How many Latino recipes claim to be "healthier" and end up just, well, plain awful?  Turkey for my picadillo? No way!  This is not "American" cooking in disguise (adding chilli powder to everything is not my idea of Latin cooking).  

1st. Rule of Thumb: Go back to the basics and mind your veggies!  If we think of traditional Latino cooking, our ancestors didn't have bodegas to buy all that prepackaged stuff.  Our seasonings and cooking oils were from derived from fresh seeds, plants and healthy veggies (like olive oil) as were our meats.  This is not to say that, based on what the land produced and our cultural heritage to eat every conceivable body part from animals -- including chicken & pork skin --  we ate healthy all around.   

But no one is going to tell me I can't have my morcilla (blood sausage) every now and then.  And that's just it:  occasional snacking on our favorite cholesterol-laden foods is not a bad thing, in fact, I encourage it (reminds me of the Atkins concept of a' "reward meal".) 

Holidays and cheating days aside, here are some immediate steps you can take to eat healthier every day.

OILS

First and foremost, absolutely NO LARD!  If you are still using this in any form, you are a walking heart attack. Olive Oil is the winner from a taste and health perspective (and a great antioxidant). However, we know that this taste is too heavy for some foods.  For more neutral flavor in the Latino kitchen, use Canola Oil (yes, NOT Corn Oil, which is high in polyunsaturates and that when heated becomes toxic.)

SPICES & SOFRITO

We all love packaged 'sazon' ...but use it sparingly.  it's way too high in sodium and some dangerous lab-made colors and preservatives.  Most doctors would tell you to skip the salt all together, but I can't.  Use garlic powder mostly (very healthy), other natural spices (sans sodium...touch of cumin is great for some dishes), some pepper and very little salt (or try a salt substitute...though these are not particularly healthy either).  I like to add a little cooking wine instead of the salt. But beware! Cooking wine is also high in sodium.  If you like spicy (iViva Mexico!), using natural peppers (poblanos, japenos, etc) and naturally ground spices works well.  

 

Of course, natural, home made sofritos are best.  They can be as simple as fresh garlic, onion and green (or spicy) peppers crushed and mixed.  This can be used as seasoning or cooked in olive oil to make a tasty base sofrito for cooking meats and vegetables right in the pan.

MEATS

2nd. Rule of Thumb: Use lean cuts and, preferably, organic meats.

  

Chicken and Turkey:  The healthiest option (no skin or innards, sorry).  Try replacing dark meat dishes with breast meat, always highest in protein content.

 

Beef:  Again, make it organic, since the diet of organic cattle consists mostly of grass, not grains.  Half the fat in this beef is actually monounsaturated, so heart healthy.

Lamb:  Some consider lean cuts of lamb healthier than beef.  Again, stick to the lean cuts (lamb can be very fatty).

Pork:  Simply put, no.  Forget the "other white meat" slogan.  Our favorite for the holidays and occasional cheating (we love our pork ribs!) is a real toxin machine, so more important than ever that you eat organic pork when you do.  Pigs eat everything (including garbage and excrement) and carry all sort of parasites. Seriously limit intake of pork and pork by-products (ham, bacon) in your diet.

BEANS, LEGUMES, VEGGIES, GRAINS AND FRUIT

Do continue to include these in your cooking, just watch preparation ingredients as above. Beans DO go with rice so replace where possible white rice with brown (for more nutrition - white rice is not unhealthy, just a source of empty carbs).  On the bread side, try to stay away from "white" anything.  Look for whole wheat tortillas (multigrain a plus). Add more fiber to your meals: make those carbs work for you!  As for fruit, choose FRESH produce instead of the sugar-laden syrupy cans of fruit we all love.

DAIRY

We love our quesos y leche.  Good stuff!  Don't stop consuming, just look for low-fat versions of all, which are easily found these days.  And try low-fat yogurt in your diet in the place of higher calorie and fat dairy products.  I often replace milk with vanilla and strawberry yogurt in shakes and such.

BAKE DON'T FRY

My good friends, mi gente Latina, we LOVE fried foods but remember you can also bake or broil meats and starchy vegetables.  Instead of frying, I now bake my maduros (brush them with a little Canola Oil in the pan...delicious!).  Just make sure they are nice and ripe.  Some of my Caribbean friends even sprinkle them with cinnamon when baked...que rico!

A closing note. Traditional Latino food is often very high in carbs, sugar and salt (and unhealthy fats).  If you are watching your weight, and especially if you are not particularly active, sticking to a diet of lean meats, fresh fruits and veggies and low-fat dairy, while cutting out a lot of the unnecessary carbs, will allow you to lose weight faster.

Do you have a favorite healthy Latino recipe?  Email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

iBuen provechoI