Wh°8 Who hi The Kitchen
tT Practices As Well As
Preaches A Diet For A Healthy Heart
nywKBty C.Lodato
Cindy Hammond, a clinical die
tician at Charlotte Memorial Hos
pital, know* a lot about
right. Now on maternity leave,
Hammond worked primarily with
cardiac patients and just completed
teaching a six-week course featur
ing low cholesterol, low salt footk.
The course, “Culinary Hearts Kit
chen,” was sponsored by the Char
lotte Dietician Association, the
Agricultural Extension Service, and
the American Heart Association.
“This is a preventive type diet,”
explains Hammond of the course
content, which included sessions on
meats and poultry, fish and soups,
breads and desserts, and vegeta
rian diets, as well as the why’s
behind the diet program and a ses
sion on menu-planning and dtnino
out.
“Considering that nearly 90 per
cent of all deaths are heart re
lated," she notes, "the general
public needs to know. So many
people aren’t even aware they have
a problem.’’ The diet taught by
Hammond follows the Heart As
sociation dietary guidelines: lower
cholesterol, lower saturated fats,
and more polyunsaturated fats.
Saturated fat is primarily ani
mal or other hardened fat, includ
ing vegetable shortening. Polyunsa
turated fats are liquid vegetable
fats, she relates.
Lower sodium and Bugar intake
and achieving one’s ideal body
weight are also important in reduc
ing the risk of heart disease.
Hammond points out that the
tendency in the Mack community to
cwxaan* more saturated fats and
. V salt is directly related to a higher
Incident* of high blood pressure
among Macks than among the rest of
the
She goes on to explain how Mood
pressure and salt are related. “Salt
acts like a sponge by thawing
fluids into the Mood vessels. The
pressure builds like a balloon you’ve
pmmpederater into. High Mood pres
sure puts a lot of wear and tear on
the arteries and speeds the build
y up of cholesterol.”
Hammond doesn’t just preach the
heart diet, she prepares it for herself
and her husband, Hugh. “I try to
stick to chicken, turkey, and fish,
because they’re lower In choleste
rol,” she says. “I trim off the (at
before I cook meat so that it’s not
soaking in its own fat as it cooks. If
any fat is needed for cooking, I use
oil.” The dietician avoids frying as
much as possible, preferring to
bake, broil, or stew her meals. The
problem with frying, she explains. Is
that, even thoufpi the food may be
fried in oil rather than a saturat
ed fat, the crisp crust that forms
traps the meat’s own fat inside. With
broiling, the fat is allowed to (hip
out; when stewing, the fat rises to
the surface and can be skimmed
off.
Unlike so many special diets that
end up being expensive, the heart
diet can really be economical,
Hammond remarks, because of the
reliance on such products as skim
milk, poultry, and fish, margarine
(which has leas saturated fat than
butter), and sherbet or foe milk
rather than ice cream. In addition,
sayings come by not buying high
priced snack and convenience foods.
For those of you who are dessert
lovers, Hammond acknowledges
“You can have Just about any kind of
dessert, as long as it’s made with
low-calorie, low-fat ingredients.”
Using skim or evaporated skim
milk, vegetable oil rather than
shortening or butter, egg-substitutes
or two egg whites in place of one
whole egg, and cocoa powder in
stead of baking chocolate are all
ways of making desserts more
healthful. If you prefer not to use
artificial sweetener, experiment
with reducing the sugar in a recipe
by one-quarter to one-third While
some of these suggestions may af
fect the texture of the finished pro
duct, the taste will still be pleas
ing.
Alternative ways to make a pie
crust without a lot of fat are to use
vanilla wafers, graham cracker or
oatmeal marts, £ meringue shells.
Other dessert ideas: angel food
cake, pudding made with skim milk,
artificially sweetened gelatin, gin
ger snaps, popcorn prepared in oil
rather than butter, and fruit.
The Hammonds, who are
expecting their first child in a few
weeks, have lived in Charlotte
nearly five years. “I really do like
Charlotte,” the mother-to-be
enthuses. "It’s got a lot to offer. A
lot of small places don’t have the
..sasssKmxmmmmmts LASAGNA =-. jjw !,■
IVfc c. vegetable oil ■% \ '
% c. diced onion
1 dove garlic, minced
1 med great pepper, diced
i c. fresh mushrooms, sliced *
H lb. ground pepper
tt tsp. salt (optional)
1 (1-lb.) can Italian-style peeled
tomatoes
1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste .
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
V4 c. minced fresh parsley
l lb. lasspsa noodles.. ■
4 ox. part-skim milk mozzarella
cheese, shredded
4 ^oz. part-skim milk ricotta
lh c. grated Parmesan
In large saucepan, heat oil. Saute
onions, garlic, and green pepper
til softened. Add mushrooms and
saute until tender. Add ground
round, pepper and salt Cook tu
meat loses Ua red color. Drain off
excess fat. Add tomato sauce,
tomatoes, tomato paste, and
herbs. Simmer 1V4 hours or til
becomes too thick while cooking,
add small amounts of water as
needed. Cook noodles in boiling
water, stirring gently
occasionally to prevent sticking.
No oil is needed. When still a bit
chewy, drain, rinse with cold
water, and separate noodles.
Combine ricotta with half of
Parmesan. Preheat oven to 3S0.
In 13x9x2-inch pan, layer sauce,
noodles, massarella; and ricotta
Parmesan mixture. Repeat to top
of pan, ending with sauce and
remaining Parmesan. Bake
about 25 min. Remove and let
stand 10 min. before cutting.
T . . . —————
Treat Mom On Mother’s Day
Outstanding mothers (as they all
are), along with the whole family,
agree that there is nothing better to
- SLICED STEAK A LA MERE
1 beef top round, V thick
•k c. sherry
Mi c. soy sauce
4 tap. ginger ^
1 clove garlic, minced
y» tsp hgt sauce
V4 c. salad oil
v4 c. lemon Juke
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 tap. cornstarch
•k lb. mushrooms •
v4 c. slicod green onions
Mis together sherry, soy sauce,
oil, lemon Juice, brown sugar,
ginger, gar Ik, and hot sauce in a
small saucepan. Cook slowly io
minutes; cool. Piece steek in
plestk beg, add marinade and tie
securely. Refrigerate 24 hours.
. Remove steek from marinade,
reserving marinade, end place on
grill over ash-covered coals or on
rack in broiling pen so surface of
meet is 4” to 8” from heat.
/ Broil at moderate temperature to
rare or medium (25 to 4*
desired)’,^bSusWng ™ th°m!IJ
nade and turning occasionally.
Carve in thin slices, diagonally
across the grain.
For sauce; Stir remaining mari
nade into comatarch in saucepan.
Bring to bog; add mushrooms
and green onions and cook slow
ly until thickened, about 2
minutes. Serve sauce over sliced
steak. Makes 10 earrings._
serve to mother on Mother’s Day
than Sliced Steak A La Mere.
It’s the entree selected by the
National Mother’s Day Committee
to serve at the Seventh Annual
Outstanding Mother Awards Lun
cheon in New York.
Sliced Steak A La Mere is top
round steak, sherry marinated, then
broiled to taste - rare, medium or
well-done! '
The tost kitchens of the National
Live Stock and Meat Board devel
oped the recipe" Steak A La Mere
especially for the Outstanding Mo
ther Awards Luncheon.
v Lmw, **ked *»*«• *" * Mwp. Alter coring the applet, score the
peel ana pour soda - “core, score, and poor."
fijrafla"* i % ■ • , .,J, ■ j v ,
_1__. ... . . I
i i - ^
WKh a tray of assorted vegetables cot op into bite-sise pieces. Cindy
Hammond prepares to stir-fry a crisp *iT crunchy accompaniment to any
main dish.
vu*vu,B* vp|A« iuuuics avaiiauie
here.”
Hammond, describing herself as
"pretty much of a homemaker ”
who likes to cook, sew, and work on
crafts, enjoys her profession. "I
think the5Ko* fulfilling thing is
having somebody take what you say
seriously and want to make a
change in their eating habits,” she
relates.
In her coiirse, the dletery
instructor used recipes from two
books, “The American Heart
Association Cookbook” and "Don’t
Eat Your Heart Out,” by Joseph C.
and Bernie Piscatella. She
recommends the following tasty
dishes to anyone who cares about
good health
*=■ ITALIAN STYLE VEATssas]
V< tsp. safflower oil
Y* tsp. elive oil M
2 small cloves garlic, minced
3 tomatoes, chopped, peeled, and
seeded
Dash oregano
Dash pepper
1 lb. veal, sliced very thin and
pounded extra-thin
4 slices low-fat mozzarella cheese
Heat oils, garlic, tomatoes,
oregano, and pepper just to
boiling. Remove from heat;
cover to keep warm. Place veal
on rack in broiler pan; broil 3
inches from heat 2-3 minutes.
Turn when juices begin to form
on top of meat; broil 1-2 minutes.
Cover with cheese. Return to
broiler til cheese melts. Serve
with sauce.
■STIR-PRIED VEGETABLES mm
2 Tbsp. safflower oil
Your choice of fresh vege
tables cut into bite-size pieces
Heat oil in wok or frying pan. Add i
vegetables in order of hardness,
stirring often. Vegetables should
be served while still full of color
and somewhat crisp.
■■■■■ BAKED APPLE8 mmmmm
Core apples and store peel to
keep from exploding. Pour diet
■oda (cherry flavor is good) into
cavities of apples. Microwave for
4-5 minutes. Sprinkle with
cinnamon or nutmeg.
A NAME YOU CAN TRUST
SMM-SAFF
BAHAMIAN
T3T
A Mia. scientific program far
appetite central and ealarla
reduction. Choose from two
plans: Oradaal or 7-Day
M-r •:* A.M. to •:* PM. Call
704/394-9395
POWER -
b an idea whose time
has come and now is .
the time for all
concerned persons to
come to the aid of
their bodies.
The Revolutionary
Dick Gregory’s )
Sim-Safe Bahamian 1
Diet is now available iti
Charlotte *** 3
surrounding J
for your body h wealtlf,
for your mind.
Don’t delay. Call today!
After l.-MP.M. CaS
7047399-4121 \