Nutrition News by Charlyn Fargo

Want to help your family eat healthier? The latest issue of Consumer Reports Food & Fitness offers six easy ideas for better family meals:

1. Give vegetables a starring role. Lighten up on the meat and add more veggies to boost antioxidants, fiber and lower costs. Let the veggies take up 50 percent of the plate. It also helps to serve veggies as finger food with a dip.

2. Think Mediterranean. The Mediterranean diet — rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, olive oil, nuts and fish — is tasty and linked to better heart health. Use hummus for a dip or make a Mediterranean pizza with veggie toppings over a whole-wheat dough.

3. Go fish. Choose fish like tilapia, wild Alaskan salmon, shrimp, scallops and sardines. If your family isn't keen on fish, then start with using fish in stews or try marinating fish before cooking.

4. Look for low-fat dairy. Dairy offers calcium and vitamin D. Mix lower-fat milk with 2 percent to help family members make the change to lower fat milk. Fat-free cheese cooks differently from full-fat cheese. Try reduced-fat cheese first or use half regular and half lower-fat cheese. Or try adding dry milk powder to mashed potatoes or soup to boost calcium.

5. Learn to love beans and legumes. Whether dried or canned, beans and legumes offer high protein and heart-healthy fiber with very little fat and no cholesterol. Beans can even be pureed to chicken stock to make a healthier pasta sauce.

6. Go with the grain. People who eat whole grains may enjoy a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, among other benefits. Try whole-wheat pasta, bread, brown rice and tortillas. In the beginning, mix brown and white rice together or white and whole-wheat pastas. — Consumer Reports Food & Fitness

Q & A

Q: I keep hearing about using less "processed foods" to reduce sodium consumption. How much difference can it make, and what are the most important switches?

A: Focus on the highest-sodium processed foods you use often:

— Tomatoes: A cup of tomatoes goes from 9 milligrams (mg) of sodium when fresh to 300 mg when canned with added salt, to 700 to 1,200 mg in commercial tomato soup or spaghetti sauce. Canned tomatoes are a good source of highly absorbable lycopene, a natural antioxidant compound that may add protection against prostate and other cancers, so look for tomatoes canned with no added salt.

— Poultry and Fish: Plain fresh poultry, meat or fish goes from less than 100 mg of sodium in a deck-of-cards sized serving (three ounces) to 500 to 1,000 mg in commercial breaded patties, nuggets or sauces.

Choose fresh turkey or chicken (homemade or from the deli counter) for sandwiches instead of smoked turkey, ham and sausage-type lunch meats.

— Salad Dressing: Two tablespoons of plain vinaigrette (olive oil and vinegar) on your salad add less than 5 mg of sodium; most bottled salad dressings contain 260 to 500 mg. Most "lite" dressings are lower in fat and calories, but no lower in sodium. Check labels to find the few that do keep sodium less than 100 mg, or take the leap and find that homemade salad dressings are simple to make and delicious.

— Grains: Products like rice and pasta go from less than 10 mg sodium per serving to 600 to 1,200 mg when they are part of flavored mixes. Food items need not lack flavor in order to control sodium. It's just that regular versions of almost any "convenience" food contain a large amount of added sodium. — American Institute for Cancer Research

RECIPE

This recipe for Inside-Out Lasagna, from Eating Well magazine, is quick and healthy and fits into a Mediterranean diet plan.

Inside-Out Lasagna

8 ounces whole-wheat rotini or fusilli

1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, sliced

8 ounces sliced white mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs

8 cups baby spinach

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta; cook until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft and beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms release their liquid, 4 to 6 minutes. Add tomatoes, spinach and crushed red pepper.

Increase heat to medium high; cook, stirring once halfway through, until the spinach is wilted, about 4 minutes. Toss the sauce with the pasta and divide among 4 bowls. Dollop each serving with 3 tablespoons of ricotta. Serves 4.

Per serving: 364 calories, 16 g protein, 55 g carbohydrate, 9 g fat, 14 mg cholesterol, 7 g fiber, 588 mg sodium.

Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian from Springfield, Ill. For comments or questions, contact her at charfarg@aol.com. To find out more about Charlyn Fargo and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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