Prospero's Kitchen

What You Eat Determines Your Health--Mostly

The basics of healthy eating are so simple it'll be hard for you to forget them.

• Eat lots of colorful vegetables and fruit. They can be fresh, canned, or frozen, which is especially high in nutrients because they're packed immediately after harvest.
• Use “good” fats. That's olive oil and canola oil. Other vegetable oils work well, too. The polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats in vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, and fish lower disease risks. Our bodies absolutely need good fats to function well.
• But we don't need the "bad" fats that clog our arteries and cause diseases. Stay away from saturated fats found in red meats and full-fat dairy and from trans fats, hydrogenated oils, found in processed foods and baked goods.
  
• Whole grains need to be a part of our diets, not white flour, which is considered a "bad" carb. Whole grains are a good source of fiber and needed nutrients such as selenium, magnesium, and potassium.
• Use low-fat proteins, such as skinless chicken breast, beans, and nuts, and lean cuts of beef and pork. And have two servings a week of fish.

Here's today's recipe, a one-pan dish with low-fat proteins, white beans:

So You Want to Be Healthy, But Don't Have the Time

This blog is for all of you who want to be healthier and to have a better quality of life but don’t really know where to begin. And you don’t have the time or energy or money to live healthier. You think it'll be demanding. But the reality is that when you start living a healthy life, you'll have more energy and you'll feel great. Plus, you'll save money when your frequent visits to doctors’ offices become a thing of the past. 

I want to help you become healthier and I want to show you how it's easy and simple to live a long and good life as strong people.

Your first and most important step is to make the decision that you're going to change for the better. And when you make that decision, you'll see that those changes are far easier than you ever imagined. I’ll show you some shortcuts you may not have known. That includes the easy way to a healthy diet with some quick and simple recipes, plus hints about how to find time for exercise in your everyday life and where you'll find those calming moments.

Here's you first menu and a recipe from that menu. Many more will follow in the days to come. Since this is summer, or almost, the menu comes from the Summer section of the Healthy Eating Plan:

Main Meal Menu

Salmon with Brown Sugar, Balsamic Vinegar, and Light Soy Sauce Marinade, Recipe below

Brown Rice or Couscous

Baby Lettuce Salad with Scallions and Seasonal Vegetables with Salad Dressing

Baguette, Whole Wheat

Blueberries or Strawberries with Milk

Salmon with Brown Sugar, Balsamic Vinegar, and Light Soy Sauce Marinade

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 pound salmon fillet, fresh caught or farm grown (This amount leaves leftovers for Light Meal, Day 2, page xx.)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar or other vinegar

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

Method

Raise oven shelf to about 6 inches below the broiler coils. Preheat oven to broil. Cover rimmed cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place salmon fillet skin-side down on the cookie sheet.

Salmon Marinade: In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, vinegar, and light soy sauce. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour part of the marinade by the tablespoonful over the salmon. Let sit for 15 minutes. Reserve remaining marinade to add to cooking salmon and to serve over rice.

Place cookie sheet with salmon under the broiler and cook on the first side for about 4-6 minutes. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, turn the salmon over with a spatula, and spoon more marinade over the fish. Insert cookie sheet back into the oven and broil another 3-4 minutes. The flesh should be firm, flaky, and opaque.

Remove cookie sheet from oven and scrape or peel the skin from the fillet. There are four servings in a 1-pound fillet. Serve the left-over marinade in a small bowl for the rice or couscous. Serve half the cooked salmon fillet for a dinner for two. Reserve the other half of the cooked salmon fillet for a salmon sandwich for a lunch or future meal..