
- Herbs/Spices from Different Cultures
The recipes themselves are divided into Breakfast, Lunch, Appetizers, Salads, Sides, Entrees (Seafood, Poultry, Pork, Beef and Meatless) and Desserts.
Not every recipe has an accompanying photo but the photos that are in the book are all full colour.
Pros:
- Colour Photos
- Sections Colour Coded so you can easily find the sections
- Every recipe includes Nutritional Facts
- Easy to follow instructions
- Some recipes have flavour tips.
Cons:
- Not Colour Photos on every recipe
- Many recipes have ingredients that are are bit unusual (Marsala Wine, Adobo Sauce, Wasabi Powder, Capers, Edamame….) This would have been better if they offered ideas of more usual ingredients you could substitute.
- As a fairly picky eater, almost every recipe had something I don’t like in it. I’m pretty good at making substitutions personally. I rarely make a recipe exactly as it states. But if you aren’t good at doing that yet, you may not make many of the recipes.
This recipe book would be best for those who like food from a variety of different cultures, with strong tastes or who aren’t afraid to try something completely new. I don’t think kids would enjoy many of these recipes unless they were used to these types of foods from early on.
I’d like to share a recipe I tried and enjoyed from the book. As I said before I don’t follow recipes exactly so first I’ll reprint the recipe as is and then I’ll state the changes I made.
Please note I have permission to reprint this recipe and the recipe is © 2009 CanolaInfo. You can save it for personal use but do not reprint.
Drunken Beef Goulash
Yield: 4 Servings Serving Size: 1 cup
Adding a can of beer instead of water or other liquids to this hearty dish gives it personality and a subtle pub-like taste and aroma.
Canola Oil Cooking Spray
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 tb trimmed beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 package (8 ounces) sliced mushrooms
1 can (12 ounces) lager beer
2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 of 6-ounce can tomato paste
1-11/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Spray a 31/2 or 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
2. Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook until browned on the edges, about 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Place in the slow cooker and top with onions, pepper, and mushrooms.
3. Add half of beer, Worcestershire sauce, oregano and tomate paste. Cook and stir for 30 seconds until well blended. Add to slow cooker with remaining beer. Cover tightly and cook on high setting 41/2 – 5 hours or on low setting 9-10 hours until beef is very tender. Add sugar and salt and let stand for 15 minutes for flavors to blend.
Flavorful Tip: Trim the fat off the beef chuck. Using canola oil instead of the beef fat reduces saturated fat and gives the beef a rich brown color. If desired, serve this dish over 2 cups prepared frozen mashed potatoes, omitting any salt or fat.
Calories 195
Calories from fat 65
Total Fat 7.0 g
Saturated Fat 1.3g
Trans fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 40mg
Sodium 370 mg
Total Carbohydrate 17g
Dietary Fiber 3g
Sugars 9g
Protein 17g
Exchanges Per Serving
1/2 carbohydrate
2 vegetable
2 lean meat
1/2 fat
Changes I Made: I didn’t use a slow cooker, I used a wok type frying pan. I never measure exactly the meat and veggies so I just added a can of mushrooms and the amount of meat that was good for my family. I used Labatt Blue beer as that’s what I had. It was really good though. I was leery to cook with beer as I wasn’t comfortable cooking with alcohol at all but after being reassured that the alcohol would burn off for sure, I tried it.
At the Heart Smart website, you can find more sample recipes as well as some of the Heart Facts and Fat Facts from the introduction and more.
Links of Interest: Canola Info, Canola Info Cooks Blog, CanolaInfo on Twitter, Canola Info on Facebook,
Other Reviews: NONE YET
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