Heart Month in our home and native land
Three cheers for these five nutrition all-stars, all produced right here at home!
1. Whole grains
Fields of wheat, barley, corn, oats and rye stretch across the prairie provinces. Whole grains are nutritious because they include the nutrients from all three parts of the grain – the bran, endosperm and germ. Eating whole grains offers a bundle of important nutrients such as fibre, vitamin E, B vitamins, magnesium, iron, zinc and phytonutrients.
2. Legumes
It doesn't matter whether you prefer lentil soup over split pea soup, or veggie chili made with white beans instead of kidney beans. All legumes are nutritious! In fact, a cup of cooked legumes can pack up to 13 grams of fibre, often with less than a gram of fat. Plus, legumes are an economical staple that can keep in the pantry for up to one year.
Team practice:
- Make a big pot of Vegetarian Chili – here, we've used kidney and black beans, but you can mix and match your favourite types of beans.
- Take the chill off a cold winter's night with a bowl of Curried Red Lentil and Spinach Soup.
- Use canned beans if you don't have time to soak the dried ones. Just remember to rinse them under cold water first to wash away some of the added salt.
3. Canola
Canola plants are grown from British Columbia across to Ontario. Their tiny seeds are crushed to make canola oil. Canada's Food Guide recommends that we use vegetable oils such as canola, because they contain mainly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are heart healthy. And, like all vegetable oils, canola oil is cholesterol-free.
4. Berries
These bright summer gems are grown all across Canada. Half a cup of blueberries or strawberries has two grams of fibre, while the same amount of blackberries or raspberries pack in four grams of fibre. The brilliant colours of berries are signs that they contain beneficial plant compounds called phytonutrients.
Team practice:
- Pick fresh berries from a local farm or farmers' market.
- Make smoothies with frozen berries during the winter.
- Try this Strawberry Almond Shortcake – it has less fat than you'd think!
5. Greens
Maybe you grow your own greens like spinach, green beans and asparagus? Canada's Food Guide recommends that we eat at least one dark green veggie every day. But we'll bet you'll eat even more greens because our heart healthy recipes taste so great.