Emily Richards, professional home economist, food connoisseur curated the recipes on Canada’s food guide. (Courtesy Emily Richards)
Sanzana Syed
With the the new Canada Food Guide in place, this is a chance to try upgraded, healthier recipes during this cold season.
Analyzing the Canada Food Guide and consulting the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s 2016 recipe guidelines, a lot of online recipes have high sodium levels, added sugar and fat.
As a solution, Canada’s food guide has created a couple of recipes as guidelines for a healthier alternative to popular dishes such as soups, pasta dishes and baked goods.
Emily Richards, who is a professional home economist, food connoisseur and cookbook author, contributed to the recipes posted on Canada’s food guide site.
“The recipes are organized as breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks so checking out what meal you are looking for and what ingredients you may have on hand or what your family enjoys is a great way to plan your meals,” she said, outlining one of the key focuses the food guide is trying to promote.
“These are a great way for those looking to include more plant based recipes in their diet as well as using lean meat protein to help balance out their days and meal planning.”
Here are some recipes Richards recommends that are perfect for colder days and evenings during the season:
- Apple Pie Oatmeal
- Red lentil and mushroom soup
- Crunchy turkey fingers with open fries
- Moroccan stew (Harira)
“…recipes have to meet strict criteria” – Caroline Connell, Communications Editor for Heart & Stroke Foundation
The recipes above contain little to no added salt, sugars or saturated fats. According to the guide, eating highly processed foods can increase the risk of chronic disease. Using fresh vegetables and fruit, whole grains (switch to brown rice or whole-grain pasta) and proteins (leaner mean, legumes) can help lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Caroline Connell, Communications Editor at Heart & Stoke Foundation said, “All Heart & Stroke recipes have to meet strict criteria for the amount of fat, salt and added sugar included.”
Since Richards also developed recipes for Heart & Stroke, she had to follow the recipe guide.
One of the things the guide mentions is no more than 360 grams of sodium, five grams of fat and four grams of sugar should be in a 250 mL serving of soup. It also recommends not to use salt as an ingredient (only in baked goods) and butter should be used in small quantities.
Red lentil mushroom soup, recommended by Richardson as a warm dish for the cold season. (Health Canada)