D1

kate wallace
telegraph-journal

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

1 Comment(s)

Sandra Nowlan is busy in her kitchen making a couple of recipes - Apricot Bran Loaf and Tangy Prune Squares - from her new cookbook, Delicious DASH Flavours, when she takes a few minutes to talk about the publication, and how a hypertension-friendly diet need not mean a life sentence of bland, seasonless meals.

Enlarge Photo

john nowlan photo

In her debut cookbook ‘Delicious DASH Flavours,’ Deer Island native Sandra Nowlan offers hypertension-friendly recipes that don’t scrimp on taste as they cut back salt and fat.

In the book, her first, Nowlan, a Halifax-based food scientist and writer who grew up on Deer Island, adheres to the principles of DASH - Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension - as she shows just how elegant and delicious healthy eating can be.

The approach, which promotes eating more nutrient-rich whole foods, reducing sodium, and increasing key minerals such as potassium, is endorsed by the American Heart Association, the Canadian Hypertension Society and the Mayo Clinic, among other organizations.

When Formac Publishing in Halifax first approached Nowlan about writing the book, she was interested in part because her father suffers from severe hypertension. He has been on as many as three medications at one time to try to bring his blood pressure down.

What she found when she began researching DASH is that it is a legitimate diet backed by extensive research. While many health care providers know about, the general public isn't as well informed.

"When most people see it, they think, 'Oh Mrs. Dash,' the seasoning," Nowlan, 66, says.

Nowlan's isn't the first cookbook based on DASH, she says, but her recipes are often fancier than the pedestrian fare typically featured in publications for people with hypertension.

"It was good food, but not the kind of thing that would stir your juices."

Instead of plain old pork chops, Nowlan serves Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Blueberries and Cheese, adapted from Chef Hung Khuu at Lake Louise Station in Lake Louise.

She offers favourites from her own kitchen, as well as recipes adapted from the specialties of chefs from across Canada. Nowlan went through the more than 20 cookbooks Formac had already published, culling recipes that she thought would still taste great even if the salt and fat were deduced.

"It sort of gives a recipe new life," she says.

Nowlan replaced the sodium and fat in the original recipes with lemon and lime juice, fresh herbs, and flavour-rich seasons such as capers, hot peppers or a little vinegar "to fill out the tastebuds."

Some of the recipes didn't make the cut; with the salt and fat reduced, they just lost their zip.

Others didn't need much tweaking.

"If you get really fresh things, like a piece of fresh salmon, you don't really need to do a lot to it."

One of the biggest challenges was finding desserts that met DASH guidelines - most are just too high in butter, sugar and whipping cream to be adapted, she says.

Divided by course - breakfast, appetizers, soups, salads, vegetables, main, breads and desserts - the book offers recipes ranging from basic corn-on-the-cob to those suitable for entertaining.

One of her favourites, Roasted Pear and Sweet Potato Soup with Lobster Cakes, is adapted from chef Mark Picone at Vineland Estates Winery Restaurant in Wineland, Ont.

"You could serve that to the Queen."