Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Eating Healthy: Should be a lifelong goal

The American Heart Association’s Eat Healthy Day has already passed, but that shouldn’t stop you from continuing to eat healthy for the rest of the long life you’ll have if you actually do it.

To help you along, KyForward will be selecting a yummy recipe from the heart association’s Healthy Cooking site and featuring one each week from now through the holidays. We’re picking something that just sounds good to us – but you can fast-forward to www.heart.org/simplecooking to choose your own recipes (maybe for tomorrow’s family dinner). If you find a really good one, please share it with us. And if you have a healthy recipe of your own, share that too. (editor@kyforward.com)

Wishing you healthy eating . . .

Pork Tenderloin and Spinach with Parmesan

4 servings

Pork tenderloin ingredients:

1-pound pork tenderloin, all visible fat removed

Cooking spray

1/4 cup light Italian salad dressing

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

2 tablespoons lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Combine salad dressing, Italian seasoning, lemon juice and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Combine liquid mixture and pork in a resealable plastic bag, turning to coat. [Refrigerate overnight if time allows]

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray cooking sheet with cooking spray and place pork in the center. Pour any marinade remaining in the bag on top.

3. Bake for 30 minutes until desired doneness. Let stand five minutes to allow juices to redistribute before slicing.

TIP: When cooking tenderloins, often one end is smaller than the other, by tucking the smaller end under so both ends are approximately the same thickness it will cook more evenly. However, if some members of your household prefer well-done and other’s enjoy rarer meats, having a thinner end can give you more variety.

Spinach ingredients:

1 (10-ounce) package of frozen chopped spinach

Cooking spray

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon minced garlic from jar or 2 cloves minced

2 tablespoon fat-free grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons unsalted, unboiled pine nuts (optional)

1. Spray saucepan with cooking spray. Sautee onions on medium-high heat three minutes. Add spinach to onions and cook according to package directions. Drain well – wring off as much water as possible.

2. Add lemon juice and garlic, stir. Sprinkle parmesan and pine nuts (optional) over spinach and lightly toss.

Provided 2 analyses, one with pine nuts, one without, per serving:

With pine nuts:

Calories 208

Total Fat 6.5 g

Saturated Fat 1.5 g

Trans Fat 0.0 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2.0 g

Monounsaturated Fat 2.5 g

Cholesterol 75 mg

Sodium 292 mg

Carbohydrates 9 g

Fiber 3 g

Sugars 3 g

Protein 29 g

Dietary Exchanges: 2 vegetable, 3 1/2 lean meat

Without pine nuts:

Calories 188

Total Fat 4.5 g

Saturated Fat 1.0 g

Trans Fat 0.0 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g

Monounsaturated Fat 1.5 g

Cholestero l75 mg