Serves: 5

When searching for delicious, satisfying meals, many of us become confused trying to reconcile our desire for good health with our love of food. It can be difficult to plan healthy meals, especially for family members who don’t want to give up their favorite foods. It may also seem impossible to eat healthy meals away from home. In this section, you’ll find many "secrets" to help you plan healthy, good-tasting meals you and your family will enjoy--whether eating at home or dining out.

Healthy Eating at Home

Few people would disagree with the old saying that variety is the spice of life. Eating many different foods with contrasting flavors and textures helps to ensure we’re getting the many nutrients that are vital to feeling and looking good.

The Food Guide Pyramid illustrates a variety of different foods along with the amounts of each food you need to eat daily in order to maintain good health. To create meals that are appealing both in taste and appearance, incorporate different foods from each group and try unfamiliar foods. For instance, you could plan at least one meatless meal a week as a way to become more acquainted with the wonderful variety of delicious beans and grains. And don’t forget the many different forms of your favorite foods, such as canned, juiced, dried or frozen fruit. These can be a treat when fresh produce is out of season or is very expensive.

Anything’s Okay in Moderation

Nutrition experts today advise most of us to reduce the amounts of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium that we eat. They also recommend we boost our intake of fiber and that women and children eat more calcium, folic acid and iron. While that’s sound advice, it doesn’t mean we must completely omit fat, cholesterol and sodium from our diets, nor should we go overboard on fiber, calcium, folic acid and iron. And it doesn’t mean we need to count every calorie, gram of fat or milligram of sodium we eat.

What this advice does encourage is moderation as an overall approach to healthier eating. That means all foods can be part of a healthy diet if we control how much of them we eat eating reasonable-sized portions of foods--whether high in fat and calories or not--is a key to a healthy diet. When we plan our meals to feature foods high in fiber, calcium and iron, and enjoy small amounts of foods high in fat, cholesterol and/or sodium, healthy eating is simple and enjoyable.

The Cooking Connection

The way you cook can be just as important as what you choose to cook. Consider investing in nonstick cookware and use a nonstick cooking spray. Many cooking methods enable you to use significantly less fat and still prepare a tasty meal. A brief description of some of these cooking methods follows.

> Grill or roast meat on a rack. This allows the fat to drip off instead of pool-ing around the meat, where it can be reabsorbed.

> Microwave foods. Minimal amounts of added fat or liquids are needed, thereby reducing calories from added fat and minimizing loss of water-soluble vitamins in cooking liquids.

> Pan-broil foods by starting with a cold ungreased skillet in which meats are cooked slowly. Fat is poured off as it accumulates, before it can be reabsorbed.

> Poach foods by simmering them in a hot liquid just below the boiling point. No added fat is necessary.

> Steam foods in a steamer basket over boiling water. This allows foods such as vegetables to retain their water-soluble vitamins.

> Stir-fry foods in a small amount of oil. Cook small, uniform pieces of food over high heat, stirring constantly. A wok or large skillet is used to stir-fry.

Remember that important vitamins found in vegetables can be destroyed by overcooking or lost entirely by being cooked in too much water aim for a crisp-tender mixture by cooking for only a short period of time, and cook in as little water as possible. To gain the benefit of vitamins that dissolve into cooking liquids, use the leftover liquid in creative ways add it to soups, stews and sauces or use it for basting meats.

Please Your Palate with Produce

Each season of the year brings a delightful variety of produce guaranteed to please discriminating palates as well as supply nutrients vital to healthy diets. Experiment with the "exotic" fruits and vegetables, such as golden raspberries, passion fruit, chayote squash and Jerusalem artichokes, that flood today’s supermarkets many stores provide printed materials to help you prepare these new items. Visit local farmers’ markets and "pick-your-own" gardens and orchards to purchase produce fresh off the tree or out of the field at the best prices of the season. For great flavor year-round, you can freeze, can or dry some of your favorite fruits and vegetables.

Take Advantage of Whole Grains

Packed with complex carbohydrates, B vitamins and iron, low-fat grain foods form the foundation of a healthy diet. The Food Guide Pyramid (page 20) recommends 6 to 11 servings daily of these satisfying foods and specifies that several servings should be whole grain.

Whole grains add delicious flavor, hearty texture and important dietary fiber to foods. To meet your daily requirement, try whole grain cereals for breakfast, snacks--even dinner! Serve whole grain breads and rolls, brown rice and whole wheat pasta often. Combine brown rice or whole wheat pasta with beans or peas for a low-fat, complete-protein alternative to meats. Add flavor, pleasing texture and extra nutrition to biscuits, muffins, breads and coffee cakes by substituting whole wheat flour for half of the white flour.

Plan for Snacks

Most people can benefit from a snack now and then to boost their energy and help them through the day. Plan ahead to keep your snacks healthy. For instant snacking, keep a large container of plain nonfat yogurt on hand. Eat it plain, stir in fresh fruit or blend in a favorite fruit juice for a refreshing shake. For fast, crunchy satisfaction, keep cut-up vegetables such as carrots, peppers, celery, cucumber, jicama or broccoli ready in the refrigerator. If you choose to dunk your vegetables, stir together nonfat plain yogurt and dill weed for an easy and tasty low-fat dip.

Delicious, high in fiber, low in calories and economical, popcorn is one of the best all-around snacks. Use "light" varieties of microwave popcorn, buy a microwave popper and pop without oil, or rely on a hot-air popper to keep fat and calories low. Add flavor by sprinkling on favorite herbs and spices. Try munching on breakfast cereal for a quick pick-me-up most varieties are low in fat and packed with vitamins and minerals. Pretzels also rate high as a low-fat healthy snack. If you’re concerned about sodium intake, look for low-sodium pretzels.

The Wonders of Water

While it may seem a trivial tip to planning healthy meals, getting enough water is absolutely essential to a healthy diet. We need about 64 fluid ounces of water daily, but that doesn’t mean we have to drink eight 8-ounce glasses every day. The fluid in fruits and vegetables, soups, sauces and so forth helps meet our requirements for water. It’s a good idea, however, to drink several glasses of water or other fluid each day to ensure you get enough. Because they have a diuretic--ultimately dehydrating--effect, don’t include any caffeinated or alcoholic beverages you drink as part of your water quota.

From "Betty Crocker's Best of Healthy & Hearty Cooking." Text Copyright 1998 General Mills, Inc. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

More Recipes from the Betty Crocker's Best of Healthy & Hearty Cooking Cookbook:
1. Nutrition Through the Life Cycle
2. Meal Planning
3. Shaping up your Favorite Recipes
4. Stocking Up
5. Healthy Eating Out of the House and on the Road
6. A Guide to the Food Pyramid
7. Learning the Nutrition Facts
8. Energize with Exercise
9. The Framework--A Healthy Attitude