Cholesterol-Lowering Recipes for the Holidays
Christmas meals, parties, events and gatherings don’t have to make your Cholesterol hit the roof. Try some of the cholesterol-lowering recipes here that your whole family will love.
About High Cholesterol:
When you have high LDL cholesterol with a low level of HDL cholesterol, you are exposed more to the risk of cardiac disease. Typically, high cholesterol is due to a poor lifestyle, improper eating habits, stress, genetics, or even diseases like diabetes or hypothyroid. You can control blood cholesterol by monitoring your fat intake and restricting it to less than 30gm per day taking special care that saturated fat should not exceed 10%.
Citrus Salmon
Cholesterol-lowering recipes for the holidays often have fruits, vegetables or fish as their main ingredient. One of these is Citrus Salmon in Parchment. In it, salmon is seasoned with citrus fruits like lemon, lime and orange as well as dill and lemon pepper. Olive oil is also
brushed on the side of the salmon fillets and wrapped in parchment paper. The wrapped salmon is baked at 450 degrees until the salmon flakes easily.
Zesty Salad
Another cholesterol-lowering recipe for the holidays is a salad without the cholesterol that goes with salad dressings. Green beans are steamed to a tender yet crisp state. Half a teaspoon of lemon zest for two cups of the green beans is added to the cooked beans.
Black pepper, parsley and freshly squeezed lemon juice are sprinkled over the beans in minute quantities, along with the grated lemon zest. They are used to add flavor to the steamed vegetables. For the finale, only two tablespoons of sliced, dry, roasted almonds are tossed to the salad. The whole ensemble is then steamed a second time.
Turkey Noodle Soup
In addition, the holiday season would not be complete without a turkey dish. However, they may become leftovers. To lower the cholesterol content of this poultry dish as well as come up with a soup for dinner, one can make turkey noodle soup with the turkey’s skin removed. Two cups of extra wide egg noodles are cooked and drained.
When this is done, it is placed with chunks of leftover turkey and cream of chicken soup in a covered pan. The soup should be enough for about two cups of turkey, leftover cooked vegetables, and noodles. The soup mix is seasoned with parsley, curry powder, thyme, salt and pepper. The soup is cooked over medium heat while stirring occasionally. Cooking time is short enough since the main ingredients are leftovers.
Berry Dessert
Finally, dessert can take the form of any berries. They may be strawberries, blackberries or blueberries. They may be served plainly or constitute cookie crumbles or bars. Melted low-fat chocolate can be drizzled over the berries for a simple yet delicious dessert. Or they can be used to coat strawberries.
Cookies or bars may be made of whole wheat flour with oats or nuts. One could also serve meringue since it is made of egg whites; cholesterol is
in the egg yolks. Another healthful alternative is serving fruit sorbet instead of ice cream.
