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Low cholesterol recipes, please!

Mation

Mation

real life adventure worth more than pieces of gold
So I have alarmingly high cholesterol, it seems. It runs in the family. Diet will only do so much, but will be a help.

My natural inclination is towards stuff that's good for me - low fat, veggie (though I do eat meat), lots of veg etc. But my partner's tastes are very different and it's often a struggle to find something that we both want and that is also good for me and that is substantial enough for him.

What are you favourite satisfying dinners, that won't make a meat eater lose heart? :)
 
Come on urbanz! :)

We both like middle eastern mezze type stuff so I'm planning on becoming a whiz at stuff like baba ganoush, tzatziki and homous, none of which I've ever made but have always meant to get round to doing.

Has anyone tried making their own bean burgers or sweet potato burgers? I really love the ones they do in The Albert :oops: but they've got lots of mozzarella in them too, which isn't so good for me.

What else is there?
 
From the what's for tea tonight" thread:
Good Refried beans recipe:

1 tin of Pinto or Kidney beans
1 small onion (finely chopped)
1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seed
1/2 tsp paprika (hot)
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp lime juice
2 tbsp olive oil

Method
  1. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan
  2. Add onions, garlic, cumin and coriander and fry gently for 2 mins
  3. Add beans and other ingredients
  4. Cook on low to med heat for about 5 to 10 mins
  5. Stir with wooden spoon until beans begin to disintegrate
  6. Voila - refried beans!
seeformiles
.......................
It's high fibre, high protein, and no animal fat, you can reduce the amount of oil a bit too. I make it without onion (1 clove of garlic and 1 finely chopped stick of celery to replace each onion), you can get away with using hotter spices and less salt.

IMHO it's not enough as the main part of a main meal for two hungry adults unless you double the quantities or serve with a lot of other bits, but it freezes well. If cooking a batch, half kidney beans and half chickpeas, butter beans or other more interesting precooked beans and pulses is inauthentic, but gives a more interesting texture and appearance.
 
Greebo said:
There's also the large garlic mushrooms done with garlic, Nigella style, so that you get the juices and strong flavour which you'd want from a steak, but without less cholesterol (the garlic butter in the recipe can be mostly replaced with olive oil plus lots of crushed garlic, parsley, and black pepper or watercress).
http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/vegetarian-steak-sandwich-4609
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Ooh yes - that's a great idea for me, anyway. I'd happily have that while he's having a burger :)

8den said:
I'd walk away from the burger thread soz Mation.
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I've not been anywhere near it :D
 
FWIW venison is very low fat (therefore low cholesterol) and can be treated more or less as beef (including mincing it) for a lot of recipes. Not cheap, so buy it when Lidl are selling frozen packs of it.
 
I'm sure you have already, but it's worth reading up on what actually constitutes a healthy diet in terms of cholesterol management. Low fat isn't necessarily the right approach. Salmon, for example, is high in fat but great at reducing 'bad' cholesterol because of its quantity of omega three. Nuts are the same.

Oats are good cholesterol busters too.
 
Mation said:
So I have alarmingly high cholesterol, it seems. It runs in the family. Diet will only do so much, but will be a help.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the club! It's a bit of a bastard when however well you eat, your doctor still nags you to take statins (if yours hasn't, they will!).

My natural inclination is towards stuff that's good for me - low fat, veggie (though I do eat meat), lots of veg etc. But my partner's tastes are very different and it's often a struggle to find something that we both want and that is also good for me and that is substantial enough for him.

What are you favourite satisfying dinners, that won't make a meat eater lose heart? :)
Click to expand...

Well, most meat is okay (so TC shouldn't be too put out - isn't he diabetic though? In which case he should be watching his cholesterol too!), but with red meats used less than white meat, and everything grilled/casseroled/roasted, as opposed to fried. We tend to eat chicken and fish, occasionally pork and turkey mince (mixed together half and half), grilled gammon steaks and bacon etc (we don't eat beef because I have real problems digesting it) and venison for pies and casseroles.
There are a fair few curry recipes out there that can be done low fat, and oily fish is actively good against high cholesterol. Just avoid too much pastry (contains a lot of fat), and if at all possible make your own bread with a breadmaker, as your wholemeal or white sliced, made using the Chorleywood process, also uses a lot more fat than a home-made loaf.

We tend to eat a fair few chilli con carnes and spag bols, all of which can be done with lean mince, dry-fried, and both of which are perfect for doing separate veggie and carnivore portions, with a bit of juggling!
 
Hi VP, I am not diabetic. I have never had my cholesterol checked either! I like things like mutton, goat, fatty lamp chops, kebabs, burgers, fried chicken, pies, chips, beef steaks, offal of all kinds, massive bacon sarnies on white bread, and almost all fish.

I do also like a lot of veggie indian style food which will be useful, especially as Mation is not really into fish, will only eat chicken breast, and would be happy with a few veg and some rice or veggie pasta, food which whilst it's ok, would have me in tears after a few days.

I can always eat my jerk chicken or chicken feet soup and dumpling at work though!

I did enjoy eating a salad last night. I will give venison a go but remember it as being dry. So much so that when I cooked a joint of deer, I larded it with strips of bacon fat. I do bake bread as well and must get back into the habit of this as it makes me happy. :)
 
If you slow cook the venison and use it in something like a curry, shepherds pie or a spag bol, the moisture makes up the for the meat's dryness. Goat is supposedly quite a healthy choice, mutton a bit less so.

If you can even tolerate pastry made with half wholemeal flour, that'd help get the cholesterol out of your body before it does much harm - the same goes for wholemeal (or unprocessed or high fibre) anything else you can tolerate. Chips? Chunky cut and leave the skin on.
 
Greebo said:
FWIW venison is very low fat (therefore low cholesterol) and can be treated more or less as beef (including mincing it) for a lot of recipes. Not cheap, so buy it when Lidl are selling frozen packs of it.
Click to expand...

What's not cheap for venison? Just wondering if I can get it cheaper up here and bring some down next month? I only ever buy venison mince, coz I don't really like the taste of venison :facepalm:
 
ChrisFilter said:
I'm sure you have already, but it's worth reading up on what actually constitutes a healthy diet in terms of cholesterol management. Low fat isn't necessarily the right approach. Salmon, for example, is high in fat but great at reducing 'bad' cholesterol because of its quantity of omega three. Nuts are the same.

Oats are good cholesterol busters too.
Click to expand...

This - in buckets. Lowering cholesterol by diet is a surprisingly tricky thing (and you already know it won't be enough for everyone).

Simply going the low-fat route, without consideration of just what fats are involved can end-up with you actually increasing the proportion of all the wrong types of fat in your diet.
 
geminisnake said:
What's not cheap for venison? Just wondering if I can get it cheaper up here and bring some down next month? I only ever buy venison mince, coz I don't really like the taste of venison :facepalm:
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I dunno, can't even remember what I paid for the last lot of relatively cheap frozen venison. ViolentPanda? You tend to remember the prices from year to year better than me.
 
pogofish said:
<snip> Simply going the low-fat route, without consideration of just what fats are involved can end-up with you actually increasing the proportion of all the wrong types of fat in your diet.
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Tbf VP is also taking a high dose fish oil supplement (omega 3) - as much to try and do something to keep psoriasis at bay as anything.
 
pogofish said:
This - in buckets. Lowering cholesterol by diet is a surprisingly tricky thing (and you already know it won't be enough for everyone).

Simply going the low-fat route, without consideration of just what fats are involved can end-up with you actually increasing the proportion of all the wrong types of fat in your diet.
Click to expand...
Yes, indeed. I'm trying to go for the right fat rather than just low fat :)

Lots of good suggestions to try :)

I was pleased to discover yesterday that ricotta is relatively low in saturated fat. I'll have to find some non-pastry dependent recipes for it. Ah yes, here's the otherwise-depressing cheese chart I made:

Cheese per 100g| calories |fat (g) |saturates (g) |calcium (mg)
Cottage Cheese 98 3.9 2.4 73
Ricotta 185 14.8 9.3 210
Feta 250 20.2 13.7 360
Camembert 297 23.7 14.8 350
Edam 333 25.4 15.9 770
Brie 319 26.9 16.8 540
Mozzarella 301 25.0 19.0 515
Parmesan 452 32.7 20.5 200
Cheddar 412 34.4 21.7 720
Stilton 411 35.5 22.2 320
Cream Cheese 439 47.4 29.7 98

e2a: not displaying as intended. I'll sort it out later.
 
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Most things involving spinach and ricotta are good. Although really it's more spinach, ricotta and a bit of parmesan. Still, try it without - Tortelloni, as a sauce type thing for potatoes, in a wrap with something salty - the possibilities are endless. Add nutmeg.
 
Greebo said:
From the what's for tea tonight" thread:
Good Refried beans recipe:

1 tin of Pinto or Kidney beans
1 small onion (finely chopped)
1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seed
1/2 tsp paprika (hot)
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp lime juice
2 tbsp olive oil

Method
  1. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan
  2. Add onions, garlic, cumin and coriander and fry gently for 2 mins
  3. Add beans and other ingredients
  4. Cook on low to med heat for about 5 to 10 mins
  5. Stir with wooden spoon until beans begin to disintegrate
  6. Voila - refried beans!
Click to expand...

I'll try this tonight. Do you grind the coriander and cumin seeds or use them whole?
 
Spymaster said:
I'll try this tonight. Do you grind the coriander and cumin seeds or use them whole?
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I dry roast the seeds, tip them out the pan, and then grind them before continuing the recipe at the frying the onion (or in my case celery & garlic) stage.
 
Mation said:
I was please to discover yesterday that ricotta is relatively low in saturated fat. I'll have to find some non-pastry dependent recipes for it. Ah yes, here's the otherwise-depressing cheese chart I made:
Cheese per 100g| calories |fat (g) |saturates (g) |calcium (mg)
Cottage Cheese 98 3.9 2.4 73
Ricotta 185 14.8 9.3 210
Feta 250 20.2 13.7 360
Click to expand...
I've always liked the idea of cottage cheese. In theory, it's cheese and yet somehow is low in fat & calories - result! In practice, it's what's left in your digestive tract after all the tasty bits of normal cheese have been absorbed. How they manage to extract it, and from whom or what, I shudder to think...:eek:
 
Cincinatti 3 bean chilli (black beans, kidney beans, aduki, or other beans of choice), onions, garlic, chilli, oregano, cumin, cloves, cider vinegar, allspice, bay leaf, cocoa powder/ dark chocolate, cinammon stick, tomatoes.

Fry up onions and garlic with spices (according to your taste). Add three cans of drained beans, and tomatoes, with cinnamon stick and teaspoon of cider vinegar (it will help bring flavours together). Leave to cook on a slow heat for about an hour (you could do this in 20 mins though its worth a while longer and you'll have enough grub for days on end...) It's a superhealthy chilli with the decadent aroma of chocolate. Serve over spaghetti (for the Cincinatti experience) with cheese on top. This could go with rice too - I have taken to eating brown rice recently - nutty and nicer than white rice.

To adapt this for the boy, you could fry up some mince in a separate pan, and add that his serving, and top with cheddar at the end, with garlic bread on the side.
 
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Breakfast: you could do porridge with cinammon, blueberries, sprinkling of ground flaxseeds and almond milk.

Wholemeal toast with olive oil and marmite/ cottage cheese/ pistachio butter (pistachios are low in cholesterol and so is the butter, but you should check in a health food shop), bananas.

Lunch: big salad of grapes, celery, walnuts/almonds, Greek yoghurt. Banana, peaches.

If you aint so keen on fish, fish oil supplements (that contain the oil in the capsule, you can get excellent fish oil supplements in Sainsburys basics section that will last you a week for 36p)
 
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Tofu with babystem brocolli, garlic, onion and yellow peppers, served with brown noodles or brown rice. Dont know if you can add sesame seed oil, as its a key ingredient here, but I'm sure the recipe could easily be adapted for those who need to be careful. Some baked chicken thighs or drumsticks will satisfy meat cravings for the boy, and complement this meal nicely.
 
Cheesypoof said:
Breakfast: you could do porridge with cinammon, blueberries, sprinkling of ground flaxseeds and almond milk.

Wholemeal toast with olive oil and marmite/ cottage cheese/ pistachio butter (pistachios are low in cholesterol and so is the butter, but you should check in a health food shop), bananas.

Lunch: big salad of grapes, celery, walnuts/almonds, Greek yoghurt. Banana, peaches.

If you aint so keen on fish, fish oil supplements (that contain the oil in the capsule, you can get excellent fish oil supplements in Sainsburys basics section that will last you a week for 36p)
Click to expand...
OMG there's such a thing as pistachio butter!! :cool: It had never occured to me, but sounds wonderful.
 
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