healthy eating

You don’t have to skip parties just because you have diabetes. Learn how to navigate high-calorie party foods without ruining your diet.

Sea salt is an increasingly popular alternative to table salt. But is it really better for you? Our Healthy Skeptic investigates.

New England chowder is loaded with heavy cream and butter. But our tasty and nutritious twist on this traditional seafood dish loses much of the fat without sacrificing chowder's creamy texture.

Butter or margarine: Which spread is better for you? Our Healthy Skeptic gets to the bottom of this debate.

How you prepare garlic for cooking can actually improve its medicinal effectiveness. Find out what you should do and other fascinating facts about this member of the onion family.

Know how many cranberries it takes to make a can of sauce for Thanksgiving? Find out this and other fascinating facts about cranberries.

Do you know why apples float? Get the answer to that question and more fascinating facts about apples.

New government guidelines for a healthy diet are urging us to eat less salt. For many people, the recommended limit is 2300 milligrams a day. If you eat three meals a day, that's a little more than 700 mg per meal. A plain bagel from Au Bon Pain has 660 mg of sodium. Add 1 ounce of cream cheese (85 mg), and you're one-third through your daily intake.

The limit is even lower if you fall into one of these at-risk categories:

• Older than 51
• African American
• Have high blood pressure
• Have diabetes
• Have chronic kidney disease.

For folks in those groups, the new guidelines recommend 1,500 mg or less. Kiss your fast-food French fries goodbye, America. About half the population falls into one of those categories.

The United States Department of Agriculture, which put out the guidelines, says you should take these new recommendations to heart -- literally. Too much salt can cause serious problems for your cardiovascular system.

Unfortunately, using the salt shaker less is not enough to get you down to the new recommended levels. We get most of our sodium from processed foods and restaurant meals. Here's how to reduce your intake.

Cut back on processed foods.
By one estimate, 75 percent of the sodium in the typical diet comes from processed foods. Manufacturers use it as a preservative, to accentuate desirable flavors in food, and to disguise less pleasant ones.

Where possible, choose reduced-sodium versions of processed food. Or make your food from scratch; that way you can control added salt.

Be careful about canned vegetables.
Salt, like sugar can pop up in unexpected places. For example, there's nearly 400 mg of sodium in a single serving of canned cut green beans. The low sodium version has 200 mg.

That's why I usually start with fresh or frozen vegetables. They typically have no sodium.

Watch the condiments and dressings.
What we top our foods with can really affect our sodium levels. Last year Heinz reformulated its ketchup for the first time in 40 years, cutting sodium from 190 mg to 160 mg per tablespoon.

While that doesn't seem like much salt (at least compared to the fast food fries people dip in ketchup), a few tablespoons each week can add up. Dressings can have even more sodium. The Garden Fresh Salad with house dressing at Olive Garden has 1,990 mg. Even a "healthy" brand like Newman's Own Lighten Up Caesar Dressing has 420 mg for a two-tablespoon serving.

Next time you make a salad, try this low-sodium orange basil vinaigrette recipe. It has only 63 mg of sodium.

Eat out less.
A few months ago, the fast food restaurant chain Wendy's introduced new "natural" fries with sea salt. Don't be fooled into thinking that this means they have less sodium. In fact, a medium order of the new fries has 150mg more sodium than their previous version.

Wendy's isn't alone. Most fast food restaurants over-salt their food, as do many other chain restaurants and ethnic eateries.

The easiest way to cut this salt out is to eat at home. If you do go out, educate yourself about the salt content at chain restaurants. (To find out which meals have the most sodium, check out this list from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.) And ask your server about meals that can be made with less sodium.

Learn the language.
Lean what the sodium labels mean on processed food. "Reduced salt," for example, doesn't necessarily mean low sodium; it means a product has 25 percent less salt than the regular product. Here's what other labels mean:

Sodium free or no sodium: < 5 mg
Very low sodium: 35 mg or less
Low sodium: 140 mg or less

Eat smaller portions.
Of course, the easiest way to reduce your salt intake is to eat less food, which is in keeping with the spirit of the new guidelines. Knowing how much salt is in food is helpful -- but eating less will achieve the same goal.

I don't hate winter. I despise it. My vegetable garden, which supports us with fresh veggies from spring to autumn, is a tangled mess of winter rye grass and legumes. The farmers' markets are all closed. And most of the veggies at the grocery store have traveled from climates that never have snow days.

It's enough to make me want to move (farther) south.

Still, about this time every year I rediscover a reason not to hate the cold so much: winter squash.

It took me years to warm up to these funny shaped gourds. Like pumpkins, which are part of the same family, they look more like a harvest decoration tool than a food. But that's selling the squash short.

They are wonderful sources of flavor, color and nutrition in winter. For taste, winter squashes are great split in half, rubbed with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt and herbs, and roasted in an oven until tender. They can be pureed and added to soups. Or they can be the highlight in a hearty, vegetarian feast.

Their sweet and nutty flavors may make you forget their amazing nutritional profile. Winter squashes are loaded with lots of antioxidants and essential nutrients like vitamins A and C, potassium, dietary fiber, manganese and many B vitamins. Even their seeds, which make a great snack when they're roasted, are a good source of polyunsaturated fats.

Here's the lowdown on four popular squashes you can find at most grocers:

Round and dark green with long grooves, the Acorn squash's flesh is yellow and tastes nutty and sweet.

Butternut squash is shaped like a long pear with a lengthy shaft and a bulbous end. It has a dull, pale yellowish-orange skin and a vibrant orange flesh, which tastes sweet.

Delicata squashes are small and yellow with dark green and orange stripes. Unlike most winter squashes, the delicata's is thin and fragile. Check for bruising before you buy. The flesh is cream-colored with a nutty, sweet taste.

Pale yellow in color and shaped like a rugby ball, spaghetti squash is named for its flesh, which comes apart in long strands once it's been cooked.

Here's some health news that is sure to horrify parents of sugar-loving kids: Teens who consumed the highest levels of added sugar (mostly from sugary drinks and processed foods) were found to have worse cholesterol and triglyceride levels than those who consumed the least. That's according to a new study published in the Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. The findings could spell heart trouble down the road.
 
"This is the first study to assess the association of added sugars and the indicators of heart disease risk in adolescents," said study author Jean Welsh, MPH, PhD, R.N "The concern is long-term exposure would place them at risk for heart disease later in adulthood."
 
Welsh, a post-doctoral fellow at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) of 2,157 teenagers (ages 12 to 18) and found the average daily consumption of added sugars was 119 grams (28.3 tsp or 476 calories), accounting for 21.4 percent of their total energy. (The teens' average daily consumption was roughly four times the American Heart Association's recommended upper limit for added sugars, which is between 100 to 150 calories, depending on energy requirements, age and gender.)
 
Those teens who consumed the highest amounts of added sugar—where added sugar made up 30 percent of the day's calories—had lower good cholesterol (HDL), and higher bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides than those who consumed the least (less than 10 percent of total calories).

The study also found that overweight or obese teens with the highest levels of added sugar intake had increased signs of insulin resistance, often a precursor to diabetes.
 
Welsh said she was surprised to see deteriorating lipid levels in teens, even though experimental studies have shown the same effect in adults. "It is incredible that we did see this in kids."
 
Welsh is not sure what causes lipid levels to deteriorate. One theory, she said, is that when people consume high levels of fructose, which is metabolized by the liver, it is more easily converted into fatty acids which raises triglyceride levels. "If that mechanism is what happens, then it makes sense," she says. "But no one had ever shown it, so we were surprised."
 
She warned that more studies are needed since this was a cross-sectional study— essentially a snapshot in time— and not a longitudinal study. For example, can exercise mitigate the effect? Do lipid levels go back to normal if added sugar is cut? Will the shift in cholesterol levels result in cardiovascular disease in the future?
 
It could be a while before those questions are answered. In the mean time, Welsh, a mother of four, has some suggestions.

"The first thing we as parents can do is to help kids be aware of how much sugar they are consuming, and make them aware that there may be health consequences down the line, like obesity. Educates the kids about this and help them to know how to make better choices; teach them how to read nutritional labels."

Find out how to spot added sugar in food.

Makes 6 side dish servings or 4 main dish

Once called "the gold of the Incas" and believed to increase the stamina of their warriors, quinoa (keen-wah) is an ancient "grain" fairly new to the U.S. market. Quinoa is ideal for vegetarians and omnivores alike because it's a complete protein--it contains all 9 essential amino acids.

It's also a good source of fiber, magnesium (reduces heart disease risk and helps ward off migraines), manganese (good for bone health), and iron. Quinoa is gluten free, so if you're following a gluten-free diet, this is the food for you!

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa (cooked with all-natural vegetable broth as suggested on package *)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper (cut into 1/4-inch dice)
1/3 cup toasted sliced almonds
1/3 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped (7 to 8 apricots)
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions, optional
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
Freshly ground black pepper

*The amount of broth needed will depend on your quinoa product. Read package directions for the suggested amount of liquid (it may range from 1 1/4 cups to the more likely 2 cups liquid per 1 cup quinoa). The cooking time may also vary depending on the brand you select. As a rule of thumb, the suggested time will range from 10 to 15 minutes with an instruction to let stand 5 to 10 minutes until the quinoa fully absorbs all the liquid. When fully cooked, the quinoa will "sprout."

Instructions:
1. Place quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse very well several times in cold water. Drain well and set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Stir in quinoa, cover, and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, for the time suggested on the package. Turn off the heat and let quinoa remain in the covered saucepan until all the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy, 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Transfer quinoa to a salad bowl and fluff slightly with a fork every few minutes until the grains cool.

4. Gently stir in the bell pepper, almonds, apricots, scallions as desired, salt, cumin, and coriander until well combined. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil and honey. Stir into the quinoa mixture until the grains are well coated. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Nutrition:
200 calories, 7g fat (0.5g saturated), 210mg sodium, 30g carbohydrates, 3g fiber, 6g protein, 15% vitamin A, 30% vitamin C, 15% iron

Can eating a late night meal or snack cause you to gain weight? Our Healthy Skeptic weighs in.

If you like finding local farm food at your favorite eatery, rejoice: Locally sourced produce, meats, seafood and dairy products are expected to fill more restaurant menus in the new year. That's one of several trends food experts are predicting for 2011.

Restaurants are taking eating local trend further by creating their own gardens and apiaries. Chefs are making their own cheeses and doing their own butchering, according to a survey of chefs by the National Restaurant Association

In Atlanta honey bees occupy the 5th floor roof terrace at the Four Seasons Hotel and in the garden at Canoe Restaurant. Executive chef Robert Gerstenecker of the Four Season's Park 75 restaurant has been so successful with his honey production that there's more than enough to use on the menu. The facility is packaging honey for guests to take home in 16-ounce jars.

Nutrition in the New Year
As a dietitian, I'm thrilled to peek into the crystal ball and see that many emerging trends are focused on eating healthier foods. The same survey found that chefs are:

• Including more menu items that are lower in sodium, calories or fat,
• Adding more fresh produce options, and
• Advocating getting involved in school nutrition and children's education efforts.

Meanwhile, expect to see the word "organic" less next year. Independent Restaurateur says growers are realizing organic produce is too costly thanks in part to government regulations.

Other trends for 2011:
Less becomes more.
Restaurants are beginning to see more requests for smaller portions. What makes this trend particularly viable is that it allows the consumer both to eat less and to save money.

Better nutrition on kids' menus.
Chicken fingers aren't going away but they're being paired with more fruit and vegetables and less fries. It seems that if parents know their kids are eating well, they don't mind paying for it.

Pies are the new cupcakes.
Expect to see more pie shops, including sweet, savory and bite-sized pies according to Nation's Restaurant News. Pies made with seasonal fresh fruit such as peaches in summer and apples in the fall can offer significant nutritional benefits including vitamins, minerals and fiber. Avoid syrupy fruit fillings.

Popsicles.
Think outside the ice-box with flavors such as sugar-snap pea and pear-ginger. Dining trends identified by international restaurant consultants Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman include upscale popsicles with exotic flavors. These dairy free, usually not over sweetened, frozen treats are a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth and appetite for taste adventure with relatively few calories.

Southern exposure.
It's interesting to note that Brooklyn based Baum & Whiteman list grits as the new hot grain for 2011. They say "Expect grits to leap from morning food to an all-purpose starch. It's part of another trendlet: Down-home southern cooking." They go on to predict that shrimp and grits could be the dish of the year. I thought it was always dish of the year.

And the recipe web site Epicurious.com predicts sweet potatoes will hit it big next year and be crowned "Vegetable of 2011" because of a bumper crop of the orange tuber, more prominence on restaurant menus beyond fried and it's impressive nutritional profile. If we get the word out on their great taste and good nutrition, braised collards may win in 2012.

If you've recently eaten at Panera Bread, a 50-year-old restaurant chain with more than 1,400 locations, you may have noticed the calorie counts on the chain's menu. Some of the information could cause your jaw to drop:

• 430 calories fro a cinnamon crunch bagel
• 720 calories for a Smokehouse Turkey panini
• 1040 calories for a Italian Combo sandwich

If the fact that one sandwich can have 1040 calories (not including the drink and potato chips) seems shocking, get used to being shocked. The new health care reform law will require restaurants to own up to the calorie counts of the food on their menus. Panera is just ahead of the curve.

A few municipalities—most notably New York City—already require restaurants to display some nutritional data on their menus, an effort to educate consumers and allow them to make healthier eating decisions.

So far, the evidence is mixed as to whether menu calories will make a difference in eating habits. In New York, researchers found that people weren't ordering less calorie-laden foods from restaurants but they were visiting cafes less often—which could be a sign of calorie-conscious decision making or the bad economy.

Some people are glad to see calorie counts: It makes it easier to eat out with diabetes or stick to a weight-loss diet.

But calories don't tell the whole story about nutrition. In fact, restaurants need to provide much more information before consumers can make a true "healthy" choice.

For example, some salads may have more calories than a cheeseburger. But that doesn't make the burger a healthier pick. The salad may have has less saturated fat and sodium, along with more fiber and nutrients.

Restaurants, already bristling at putting calorie counts on their menus, aren't likely to voluntarily add information about saturated fat, sodium or dietary fiber. But as a consumer you can still use the calorie information to make good eating decisions. Here's how:

1. Make an educated guess as to where the calories are coming from. Not all high-calorie foods are created equal. Some fruits, for example, are high in calories but contain important nutrients. A salad could get a lot of their calories from added fruit. On a hamburger, the calories are coming from the bun, the condiments and all the unhealthy saturated fat.

2. Cut the calories in half by reducing portion size. Restaurants often serve gigantic portions. Either order a smaller serving (the half-sized Italian Combo sandwich at Panera Bread only has 570 calories) or ask the restaurant to put half your order in a take out box. Find more tips on how to eat out without gaining weight.

3. Use common sense when comparing items. You don't have to be a registered dietitian to know that green leafy vegetables are better for you than a burger and fries, even if the salad has more calories. Salads become nutritional hazards when you add lots of toppings and creamy dressings. But you can make a restaurant salad healthier by opting for a vinaigrette and skipping the croutons and cheese.

Finally, you can learn more about a restaurant's menu before you dine. Many big chain restaurants put their nutritional information online. As Everwell's registered dietitian says, the more you know, the more you can eat.

Related Links:

How to dine out on a diet

Getting stuffed on a big, greasy burger has never been easier. Big burgers are everywhere—and by big, I mean gargantuan-sized creations of beef and bun bursting with layers of fatty patties, bacon, cheese and all the trimmings. What's a nutrition-minded burger lover to do?

Happily there's a middle ground. "You don't need a half pound of beef," says registered dietitian Betsy Hornick, co-author of the Healthy Beef Cookbook. "Three to four ounces should be your goal."

Restaurant menus often list the uncooked weight: A half-pound burger is 6 ounces cooked, and a quarter-pound burger is 3 ounces cooked weight.

Beef gets a bad rap because it's high in cholesterol and saturated fat. If you're building your own burger, you can reduce the amount of both by choosing leaner beef. A 3-ounce burger made from 85 percent lean beef has around 13 g of total fat, 5 g of saturated fat. (For a 2,000-calorie diet, the American Heart Association recommends you consume only 16 g of saturated fat a day.

But the nutrition news isn't all bad for hamburgers. Beef can be a great source of protein as well as important vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B12, iron, zinc, selenium, niacin, vitamin B6, phosphorous and choline, Hornick says.

And even the type of saturated fat in beef—called stearic acid—may not affect blood cholesterol, according to recent research. "We've learned that stearic acid has more a neutral effect on cholesterol," she says.

Here's some other ways to make your burger healthier:

Cook burgers on a grill instead of a griddle.
An open grill allows excess fat to drip off. "I recommend that half-inch thick patties be grilled over medium hot coals for 11 to 13 minutes to medium doneness until no longer pink in the center and juices show no pink color," Hornick says. "Turn just once so the burgers stay juicy."

Choose a healthier bun.
More restaurants are offering whole grain burger buns which are higher in fiber and add a few more nutrients. "Avoid burgers on croissants or huge overpowering buns. New, thinner sandwich bread-style burger buns and pita bread can be a good lower calorie choice, too."

Be choosey about cheese.
Each slice of cheese adds about 100 calories. If you must have cheese, Hornick suggests using a small amount of highly flavored cheeses such as aged cheddar, pepper jack or blue cheese crumbles.

Watch the extras.
Loading on the bacon, pork belly, fried eggs, pancetta, mayo and mayo-based sauces can add hundred of extra calories—and lots of fat—to a burger.

Accessorize smartly.
Mustards are marvelous with beef and very low in calories. Mushrooms and onions add great flavor to beef, but ask for them grilled instead of sautéed in butter. If you're making them at home, cook them in heart-healthy olive oil.

Ask to 'super size' the lettuce, tomato, raw onion, pickle and other fresh veggie garnish on your burger to boost nutrient content, add crunch, flavor with very few calories.

Hornick says the burger is a tasty vehicle for getting folks to eat more vegetables, "How about sliced zucchini or eggplant on your burger? Grilled vegetables are awesome on burgers or served on the side."

Travel the world.
Burgers may be an American comfort food, but more restaurant menus are offering an international take with Mexican, Italian, Greek and Asian flavor ideas. "It opens peoples imagination with all of these different toppings and sauces and there's a lot of great ones such as a Mediterranean burger with hummus," Hornick says.

"I like the Indian inspired cucumber and yogurt raita on a grilled burger or you can go tropical with grilled pineapple or a mango and black bean salsa on burgers."

Related Links:

How to raise your good cholesterol

Can eggs be part of a heart-healthy diet?

Two summers ago, we found out our toddler was allergic to peanuts, corn, soy, eggs, chicken and wheat. The news was relatively devastating at the time. It took six months for us to learn to cook without those ingredients and to do entirely without processed foods, which are rich sources of soy, corn and wheat proteins.

But we've learned to look back on the diagnosis as a blessing. Our son is thriving, and the whole family eats a healthier diet as a result. Here are three things we've learned:  

Reading nutrition labels helps you make healthier food choices.
Nutrition labels are opaque, requiring a decoder and a  chemical engineering degree to decipher. But that's the first clue that picking processed foods over whole foods might not be the best idea. Looking for allergens has led us to startling discoveries, such as: 

• High-fructose corn syrup is often used to sweeten ham and hot dogs.
• Huge amounts of sodium and sugar hide in unexpected places.
• Wheat and gluten turn up in surprising places from beer to oat meal to prepackaged broth.

This is to say nothing of unrealistic serving sizes that are designed to minimize calorie and fat counts on the labels. Of course, nutritionists have drawn the public's attention to these issues for years, but seeing the proof ourselves made it more believable. 

We still buy processed foods, but we look for foods with labels that we understand and that have short ingredient lists. 

It's not hard to give your kids good food habits
For parents trying to feed picky eaters and manage busy lives, frozen chicken fingers, hot dogs and other "convenience" foods often become nightly fare for their young kids. But when your child is allergic to so many ingredients common to processed food, the term "convenience" takes on new meaning. In our house, convenience is an apple or a banana, a celery stick or a carrot.

And our 3-year-old eats them up. Really, he doesn't have much of an option. And neither do we. Something simple like mac and cheese, which we make from rice noodles, whole milk and shredded cheese, takes 15 minutes to prepare.

Looking back now, I almost wish our first child had been diagnosed with food allergies as well. Then maybe she'd beg for a banana for breakfast instead of reaching for a Pop Tart.

If you're excited about food, your children can be, too
Several years ago we began raising some of our own food. Our oldest child helps us and she gets excited over the vegetables we produce. And she gets excited about the food we make from those veggies. (Children, it turns out, eat more fruits and vegetables if they're homegrown.)

She's invested in the process--a process towards healthier food choices we wouldn't have started if our youngest hadn't developed food allergies.

That's something we can be grateful for.

Related Links:

Learn more about food allergies from the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network.

When you meet Stephen Vinson—and I hope you do—you won't meet an advocate for fad diets or get-thin-quick schemes. Been there, done that. And though he tried out for NBC's The Biggest Loser (and a similar show coming out on ABC), he's not a fan of reality shows, boot camps or extreme weight-loss interventions.

Stephen Vinson is a fan of the process—the idea that changing your diet and exercise habits is more important and ultimately more rewarding than dieting or intense exercise alone.

Vinson would know: In the last 18 months, he's lost more than 200 pounds focusing not on specific weight goals but on the steps it takes to reach those goals. The former yo-yo dieter has struggled his entire life with weight but says his new approach is finally paying big dividends. He's not just losing weight, he's living a healthier life.

"A buddy—Kevin Barberio—helped me a lot," says Vinson, a small business owner and blogger in Birmingham, Ala. "He showed me how to cut back on food. Instead of doing a hardcore weight-loss regimen, he told me to eat the things I liked but to cut back portions," Vinson says. "This wasn't as restrictive as other diets. I was still eating things I enjoy."

In previous attempts to lose weight, Vinson had completely changed his diet, cutting out foods he liked and introducing foods he wasn't familiar with. He lost weight, but the diet never lasted very long. "Maybe a week," he says.

But eating the foods he likes in smaller portions and slowly adding new foods, became stepping stones to healthier eating and weight loss. "Now I enjoy eating vegetables and fruit. I used to hate tomatoes. Now I can't eat enough of them."

He also doesn't set firm short-term goals for weight loss, a trick he learned from registered dietitian Sonthe Burge. Instead, he sets firm goals for how many calories he'll eat and how many miles he'll walk.

"It's too much pressure. It's more important that I accomplish goals for eating and exercise than losing 5 pounds. Doing those things is what makes it possible to lose 5 pounds."

Studies show that unrealistic goal-setting in weight loss has a tendency to backfire. They also show that having the support of others helps. When he began his most recent weight-loss adventure, Vinson launched WhoAteMyBlog.com to chronicle his efforts. Coupled with outreach on Twitter and Facebook, the blog has put Vinson in touch with others trying to lose weight—and created a fan base from which he draws support.

"I totally did not expect that when I started the blog," Vinson says. "It's really helped me to be more around people—to know that people are supportive. For a while I had gotten to be afraid being around people. People used to make fun of me."

The support and the focus on the process of losing weight is helping Vinson reach his long-term goals: Dropping another 200 pounds, and, more importantly, living a healthy lifestyle.

Tomatoes are at their summer peak in New England right now, which means endless good eats as far as I'm concerned. Whether fresh from the garden or the farmers' market, tomatoes are rich in vitamins A, C and K—a bone builder.

Tomatoes are also a good source of molybdenum (which helps prevent tooth decay), potassium, manganese, and dietary fiber. And they contain an antioxidant called lycopene, which may protect against certain cancers.

While tomatoes are great for salads, pasta sauces and BLTs (made with uncured, nitrite-free bacon, of course!), they're more versatile than you may think. I cooked up this unusual, albeit refreshing and surprisingly delicious peanut butter and tomato sandwich recipe after one of our Meal Makeover Moms' fans suggested it. The flavors are a perfect combination for a quick snack or an easy lunch.

Open-Faced Peanut Butter and Tomato Sandwich Recipe

Makes 1 Serving

Ingredients
One whole grain English muffin, sliced in half and lightly toasted
2 tablespoons peanut butter (use your favorite kind)
2 slices fresh, juicy tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions Spread a tablespoon of peanut butter on one English muffin half and a tablespoon on the other half. Top each with a slice of tomato (make the slice thin, thick, or anywhere in between) and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Test your health knowledge. Define "pyrosis."

Who’s coming to dinner? Dr. Bruce Dan shows you that what’s on your plate could have a lot to do with who’s sitting at your table.

Registered dietitian Liz Weiss puts a low fat, Tex-Mex twist on this traditional Mexican quesadilla recipe.

Want to make this at home? Download the recipe now. (PDF).