Heart Health Month - Serve fried favourites without frying

Now, you can eat healthy and have your fries too. Innovations today allow us to make all those favourite high calorie and high fat foods with only 1 tablespoon of oil. The product developers at T-fal have created innovative appliances for healthier living that decrease the average fat intake of pub-style meals by as much as 70%. Here are some recipes using the new ActiFry:

Tex-Mex Fries

Ingredients:

3 lb (1.5kg) of potatoes, peeled and washed

1 tbsp of vegetable oil

2  tbsp of Tex-mex or fajitas spice mix

2  tbsp of tabasco sauce to taste

Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Cut the potatoes into ½ inch (1 cm) thick fries, wash well and dry carefully.

2. Mix the Tex-Mex powder with the vegetable oil in a small bowl. Put the fries in the ActiFry pan and pour the spice mixture evenly over them. Cook for 45 minutes.

3. Open the Actifry, add salt and pour the Tabasco over the fries. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Recipe serves 6. Nutritional information per serving: 199 cal, protein: 5.3g, fat: 2.5g, carbohydrate: 41.5g, sodium: 0.04g. Compare: regular fries can have more than 380 calories and more than 20 g of fat per serving.

BBQ Chicken wings

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken or more chicken wings, tips cut offSea salt & ground pepper

Directions:

Toss the wings in barbecue sauce enough to coat them. This can be done the night before so the meat absorbs some of the sauce. Set the ActiFry for 25 minutes and turn on (*check for doneness after 20 minutes, depending on the size of the wings).

Note: Fried pub chicken wings can have more than 1500 cal and more than 100 g of fat for only 10 wings, more than an entire day worth of calories. Cooking wings in this new appliance makes this snack a healthier treat on game day or family night.

Chinese Style Ribs

Ingredients:

1 rack of pork spare ribs

1/3 tsp baking soda, 1tbs water, 1/2 tsp salt, 1tsp sugar, 1tbs soya sauce, 1tbs cornstarch, -1/4tsp sesame seed oil, 1tbs minced garlic, 1tsp five spice powder (optional)

Preparation:

1. Cut ribs into single rib sections and place in a bowl.

2. In a small bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients and add to ribs, mix well to coat the ribs evenly.

3. Marinate for a least 1 hour. Add ribs to the ActiFry and cook for 25-30 min. (depending on how meaty the ribs are)

Pulled Pork Sandwich in minutes

The newest Nutricook appliance (by T-fal) can save hours of preparation for pulled pork. You can make this tasty dish in less than a half hour:

Ingredients:

4 tsp of olive oil

1 shallot finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (500 g) pork tenderloin, trimmed

1 bottle of your favourite barbecue sauce

6 whole wheat buns

Preparation:

1. Coat the pork tenderloin evenly with the barbecue sauce.

2. Heat the olive oil in the Nutricook pan and brown the pork on all sides.

3. Take the pork out and rinse the pan. Place the pork in the steaming basket.

4. Put the basket with the pork loin in the pan.

5. Program 18 minutes on the timer and select the meat cooking program.

6. After 18 minutes steam will appear, at which point you need to turn off the heat and turn the program selector to steam.

7. Set the steam program for 10 minutes. This is the soft steam that makes sure the meat is cooked inside on the inside as well as the outside.

8. After the end of the soft steam phase, take out the pork at which point it should peel apart easily.

9. Lightly toast your whole-wheat bun, add your pork and any other desired condiments.

Find more heart healthy recipes at www.t-fal.ca

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