cholesterol lowering

Cardio Curry - 2 Ways

Cardio Curry Patty 

Cardio Curry Patty 

Whether you enjoy it in a patty or as a warm bowl, this dish is divine either way! Every bite is savory, tangy, with a hint of sweet.  The hubs said it was his favorite thing I've ever made and he requests it almost every other day!  This is excellent news for me me because it takes all of seven minutes to prepare.  

The patties are super easy to make.  But let's say you're running low on time.  You have someone coming over to eat and you've only got 10 minutes to have hot food on the table.  Rather than bake these in a patty, there's a second version (detailed below) to cook them stove top.  Its not a patty, but it takes less than 1/2 the time and its equally as delicious.   Lately, that's my preferred method.  But I'll leave the cooking method up to you!

Cardio Curry Patties

Cardio Curry Patties

 The Low Down:

This dish gets its name from the cooking of cauliflower.  Studies indicate that cooked cauliflower acts to bind bile in your body.  Binding bile is a great way to lower cholesterol.  In fact, pharmaceutical drugs like Questran, Prevalite, Colestid, and Welchol are medications that bind bile together for the purpose of lowering LDL cholesterol.  They are called bile acid sequestrants.  

The way it works: When the bile is bound by consuming cooked cauliflower or one of the above pharmaceutical drug, it then gets excreted by the body.  The liver in turn, takes cholesterol from the blood and uses it to produce the bile it just lost. Therefore, reducing blood cholesterol levels. Pretty cool, huh?  

This is not to say that if you have high cholesterol cooked cauliflower alone or a bile acid sequestrant drug alone will do the trick.  But if you ask me, cauliflower is a pretty easy, tasty, and side-effect free way to start.  These 2 Cardio Curry dishes contain cooked cauliflower.  So take 10 minutes and eat your self healthy.

Cholesterol Lowering Curry Patties

Cholesterol Lowering Curry Patties

 Ingredients

  • 2 cans chickpeas (organic, bpa-free can --always).  Reserve liquid from one of the cans. 
  • half bag of frozen cauliflower 
  • 3 tablespoons curry powder (or more if you like it spicy)
  • salt to taste
  • 2 tsp acv
  • 1/3 cup chopped parsley or basil 
  • 1 or 2 handfuls of currants

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
  2. In a food processor or blender, blend everything but the greens and the currants. The consistency is up to you.  Some like it chunky and some prefer it smooth.  
  3. Mix in the chopped parsley or basil and the currants. Taste and adjust batter to your liking. 

    (FastTip: Depending on your blender or food processor you can pulse the greens into the batter, rather than chopping the greens by hand. Just be sure that they don't completely puree).
  4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking sheet and a light layer coconut oil. 
  5. With two tablespoons form patties on the baking sheet. 
  6. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for roughly 20 minutes.  When your toothpick comes out clean it's ready. 

This is great served with more avocado or cashew cream.  Enjoy it with a knife and fork or inside a sandwich. WARNING: These patties don't have the usual fillers in veggie burgers like starch or egg to hold them together.  So while they are delicious, they are also super delicate. Handle with care.  

The Even Faster Method: Cardio Curry Bowl

The Even Faster Method

Follow steps 2-3 above. 

4. Heat a saute pan to medium heat and add a tablespoon of coconut oil.  Add the prepared batter from step 3 to the sauce pan and stir for about 5 minutes or until the batter is fully cooked. 

5.  This is great wrapped inside a collard green leaf, whole wheat tortilla, on your favorite slice of bread or as is in a bowl with a dollop of avocado. 

Enjoy!

xx, SS

Yum

Happy Hearts: Chocolate Chip Cookies

This might be the simplest cookie recipe you've ever experienced.  It also happens to taste incredibly sinful and yet is actually really good for you and your heart.  Its chock full of soluble fiber which not only helps to keep you regular, but it binds to toxins and kicks them out of your body.  You'll find this recipe super sticky, be happy about that. That's the fiber in action.  

The sticky fiber also eliminates the need for eggs and the hazelnuts eliminate the need for butter. Which makes this a ZERO cholesterol cookie!  Moreover, the soluble fiber will actually lower your cholesterol! So make, eat, repeat!       

 

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Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup roasted organic hazelnuts
  • 2 cups organic oatbran
  • 4 dates
  • 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond or cashew milk
  • Chocolate chips of choice. (I used Lily's stevia sweetened, vegan dark choc. chips)

 

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  2. In a high-speed blender, blend the hazelnuts until you get a creamy hazelnut butter.  Depending on your blender, you'll may need to use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides down and then re-blend until you get the proper consistency.  (Alternatively, you could just buy hazelnut butter, but where's the fun in that?)
  3. Dump all the other ingredients except the chocolate chips and blend until everything is evenly incorporated. 
  4. Taste the batter.  Make sure it is to your liking.  If you prefer life on the sweeter side, add another date.  
  5. Transfer to a bowl and throw some chocolate chips on it.  Feel free to use as much as you'd like.  (Note - when using a high-speed blender, the batter may warm up a bit which is fine, but you may want to bring it back to room temp. before adding chocolate chips, unless you like the chocolate a bit runny through the batter like I do) 
  6. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or silicone liner.  Grab a tablespoon and create cookie shapes onto tray.  Your dough will be incredibly sticky, but this is totally normal.  Wait 30 seconds after you place the dough on the tray and then use your fingers to even out the dough into smooth cookie shapes. 
  7. Pop cookies in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. 
  8. Enjoy! 

Thanks for making this! I would love it see how it turns out. Snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @fastbeets so I can see your #fastbeetsapproved healthy creation! Any questions on it? Message me on Snapchat.  

Xx, SS

Yum