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Healthy Recipe: Poached Salmon with Curried Yogurt Sauce

FitSugar — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:30:00 -0700

In this crazy heat, no one wants to turn on the oven. This salmon dish is easy to make, requires only one pan, and is cooked completely on the stove top. In other words, it is a perfect recipe for a hot Summer's day. This recipe called for a pound and a half of salmon. The wild salmon at my local fish market was beautiful but came with a very high price tag. I found a piece that was half the size the recipe originally called for and the extra meat wasn't missed. Serve this dish over brown rice for a complete meal. A crisp arugula salad makes a nice side as well.

To see the recipe just read more.

Poached Salmon With Curried Yogurt Sauce
Adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients

coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound green beans, ends trimmed
4 medium carrots, cut into sticks similar size to the beans
3/4 pound wild salmon
1 cup plain low fat yogurt
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

In a skillet with a tight fitting lid, pour 1/2 inch water; bring to a boil, and season generously with salt. Add green beans and carrots. Return water to a simmer, cover skillet, and steam until veggies are crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes.

Transfer to a colander; rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Rinse skillet with cold water to cool it down. Place salmon in skillet and add cold water to cover; season with salt. Bring water to a boil over high heat;

cover skillet, and remove from heat. Set aside until salmon is opaque throughout, about 20 minutes. Remove from skillet, and let cool.
In a small bowl, stir together yogurt, curry powder, and cilantro; season with salt and pepper.
Break salmon into large pieces over veggies. Top with yogurt cilantro sauce.
Serve on top of brown rice to add a whole grain carb to the meal.

Serves 4

You can make all the elements of this dish ahead of time and simply bring them all to room temperature before serving.

Also, play around with the sauce if you have a chance. I added extra coriander, cumin and turmeric.

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Eat Salmon? Go Wild

FitSugar — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:00:00 -0800

When it comes to eating your omega-3 fatty acids salmon often seems your best choice. It is high in omega-3s and easy to come by as well as easy to cook. A new study reveals that wild salmon is more heart healthy than its farmed cousin. Not only is farmed salmon higher in environmental contaminants, but is lower in beneficial fatty acids like omega-3s. In the Norwegian study, participants who ate a diet high in wild salmon, which contains pure fish oil, had better health profiles in terms of biomarkers for heart health as well as blood vessel health when compared to study participants who ate farmed salmon. Farm salmon is high in vegetable oil, which is increasingly found to be used in fish feed.

If you are eating salmon for the fatty acids, go wild.

Source

Pregnant Ladies - Don't Fear Fish

FitSugar — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 02:00:00 -0700

When the FDA and EPA warned pregnant women about mercury levels in fish, consumption of this healthy food dropped dramatically. Women were told not to eat more than 12 oz. a week, but confusion about which fish was OK to eat and fear about getting too much mercury made women give fish up altogether.

Now experts are saying that not getting enough Omega-3s is much more dangerous to the developing fetus than getting trace amounts of mercury. These important fats are found most readily in fish and are necessary for brain development and improved motor and cognitive skills. Some evidence suggests that it may also prevent premature delivery and postpartum depression.

These experts are pushing pregnant woman to eat at least 12 oz. of fish, while the government's advice is to eat no more than 12 oz. The thing is, the National Fisheries Institute is the one paying for this health message urging pregnant women to eat more fish, so the message seems like it's got money on the mind instead of babies.

What's the bottom line? Omega-3 fatty acids are essential to the health of growing babies. If you are pregnant and love to eat fish, go ahead and eat it, but stick to no more than 12 oz. a week. Salmon, tuna, sardines (yum), oysters, and mackerel are great sources. Not into fish? Great plant sources of omega-3s include flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, walnuts, soy products, canola oil, and enhanced foods such as Breyer's yogurt and eggs.

Source

Breyer's Yogurt With DHA Omega-3

FitSugar — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 02:30:00 -0700

I don't know about you, but when I see products fortified with nutritional supplements like antioxidants and Omega-3s, I am always more than a bit skeptical. Whole foods are my thing, and the term "enhanced foods" seems like a sci-fi term and an oxymoron. I did make the switch to buying OJ with added calcium, but I'm skipping the Omega-3 eggs, since many companies can't back up their claims.

I just came across another product, Breyer's Smart!, that's fortified DHA Omega-3s. The source for this DHA Omega-3s is called life'sDHA, and it doesn't come from fish. It's produced from algae, so it's great for vegetarians. When you look at the list of ingredients on the back of this yogurt, it says "DHA Algal oil." Yep, "algal" not algae.

Is this a good source of Omega-3s? To find out read more

Fish and shellfish, such as salmon, tuna, and trout contain eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the two most potent and studied forms of Omega-3 fats. If you are a vegetarian, or avoid fish due to mercury concerns, you can find a substantial dose of another Omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) from non-fishy foods such as flaxseed, walnuts and canola oil.

However, when ALA is consumed, our bodies must convert it to EPA and DHA to reap the health benefits. Some foods enhanced with Omega-3s are typically fortified with ALA, but only a small amount of ALA ends up getting turned into EPA and DHA.

This Breyer's Smart! yogurt contains straight up DHA, which sounds great. DHA is necessary for the development and maintenance of nerve cells in the brain and eyes. It's also essential for good cardiovascular health. The only thing that's a little weird about this yogurt is that the website doesn't tell you just how much DHA a 6 oz. serving contains. Hmm.

Fit's Tips: Truthfully, I'm still not convinced about these Omega-3 enhanced products. If you are a fish eater, get your Omega-3s straight from the source. The American Heart Association recommends getting at least 2 servings of oily fish per week. If you don't eat fish, remember to get your fill of flaxseeds, walnuts and canola oil.

Source

Get Hot: Spicy Salmon Rub

FitSugar — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 03:30:00 -0700

I am all about multi-tasking these days. So why should I expect less from my food? Here's a spicy rub to use on salmon steaks to reap the benefits from both the hot spices and the omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon. Now that is multi-tasking food! Plus, this makes a tasty main dish and is a nice break from the standard lemon dill routine most often used for salmon.

To see the recipe, just read more

Spicy Paprika Rub
from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart

What you need:
4 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

What you do:

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.
Rub the rub on both sides of salmon steak.
Lightly oil grill or grill pan, and cook until salmon flakes with a form. About 4 minutes per side.

This rub works well with other meats, but use fattier cuts since paprika has a strong taste. Try it on skirt steak, pork loin, salmon fillets, or whole chickens for roasting.

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What Does Your RDI Look Like: Vitamin D

FitSugar — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:30:00 -0700

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and she was on her way to the beach to get her "daily dose of Vitamin D," she said. While it's true that 10-15 minutes of sunshine (ultraviolet-B), 3 times a week, is all the time your body needs to produce the required amount of Vitamin D, I wouldn't use it as an excuse to go out and bake in the sun. Remember that too much sun exposure can lead to skin cancer. Besides, you can eat enough Vitamin D to get your RDI.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is used by the body in the absorption of calcium. It also helps to maintain proper blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D is found in foods like dairy, oily fish, fortified cereals, egg yolks and mushrooms.

A deficiency in Vitamin D can lead to Osteoporosis, so if you are not getting enough through the sun and foods, you may want to supplement.

The RDI for Vitamin D is 5–10 mcg or 200–400 International Units (IU). To find out how much is in the food we eat read more

Your RDI of Vitamin D looks like this:

Food	Amount	Amount of Vitamin D in IU
Cod liver oil	2 tbsp	1,360 (whoa!)
Cooked salmon	3.5 oz	360
Canned tunafish	3 oz	200
Milk (skim, lowfat, whole)	1 cup	98
Egg	1 whole	25
Fortified cereal	3/4 cup	40-50
Raw mushrooms	1/2 cup	27

Is there such a thing as getting too much Vitamin D? Yes! Vitamin D toxicity can cause nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, constipation, weakness, and weight loss. It can also raise blood levels of calcium, causing mental issues such as confusion, and heart rhythm abnormalities. Calcinosis, the deposition of calcium and phosphate in soft tissues like the kidneys can also be caused by vitamin D toxicity. Unless you are spending hours in the sun and eating tons of cod liver oil (ick!), "overdosing" on Vitamin D isn't something you need to worry about.

Source

Best Summer Foods from The F-Factor Diet: Salmon

FitSugar — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:30:00 -0700

I am loving this new book, The F-Factor Diet ($16.47). The basis of the book is to make sure that the foods you eat the most of have enough fiber. I love the idea of adding more fiber into your diet, not only for weight loss, but also for the amazing benefits it brings (reduced risk of heart disease). Plus who doesn't love a diet that tells you to eat more?

Tanya Zuckerbrot, the author of the book is a well established nutritionist who has been practicing this program with clients for more than ten years. In other words, she knows her stuff. Of course there is way more to it than that and you'd have to read the book to get all the details, however Tanya gave me the scoop on the five best foods for summer. Here is one of them:

SALMON
Summer dish: Simply grilled on the barbecue
Summer marks the beginning of salmon fishing season and the time of year when fresh salmon is again available in your local markets. Salmon is low in calories and saturated fats and high in protein. Wild salmon is one of the best sources of health-promoting fats known as the omega-3 fatty acids. Omega 3s promote cardiovascular health, brain health and provide anti-inflammatory protection.

Cardiovascular health: Omega-3s prevent platelets in the blood from clumping together and sticking to arterial walls in the form of plaque. They also drive down triglycerides and LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Brain health: Omega-Ss interact with the fatty layers that surround brain cells and help protect brain cells from the diseases of aging, like Alzheimer’s.

Did you miss the other foods? Well, so far Tanya has told us about tomatoes too.

Eat Fat - Burn Calories?

FitSugar — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 03:58:13 -0800

It may sound weird to include fat in your diet when most of us want to dissolve the fat we already have.

A low-fat diet was all the craze, but studies now show that increasing your fat intake a little (to 30-35% of total calories) doesn't translate to bad news on the scale. By including healthy fats in your fiber-rich and lean protein diet, you may find it easier to lose weight permanently, stay fuller longer, and avoid the binging that packs on the extra pounds.

In order to burn calories effectively, you need to consume regular doses of healthy fats. Sorry to say - I'm not talking about junk foods that contain saturated or trans fat.

Some foods containing these good fats good-for-you-fats are nuts like walnuts and cashews, nut butters like peanut and almond, seeds like sesame and sunflower, salmon, avocado, flaxseed, green and black olives, and olive oil.

Fit's Tips: Snack on a handful of nuts to get your fill of healthy fats. Instead of buttering up your bread with dinner, try brushing on some olive oil.

What's the Diff: Omega-3s vs. Omega-6s

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:00:10 -0800

Omegas are all the buzz right now, and it seems like everywhere you turn, new foods are being enhanced with this essential fatty acid, or labeled as an excellent source. What people don't know is that there are different types of omegas, and eating too much of one kind can actually be harmful to your body.

Omega-3s are found in flax seeds, walnuts, cod liver oil, and fatty fish like mackerel, lake trout, albacore tuna, and salmon. Fish are the best sources because they are high in two particular fatty acids that are crucial to good health, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).

Then there are omega-6s. These fats are found in eggs, nuts, chicken, and vegetable oils such as corn, soy, safflower, and sunflower oil. Omega-6s are high in LA (linoleic acid), which is converted by the body into GLA (gamma-linolenic acid), and then further broken down to AA (arachidonic acid).

Do you know which type of omega fatty acid we should be eating more of? To find out, keep reading

Smarter Eats: Gwyneth Reminds Us to Get a Healthy Dose of D

FitSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:30:31 -0800

Gwyneth Paltrow's dishing out some healthy advice on GOOP this week - get your daily dose of vitamin D. The super-fit star points to Dr. Frank Lipman's healthy tips for getting our fair share of the vital D, who reminds us that, especially this time of year -when we head into the colder season and see less sunlight - it's even more important to supplement our diets with the vitamin, and avoid a vitamin D deficiency.

If you're wondering why it's so important, just remember that vitamin D was first recognized for its importance in maintaining healthy calcium levels for our bones. According to Dr. Lipman, it's now becoming increasingly apparent that we've underestimated the value of the vitamin, and a lack of it has been associated with obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and breast cancer - to name a few.

Since we rely on the sun to generate the most reliable way of getting vitamin D, it's a good idea to up your intake of foods that can naturally deliver the goods - try fortified milk in your cereal, dried shitake mushrooms with your stir fry or salad, and wild fatty fish, like salmon and halibut. Just be aware that only 10 percent of your vitamin D intake can come from food, so to really eat smarter and healthier, it might just be a good idea to supplement with the active form of the vitamin, D3. Be sure to read all of Dr. Lipman's great tips, and until we see some sunlight this Spring, make sure you're getting your daily dose with fortified foods.