If you’re looking for an easy way to cut fat from your diet, ditch the butter and find a healthy alternative.
Butter is full of saturated fat, which raises LDL cholesterol levels and could increase your risk of heart disease.
To give your heart a boost, it’s important to remove those bad fats, but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor.
Next time you think about grabbing the butter dish, consider some alternatives, such as a lima bean spread or apple butter. (Recipes below.)
With the lima bean paste, there is no saturated fat but still tons of flavor. Lima beans are also full of vitamins and minerals, including folate, phosphorus, protein, potassium, iron, magnesium, and vitamins B1 and B6.
The spread, which is similar to hummus, can be used on bread, crackers and pita chips.
LIMA BEAN SPREAD
Lima beans – 6 cups
Minced garlic – 2 ounces
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Pepper – a pinch
Parsley – 1/2 ounce
Rosemary – 1/8 ounce
Small Onion – 1
Olive oil – 1 cup
Vegetable stock – 1 cup
Measure all ingredients.
Heat large sauce pan and cook onion until translucent and then add in garlic.
Add stock and beans and simmer until beans are tender.
Drain the beans and reserve the liquid.
Puree beans in a blender and add in herbs and oil. Using the reserved stock adjust the consistency.
Cool and serve.
The apple butter is perfect for bread and can also be used in oatmeal for an instant flavor explosion. Apples are extremely rich in important antioxidants and a good source of dietary fiber.
APPLE BUTTER
Peeled apples – 5 cups
Sugar – 1 1/2 cups
Brown sugar – 1 1/2 cups
Clover – 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon – 1 1/2 tablespoons
All spice – 1 teaspoon
Juiced lemon – 1
Wash apples, peel and dice.
Measure out ingredients.
Place items in a heavy sauce pan, cook until the mixture is brown and thick. This could take a couple hours.
Transfer to a canning jar and leave ½ inch space to can.
Throughout National Nutrition Month, the dietary teams at Gardant communities are planning healthy cooking demonstrations on a variety of topics, including finding healthier alternatives to butter.
As part of our nutrition blog series, we are sharing healthy recipes and nutritional information. You can view previous posts here.
Tim Renner is an Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Services at Gardant Management Solutions.