Tips to Healthy Latin Meals

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Sylvia Meléndez Klinger, a registered dietitian and founder of Hispanic Food Communications, offered several tips for healthy Latin meals in a recent column for Fox News Latino:

• Alternatives to frying and tips for using oil. For example, use vegetable oil such as canola oil or olive oil instead of lard.
• Tasty seasoning suggestions. Use cinnamon for sweet potatoes, cereals, hot beverages, etc., and limit the amount of oil and, if needed, use no more than 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil
• Trimming the fat. Trim the fat from the meat and throw it away before preparing beef, lamb or pork. Also, choose extra lean cuts and go easy on the cheese.
• Trimming the calories. For flan, switch condensed milk for skim or fat-free condensed milk, or use egg substitute for whole eggs. Prepare arroz con leche with 2 percent milk or evaporated fat free milk.
• Bring on the tropical fruits. Essential minerals and vitamins can be found in papaya, mango, pineapple, guava, tamarind, passion fruit, sour apple (guanabana), etc.
• Eat vegetables with every meal. Meléndez Klinger says: “Try part starch, part root vegetables such as yucca, pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes and carrots—eat them up for an excellent source of fiber and complex carbohydrates.”
• Exercise portion control. She advises: “Check your servings and try to eat half of a hearty portion—a serving of meat the size of your hand palm is plenty, fill up instead on grilled vegetables.”

Read more about her tips here.