All hail these healthy fats
The new gospel from the oracles of health tells us to eat a good amount of fat. But not just any fat — the good ones are those from vegetable oils, nuts and fish, and with a few caveats.
The new Heart and Stroke Foundation book on heart-healthy living, Heart Health for Canadians, touts the cholesterol-lowering benefits of monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, the blood clot preventing power of polyunsaturated omega-3 fat from salmon and mack- erel, while cautioning against getting too much omega-6 polyunsaturated fat from nuts.
What’s the reservation about nuts, which are on most good lists?
“Although omega-6 can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, too much of it is a bad thing,” writes Dr. Beth Abramson in Heart Health.
“When eaten in large amounts, it can also lower the HDL (good) cholesterol.”
Abramson steers away from animal fats. She tells us to get our fat from vegetable oils, nuts and fish.
“I personally eat very little red meat — only once a month!”— but eat lots of turkey, fish and chicken,” she writes. “Skin off, of course.”
“There’s more of an emphasis on polyunsaturated fat and omega-3 fats, including fish two times a week,” agrees Carol Dombrow, a dietician and nutrition consultant for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
“People aren’t eating nearly enough fish.”
Here are three recipes — appetizer, main, dessert — that make use of fat from olive oil, fish, avocado and nuts — the good fats for a healthy heart. Enjoy.
Chickpea and Avocado Soup with Mackerel
3 Star Tested For recipes, I usually default to canned beans. Dietician Carol Dombrow, a consultant to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, advises against canned beans, which almost always contain lots of salt. If using dried chickpeas, 1/2 cup, soaked overnight, should produce 1 1/2 cups cooked. Reserve boiling liquid and use in place of water or stock.
For my guests, I’d use rendered animal fat (duck, pork, chicken) to fry the fish and I’d serve the crispy skin. I think I speak for the Heart and Stroke people when I suggest that you use canola oil and not serve the animal skin. But leave it on during cooking. It’s got lots of flavour and helps prevent the fish from sticking to the pan. 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) chickpeas,
cooked 1/2 tsp (2 mL) olive oil 2 ripe avocados
Juice of 1 lime, about 5 tsp (25 mL) 21/2 cups (750 mL) warm water or stock Salt to taste 1 filet of mackerel
1 tsp (5 mL) canola oil Squeeze of lemon juice In a large pan on low heat, sauté garlic in olive oil until soft, about 6 minutes. Add chickpeas and cook until warm (soup won’t purée easily if it’s cold). Transfer garlic and chickpeas to blender. Add avocado, limejuice and water. Purée until smooth. Season with salt to taste.
In a large frying pan on high heat, use canola oil to fry mackerel, skin side down.
After about 2 minutes, flip. Cook through, another 2 minutes. Transfer fish to cutting board, sprinkle with salt and lemon juice. Use chopped fish to garnish soup.
Makes 4 servings.
Spicy Barley Salad with Hazelnut Dressing
3 Star Tested Loosely adapted from a taco recipe by Alex Stupak, chef of Empallon Cocina in New York.
Salad 1 cup (250 mL) barley 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped 4 dates, pitted and finely chopped 2 tsp (10 mL) lime juice 2 tsp (10 mL) olive oil 1/4 small white onion, peeled and finely chopped 1 tsp (5 mL) white vinegar 2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped cilantro 1 tbsp (15 mL) canned chipotle in adobo sauce
1 ripe avocado Salt and pepper In a large pot of simmering water, cook barley until soft, about 25 minutes. Strain and spread flat to cool. Should produce about 4 (1 L) cups cooked. In a small pan with a splash of olive oil, sauté garlic until brown, about 4 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine barley, garlic, dates, lime juice, olive oil, onion, vinegar, cilantro and chipotle. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Hazelnut Dressing
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) hazelnuts, toasted
1 roma tomato, chopped
1/4 small white onion, peeled and chopped 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped 1/2 tsp (2 mL) oregano 2 tbsp (30 mL) red wine vinegar 1/3 cup (80 mL) olive oil 1/2 cup water Salt and pepper to taste In a food processor or mortar and pestle, pulse hazelnuts until they are lightly broken. In a large pan on medium heat, use a splash of olive oil to sauté onion and garlic, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and continue to cook for about 3 minutes. In a blender, combine garlic, onion, tomato, oregano, vinegar, olive oil, water and half of the hazelnuts. Blend until emulsified. Season to taste. To serve: Slice avocado into thin strips. Arrange on plates. Sprinkle with limejuice and salt. Cover with spicy barley salad. Drizzle hazelnut dressing around. Garnish with remaining crushed hazelnuts. Makes four servings.
Olive Oil Cake
3 Star Tested If we’re being really good, the only dessert recipes we should need are from Zakary Pelaccio’s cookbook,
Eat With Your Hands. The two page-spread declares, with no addi- tional commentary, “Eat fresh fruit!”
Accepting that truth, any “hearthealthy” dessert is going to be a compromise.
“It’s really difficult to replace sugar in its entirety,” says Lesley Mattina, owner of OMG Baked Goodness. “If you don’t use sugar, the eggs don’t work the same, chemically.”
Mattina provided me with a recipe for olive oil cake, which came out incredibly moist. It even contains zucchini. 4 whole eggs, room temperature 11/4 cups (310 mL) sugar (300 g) 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) molasses, fancy, not blackstrap (75 g) 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt 1/2 cup (125 mL) olive oil 1/2 cup (125 mL) canola oil 1/4 cup (75 mL) dark beer 3 tbsp (45 mL) orange juice 2 1/2 cups (625 mL) all-purpose
flour (325 g) 1 tbsp (15 mL) baking soda (12 g) 1/4 fresh nutmeg, grated, about 1/4 tsp (1 mL) pinch of white pepper 1/2 inch piece of grated fresh ginger, about 1/2 tsp (2 mL)
Zest of 1/2 orange, about 1/2 tsp (2 mL) 1/4 cup (75 mL) walnut pieces (50 g) 1 cup (250 mL) grated zucchini (250g), lightly drained (grated carrot is good substitute) honey Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
Crack eggs into mixer bowl. With mixer’s whip attachment, beat on medium until eggs are light yellow, about 2 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, molasses and salt and add to machine in a steady stream.
Continue running the machine for a few minutes until the mixture doubles in volume, perhaps even more.
In a mixing bowl, combine olive oil, canola oil, beer and orange juice. Reduce mixer to low and add liquid to eggs in a steady stream, whipping until incorporated.
In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, nutmeg and white pepper. Slowly add into egg mixture while continuing to mix. Stop machine. Add ginger, zest, walnuts and zucchini, using spatula to fold.
Brush muffin or loaf moulds with olive oil.
Pour mixture into mold. Bake until cake springs back from touch, or toothpick comes out clean, about 35 to 45 minutes. Drizzle with a little honey while still warm from the oven.
Makes dessert for 8.
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