June is Stroke Awareness Month. As the Nutritionist for Sobeys, we are partnering with the Heart and Stroke Foundation to offer you Wellness classes every Monday night of June. Last night our first class topic covered the basic of eating healthy, cholesterol, and nutrition tips that may help reduce your risk of stroke.
The recipe that I prepared for my Heart and Stroke class last night was a Quinoa Greek Salad that I had altered from the Heart and Stroke’s recipe online. This recipe is fresh, easy, and delicious for summer. It ensures to include all the heart healthy ingredients and can be used as a main dish or a side to any dinner.
I made sure to add in a few of my favourite items. For example:
Chickpeas: A great plant-based source of protein and fibre. The bean I’m sure you know by now is my ultimate favourite! This item has 13g of fibre per 1 cup.
Avocados: A great source of heart healthy unsaturated fats and soluble fibre (6.7g fibre per 1/2 avocado).
Red & Green Pepper: Peppers have high antioxidant and vitamin C content. This means they will fight off pollutants (free radicals) in the body that can cause cell damage.
Black Olives: Are low in a cholesterol. A source of dietary fibre, iron and copper. However, olives are high in sodium. Make sure to rinse and drain the olives before using them in this recipe and don’t overdo it. Slice them in to thirds to make a smaller amount go a long way.
Heart Healthy Quinoa Greek Salad Recipe
(Serves 10 people as a side dish)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, cook and chill
- ½ cup red pepper, diced
- ½ cup green pepper, diced
- ½ cup cucumber, chopped
- ¼ cup green onion, diced
- ¼ cup black olives
- ¼ cup red onion
- ½ avocado, sliced, diced
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/3 cup feta cheese (reduced fat if available), rinse and drain to remove sodium.
- Optional: Add a fibre and protein boost with ¼ cup rinsed and drained chickpeas or add a salted crunch with roasted chickpeas!
Dressing:
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ½ tsp basil fresh
- Ground sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- In a small pot, cook 1 cup dry quinoa as per package instructions.
- When quinoa is fully cooked, remove from heat and allow to cool. Place in the refrigerator while you are preparing the rest of your ingredients.
- Prepare diced vegetables and crumble feta cheese.
- Whisk together dressing ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir the veggies and cheese into the cooled quinoa.
- Pour the dressing over quinoa mixture and toss.
- Enjoy!
Take aways from our class:
- Choose foods lower in sodium (less than 15% Daily Value, always read the nutrition facts label!)
- Choose healthy fats (UNSATURATED fats), avoid saturated and trans fats where possible.
- Choose high fibre foods, soluble fibre has been found to have a greater impact in lowering cholesterol compared to insoluble fibre
- Choose lean protein sources: fish, chicken, turkey, lean meats
- Avoid highly processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages
- Watch out for canned food items, they tend to be high in sodium
- Limit added sugars: less than 12 tsp or 48g of added sugar a day!!
Thank you all so much to those of you who came out to our first Heart and Stroke Awareness Month Class at Stratford Sobeys last night! It was so much fun sharing my knowledge with all of you who are so eager to learn. We will be offering these classes every Monday night at 6:30 PM here. Please email me for more information if you are local and would like to attend! brooke@ateaspoonofbliss.com
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