It’s a challenge, since the diet for many of us is too high in saturated fats. (America’s two favorite foods, burgers/cheeseburgers and pizza, are full of them). The processed foods most of us eat too much of are full of salt and sugar. And our diets are too low in key nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D.

When searching for easy solutions, one need look no further than the sea. Fish and seafood are natural sources of the nutrients we need the most. They’re in a food group that both adults and children should eat more of.

Most likely, you know this.

But since it’s Healthy Food Month at THE NIBBLE, we want to remind you that groups such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization recommend the benefits of eating fish for heart health in adults and brain development in babies.

This easy high-protein snack, lunch dish or
appetizer uses Star Kist Yellowfin Tuna in
heart-healthy extra virgin olive oil. Photo
by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

According to Jennifer McGuire, MS, RD at the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and blogger of seafood recipes:

1. You Cannot Eat “Too Much” Seafood
”For the general population there are no types of commercial or store-bought seafood to limit or avoid,” says McGuire. According to the FDA, the dietary goal is to eat a variety of seafood 2-3 times a week, but few Americans meet this goal. On average, Americans eat fewer than three ounces of seafood a week, compared to the recommended 8-12 ounces. NEW YEAR’S GOAL: Triple or quadruple the amount of fish you eat to meet the recommendation. Add shrimp and scallops to pasta, omelets and salads; eat more sushi and sashimi; grill fish twice a week.

2. Dietary Supplements Only Provide Partial Health Benefits
According to McGuire, fish oil supplements are not an equal substitute to eating fish as a whole food. “A variety of seafood will give your body omega-3s, lean protein, vitamins including B and D, iron, calcium, and more,” says McGuire, “whereas a fish-oil pill stops at omega-3s.” Supplements are not a complete trade-off. Oily fish like tuna, salmon, mackerel and sardines are some of the top omega-3 sources. NEW YEAR’S GOAL: Serve tuna and salmon at least once a week. It’s easy to pan-fry, poach or grill salmon and toss canned tuna into hundreds of recipes. If you think you don’t like mackerel and sardines: Look for fresh sardines—delicious grilled—and try mackerel at sushi bars. Raw mackerel is mild and not “fishy” like the cooked version.

3. Developing Babies Need Nutrients Found In Fish
The 2004 FDA recommendation for pregnant women and nursing mothers states, “Fish and shellfish contain high-quality protein and other essential nutrients, are low in saturated fat, and contain omega-3 fatty acids. A well balanced diet that includes a variety of fish can contribute to heart health and children’s proper growth and development. So, women and young children in particular should include fish or shellfish in their diets due to the many nutritional benefits.…” There are just four fish varieties that this target audience should avoid as they aim for 2-3 seafood meals a week: shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish, all of which have mercury levels.

4. Marine Foods Are The Only Naturally Rich Food Sources Of Omega-3 Fatty Acids
The type of omega-3s linked to heart and brain health (DHA and EPA) are only found in marine foods. McGuire notes, “The omega-3s in plant foods like walnuts, canola oil and flaxseed are healthful, but less powerful than the type in seafood. The body has a hard time converting plant-based omega-3s to DHA and EPA, so there isn’t really a substitute for seafood.”

5. Canned Seafood Counts
Fish in all forms, as long as it is prepared in a healthy way, counts toward the 2-3 servings per week goal. “I eat a lot of canned and pouch tuna, salmon, and sardines along with frozen and fresh fish,” says McGuire.

New year, new opportunity to eat better: There is no better time to include seafood in your diet than now.

• Find our favorite fish recipes in our Seafood Section.

If you’re one of the millions of people who have just made a New Year’s resolution to pursue better food choices, here’s an “inspirational” video. It shows some simple, portion-controlled snack ideas that let you treat yourself without going overboard.

Whether you have a sweet tooth or prefer savory flavors—and there’s no reason you can’t have both—pick up some tips to maintain your 2011 eating plan.

Some of our favorites:

[1] A panettone parfait for breakfast or for dessert (photo © Whole Foods Market).

[2] Panettone is also a delicious breakfast bread (photo © Bauducco).

[3] Tangerines, a type of mandarin (photo © Melissa’s Produce).

Just when we’d turned the last of our panettone into French toast for New Year’s Day breakfast, another panettone arrived.

Oh no, we thought: What do we do with this panettone vis-à-vis our New Year’s resolution to give up the sugar group for January?

Fortunately, Whole Foods Market came to the rescue with this recipe for a yogurt and fruit parfait with cubes of panettone—just a touch. We’re not breaking the resolution—just bending it.

> More panettone recipes.

> The history of panettone.

> The difference between oranges and mandarins.
 
 
RECIPE: PANETTONE YOGURT PARFAIT

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. SPRAY-oil a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the panettone cubes and cook, tossing occasionally until just toasted, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside to let cool.

2. Add the almonds to the skillet and cook, tossing occasionally until toasted, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

NOTE: If you’re in a hurry, you can make the parfait with untoasted panettone and almonds.

3. DRIZZLE the panettone with any juice that collected when you cut the oranges; then layer in four tall glasses or large wine goblets along with the oranges and yogurt.

4. TOP with almonds, garnish with mint and serve.

Nutrition Per Serving: 420 calories (80 from fat), 9g total fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 45mg cholesterol, 210mg sodium, 73g total carbohydrate (6g dietary fiber, 52g sugar), 16g protein.
 
 
Don’t like yogurt? Here are recipes for Panettone Bread Pudding, Panettone French Toast and Panettone Nutella Sandwich.

It’s also Healthy Food Month at THE NIBBLE; so combining both concepts, we’ve got healthy soup recipes for you.

Starting with 10 tips for “enlightened soupmaking,” you’ll see that you don’t need to sacrifice flavor to make family favorites and dinner party soups.

The Hot & Sour Soup in the photo is incredibly flavorful, is much more exciting than restaurant versions, and has only 143 calories per serving. It takes a mere half-hour to prepare.

So, get out the stock pot and start cooking!

• Find more soup recipes in our Gourmet Soup Section.
• Check out our favorite garnishes for almost every type of soup.

Hot & Sour soup. Photo courtesy Turner
Publishing Company.

A horseradish rush in hummus. Buy it
or make it. Photo courtesy Tribe Hummus.

Several hummus manufacturers make hummus with horseradish, although it’s not as easy to find as more mainstream flavors like garlic hummus and red pepper hummus.

Lucky us: One of our local markets had a stack of Tribe Hummus With Freshly Ground Horseradish. (And here’s a $1.00 coupon for any flavor.) It is heady with horseradish, and we love it.

If you don’t have a favorite hummus recipe, here’s one from Nanoosh Mediterranean Hummus Bars & Counters in New York City. Or, for instant gratification, buy plain hummus and add well-drained prepared horseradish to taste.

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound raw chickpeas/garbanzos/ceci (you can use canned, precooked chickpeas but from-scratch tastes better)
• 1/3 pound tahini paste/tahina
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt
• Optional: 1/4 cup special flavor, puréed horseradish (ground root or highly-drained prepared horseradish), lightly-cooked red pepper, olives, sundried tomato; or
• Spice to taste: basil, chipotle, crushed red pepper, garlic, lemon zest or other favorite

Preparation
1. Soak the chickpeas in water a day ahead.
2. Cook the chickpeas in boiling water for approximately 2 hours. Drain and chill the chickpeas.
3. Place the chickpeas in a food processor with the other ingredients. Process until smooth.
4. Taste and adjust to taste by adding lemon juice, water, salt and/or flavoring/spice/herb.

Since this recipe makes approximately two pounds of hummus, or four of the larger store containers, you can divide the batch and make up to four different flavors.

More horseradish ideas:

• Breakfast: Add prepared horseradish to scrambled eggs, omelets and hash brown potatoes before cooking. Add a spoonful to the hollandaise sauce for Eggs Benedict. Or serve as a condiment.
• Lunch: Add prepared horseradish to mayonnaise for sandwiches or to vinaigrette or other salad dressing. Mix with ketchup for spicy ketchup, and mix with sour cream for your baked potato. Add a heaping spoonful to ready-made deli items such as cole slaw, baked beans and potato salad.
• Dinner: substitute prepared horseradish for butter and salt as a vegetable topper. Add one (or two) spoonfuls to canned or homemade soups. Mash horseradish with potatoes or mix with low-fat sour cream for a quick baked potato topping.

Horseradish is good for you. Its use as a remedy for illness dates to the ancient Egypt—most popularly to clear breathing passages that are congested from colds. Horseradish contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. The spice and heat come from mustard oil (the root is in the same family as mustard), which, as with mustard seed, is released when it is ground.

And horseradish is high in glucosinolates and phytonutrients, potential cancer-fighting agents that have shown in clinical studies to keep tumor growth under control and reduce the chance of developing new tumors.