Planning superfood meals and menus


The first step in planning healthful meals is to go for a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and good fats, while reducing sugar, excess sodium, and bad fats. You can accomplish that by following the food pyramid serving suggestions. The second step is to find places to fit the superfoods into your menu. Superfoods vegetables make great side dishes or salads. The fruits and nuts are perfect for snacks or dessert. The superfoods fish and legumes fit nicely into any dinner. Oats are great for breakfast, and there’s even room for a small glass of red wine with dinner or a piece of dark chocolate later on. So what does a superfood menu look like? We suggest you start out by focusing on a healthful, balanced diet that includes two superfoods each day. Your day could look something like this:


✓ Breakfast: Oatmeal with low-fat milk, raisins, and honey; one slice of toast with peanut butter; and coffee. Oatmeal counts as your first superfood of the day.


✓ Mid-morning snack: Celery sticks with veggie dip.


✓ Lunch: Chicken sandwich with light mayonnaise, one slice of cheese, and lettuce on whole grain bread, and a small green salad with no more than 2 tablespoons of salad dressing.


✓ Mid-afternoon snack: Six crackers with thin slices of cheese, one sliced pear, and a diet soft drink.


✓ Dinner: Roast beef, a baked potato with light sour cream, and a side of steamed broccoli with a dab of butter or non-trans-fat margarine. Broccoli is your second superfood for the day.


✓ Evening snack: One cup of flavored yogurt.  As you can see, a daily menu like this has plenty of food and flavor without sacrificing good nutrition. And it’s easy to add even more superfoods. The following meal plan incorporates five:


✓ Breakfast: Oatmeal with low-fat milk, blueberries, and honey; one slice of toast with peanut butter; and coffee. Oatmeal is your first superfood, and blueberries are your second.


✓ Mid-morning snack: One apple with one slice of cheddar cheese and water. The apple is your third superfood.


✓ Lunch: Bowl of low-sodium chicken noodle soup, one whole-grain roll, and a green salad with no more than 2 tablespoons salad dressing.


✓ Mid-afternoon snack: A single-serving bag of almonds. Almonds are your fourth superfood.


✓ Dinner: Baked salmon with mashed potatoes and green beans. Salmon is your fifth superfood for the day.


✓ Evening snack: One cup of flavored yogurt. These are just two examples of superfoods menus — throughout the book, we describe more ways to fit superfoods into your day. Enjoying a superfoods diet is easy and delicious.

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