Having to go on a low cholesterol diet need not mean a death sentence to all good dining out. Rather than mourning the loss of beef, cheese, ice cream and eggs, the food lover can look to luscious, well seasoned ethnic foods that rely on lean chicken or fish, legumes, produce, grains and healthy oils.
Basic Guidelines for Low Cholesterol Diets
When preparing food at home, the cook has control of ingredients. It's important to retain some of that control when dining out, by making sure that a dish is prepared in a heart-healthy way. The type of fat used in a dish is very important, according to restaurant guidelines offered by the American Heart Association. A dinner should request that a meal be prepared with one of a number of vegetable oils instead of butter. The appropriate oils include: canola, olive, corn, soy, sunflower and safflower.
Delicious Middle Eastern Foods
Foods common to Middle Eastern countries can offer possibilities for luscious dining. One great appetizer is hummus, a mixture of garbanzo beans, oil, lemon, sesame seed paste (tahini), and garlic. Hummus is typically served with pita bread or, for lower calories, raw carrots. While hummus is not low fat, it is low cholesterol, and tahini is full of healthy monosaturated fats. Those following a low calorie, as well as low cholesterol, diet can limit their portion of hummus to about 1/4 cup.
For an entrée, diners can try lean chicken kabobs loaded with vegetables. Pita bread with soft margarine and rice pilaf (prepared with oil, not butter) round out the meal.
Indian Foods with Spice
While it’s easy to find Indian foods loaded with butter or highly saturated coconut oil, Indian cuisine also offers healthy main dishes cooked in a special tandoor oven. One good bet when dining out: tandoori chicken. Before cooking, the meat is marinated in a yogurt-spice mixture, which results in an ultra tender, succulent entree. Often the tandoori chicken is served with charred onions, which can be eaten guilt free.
Nutty tasting basmati rice makes a low fat side dish, and offers a bland counterpoint to the spicy tandoori. To add more flavor to the rice, the diner can add a couple of spoonfuls of raita, a cooling side dish of yogurt. (Make sure sure the raita is made with low, rather than full fat, before eating generous portions.) A bottle of Indian beer, such as Kingfisher, completes the meal with no added fat.
Chinese Dining the Low Fat Way
It’s possible to dine the low cholesterol way in a Chinese restaurant, but it takes some planning and a flexible kitchen staff.
For appetizers, steamed vegetable dumplings will be satisfying and contain virtually no cholesterol. Wonton soup or hot-sour soup are also good, low-cholesterol starters.
One elegant Chinese dish, steamed sea bass, is pricey, but luscious and is naturally low in cholesterol. To make it even more healthy, a diner can request to be served brown rice, instead of white.
Many chicken entrees utlize the lean chicken breast, rather than dark meat, which is higher in cholesterol. The entrees can be ordered with less oil, or steamed. There are always many vegetarian dishes on the menu; they, too, will work in a low cholesterol diet as long as they are prepared with judicious amounts of appropriate oil.
Adopting a low cholesterol diet does not mean losing the joy of fine dining, but it does mean ditching dishes loaded with cream, butter and beef. Fortunately, that will open the door to choosing Middle Eastern, Indian or Chinese dishes that contain aromatic spices, healthy oils and crisp, bright produce. Pass the rice and pita!
Learn More About Low-Cholesterol Dining:
For additional information about low cholesterol dining, go to www.americanheartassociation.org.
Katherine Spitz - I'm a former newspaper reporter who focused on the "practical stuff" of life, as it relates to health/mental health, aging and food. ...
