Healthy Heart Nutrition, New England Style

When it comes to summer in New England, we Sinatras like to follow the lyrics to an old song: “Summertime, and the living is easy.” That’s true when it comes to healthy heart nutrition as well…

During the summer, we abandon our kitchen to enjoy cooking and dining outdoors on our patio. We love to announce “Farm Stand Dinner tonight!”—which means we’re going to enjoy some quick, easy, farm fresh fare. Food that’s both fun and tasty, and long on healthy heart nutrition.

There’s another benefit to outdoor cooking as well. Dr. Sinatra and I share a love of cooking, and good food. But he enjoys cooking so much, that sometimes he’s too involved…doing a bit of “backseat driving” in the kitchen. So, I love it when I can leave him to the grilling, while I tackle my favorite sport: shopping. And when it comes to food shopping, I consider myself a “farm stand queen.” 

When I head to the local farm stand, I can’t help but come back with good produce filled with healthy heart nutrition. I scope out whatever looks freshest, and plan our meals accordingly. 

Here are some of my “farm stand shopping tips”:

• Ask if the produce is non-GMO. At this point in the season, some farm stands mix in GMO produce from other suppliers—so you need to ask.

• When it comes to produce, less than perfect is better. For example, with corn you want to make sure the rows aren’t perfectly straight, uniform, and evenly sized. If it looks too perfect, chances are it’s not truly natural! Even a stray worm is a good sign, meaning chances are pesticides weren’t used on the crops.

• If you can find an organic farmer’s stand to shop at, that’s your best choice. It means the entire crop was grown without pesticides and other chemicals. 
   
• For the best healthy heart nutrition, you want to fill your basket with a bounty of colorful produce—the more varied, the better. Some of the best heart-healthy choices are tomatoes, blueberries, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, kale, and cauliflower.
   

Later in the week I’ll be sharing some of our favorite farm stand dinner recipes, chock full of healthy heart nutrition, so you can try them at your house.

For more delicious recipes and information on healthy heart nutrition, visit www.drsinatra.com.