MATT LAUER, co-host:
Back now at 8:45. This morning on
TODAY'S HEALTHY HEART
, we're cooking to save your life. Meals that will lower your
blood pressure
and your cholesterol without tasting bland and boring.
Nutritionist Ellie Krieger
is
the author of "So Easy:
Luscious
,
Healthy Recipes
for
Every Meal
of the Week."
Ellie
, welcome back. Nice to see you.
Ms. ELLIE KRIEGER (Author, "So Easy"):
Good to be here,
Matt.
LAUER:
Full disclosure, I'm trying to eat healthier. I find that if you plan ahead, you can do this; if you don't and you wait to eat what's right next to you or convenient, you're in big trouble.
Ms. KRIEGER:
Absolutely. And it's those highly processed
convenience foods
that we go for when we don't plan ahead that are -- really can be a problem for our
heart
. So when you're eating
heart
-
healthy
, you want to go for minimally
processed foods
, foods that are high in nutrients, high in fiber, high in antioxidants, and those are really simple foods, but you have to plan ahead, like you say.
LAUER:
And when we talk about
blood pressure
, instead of using a lot of salt in foods, and we all know as
Americans we
oversalt our food...
Ms. KRIEGER:
Right.
LAUER:
...use other spices to take the place.
Ms. KRIEGER:
Exactly. Just because it's less salt doesn't mean they have to be bland.
LAUER:
All right.
Let's talk
about your recipes. The first one is an aromatic
beef stew
...
Ms. KRIEGER:
Mm-hmm.
LAUER:
...with
butternut squash
.
Ms. KRIEGER:
Yes, it is.
LAUER:
Most people don't think of beef and
heart
-
healthy
.
Ms. KRIEGER:
Right. And the thing is you want to probably eat less beef, but the thing is you can include it in a
heart
-
healthy diet
.
And I
think people who might be afraid to make change because of that might not realize that you can have some. So the key is...
LAUER:
All right. So you've got some onions in there?
Ms. KRIEGER:
Onions sauteing in here. I browned the beef already and I just browned a pound. I'm putting now some garlic and ginger, so here's where the
flavor
comes in. And interestingly, these are anti-inflammatory so these are good for your
heart
, too. They're giving you
flavor
but they're also giving you some health benefits. Here's...
LAUER:
Have you chosen a leaner cut of meat?
Ms. KRIEGER:
Exactly. So it's a lean cut in a sensible portion. One pound for four people. Everyone's going to get a bite of beef in every bite of stew, but it's just not overdoing it. So you're just putting that back in. Then here we go with the colorful produce;
butternut squash
, fabulous -- this -- you can buy it precut, this is about from one whole squash, you can cut it yourself as well.
Ms. KRIEGER:
And just getting that in there. More color, the tomatoes. Again, here I'm using diced canned tomatoes, but no salt added. So I'm going to add salt if I want to later, but this way I'm in control of it, you
know what I mean
?
LAUER:
OK. Some...
Ms. KRIEGER:
Same thing with
tomato sauce
. And some broth, some
beef broth
.
LAUER:
Great. And again, there's no salt in the
beef broth
. Want me to add that?
Ms. KRIEGER:
Exactly. Sure, that's great.
LAUER:
The whole thing?
Ms. KRIEGER:
Go for it
.
LAUER:
OK, this is going to simmer and cook down.
Ms. KRIEGER:
Wait, but I have a few more spices for you.
LAUER:
OK.
Ms. KRIEGER:
All right? I have some cinnamon. So this is like full
flavor
, you know? Some cinnamon, some cumin and some -- a little bit of heat from some hot pepper.
LAUER:
So the people who are used to salty food, are they going to immediately notice the absence of it in this dish?
Ms. KRIEGER:
No. You're going to immediately notice a lot of
flavor
...
LAUER:
OK.
Ms. KRIEGER:
...is what you're going to immediately notice. This gets simmered for about
30 minutes
. And everything sort of melds together so beautifully.
LAUER:
Softens up.
Ms. KRIEGER:
All of the flavors meld together, all the colors sort of -- and then I serve this...
LAUER:
Ooh
, you know, that smells fantastic.
Ms. KRIEGER:
Yeah. It's really high
flavor
.
LAUER:
It really does.
Ms. KRIEGER:
And then the thing is I'm serving it over a whole grain. So whole grain couscous takes
10 minutes
to make. Just serve some up.
LAUER:
We're going to sample that in a second.
Ms. KRIEGER:
All right.
LAUER:
You've got a nice little plate of it over there on the side.
Ms. KRIEGER:
Exactly. All right.
LAUER:
Come on around the corner here, let's take a look at your second dish. You're using
salmon
in this one. Why do you like
salmon
in a diet, especially a
heart
-
healthy diet
?
Ms. KRIEGER:
OK. Eating fish two times a week you have a healthier
heart
, it's as simple as that. And it has those
heart
-
healthy
fats.
Salmon
is
one of the best
sources of that
heart
-
healthy
fat. So again, colorful vegetables, I have an onion sauteing here in a little oil. Think about adding color.
All of this
is potassium, which is going to help lower
blood pressure
. It's fiber which is going to help with cholesterol. It's all those great antioxidants. A little garlic again, thinking of full
flavor
. And then you're just letting this soften. I'm adding a little
tomato paste
, and that's also another great
flavor
element that doesn't have salt.
LAUER:
OK.
Ms. KRIEGER:
OK? So just basically integrating that all around.
LAUER:
There's no juice in that, what are you going to use for the liquid part of that?
Ms. KRIEGER:
OK. So what I'm going to do here is just some
chicken broth
. Again, no salt added, or low-sodium
chicken broth
.
Ms. KRIEGER:
Get that in there. And some chickpeas, and I love incorporating beans, beans are a really important part of a
heart
-
healthy diet
, high in fiber, great vegetable protein. And again, I always get the no-salt-added if I'm using the canned beans.
LAUER:
OK. How long will that simmer?
Ms. KRIEGER:
So then you cover this and you simmer it for about
10 minutes
.
LAUER:
OK.
Ms. KRIEGER:
And it comes out so beautifully and colorfully.
LAUER:
And look, it's funny, the more you cook it the more the colors seem to come out.
Ms. KRIEGER:
It's so true, you get that color. I put in a little fresh basil. And you know what, a teeny bit of salt, teeny bit of
salt and pepper
. So doing it to taste, but really weaning yourself off of that reliance.
LAUER:
OK. Now you've taken
salmon
and you broiled it. What kind of
salmon
should people be looking for in the store?
Ms. KRIEGER:
You know what, I love wild
salmon
when I can get it. But really farm-raised is fine. I think if -- you know, get what you can -- what you can find. Really you kind of can't go wrong, to be honest with you.
LAUER:
OK.
Ms. KRIEGER:
But if you can get wild, go for it.
LAUER:
And you're going to plate the
salmon
right on top of your vegetable mixture.
Ms. KRIEGER:
Exactly. And it looks beautiful. And look, it's quite simple, really. I mean, this is a weeknight meal.
LAUER:
There you go. Let you do that.
Ms. KRIEGER:
Thank you.
LAUER:
And again, good for you, low in salt, low in cholesterol,
heart
-
healthy
. Ellie Krieger...
Ms. KRIEGER:
And high in
flavor
.
LAUER:
There you go. Thanks so much. Good to have you here.
“ ”