Patient Education Caring For Your Heart Booklet | Page 34

Other low-fat cooking tips
include:
Cooking Low-Fat
The next step in heart-healthy eating
is to prepare foods in a nutritious and
healthful way. You can decrease the
amount of saturated fat, cholesterol,
and calories added to your food during
cooking.
 Trim fat from meat before cooking.
 Do not eat skin from chicken or
turkey. Remove the skin and fat
under the skin before cooking poultry
pieces. The exception is when
cooking a whole turkey or chicken.
In this case, remove the skin before
carving and serving the meat. Choose
whole turkeys that have not been
injected with fats or broths.
Try these low-fat cooking
methods:
 Roast with a rack so that the meat
or poultry doesn’t sit in its own fat
drippings. Baste or marinate with fat-
free dressings, wine vinegar, or lemon,
lime, apple, or pineapple juice.
 Use nonstick cooking sprays for
grilling sandwiches or other stove-top
recipes.
 Often fat can be reduced in recipes
without losing fl avor. For example,
omitting oil when cooking pasta will
not change the fl avor.
 Bake in covered cookware with a
little extra liquid.
 Braise or stew with more liquid
when baking in the oven or on top of
the stove. Refrigerate the cooked dish
and remove the solid fat before re-
heating.
 Prepare vegetables without adding fat,
cream, or cheese sauce. Steam or roast
vegetables instead of boiling to save
the fl avor and nutrients.
 Poach by covering chicken or fi sh
in simmering liquid such as water or
lower-sodium broth.
 Choose low-fat or nonfat versions of
dairy products for recipes that include
milk, yogurt, or cheese.
 Grill or broil on a rack so that fat
drips away from the food.
 Sauté or stir-fry in a nonstick pan.
Use nonstick cooking spray, fat-free
low-sodium broth, lower-sodium
bouillon, canola oil, or peanut oil.
 Steam vegetables in a basket over
simmering water.
 Microwave meats between two
paper towels to absorb excess fat.
33