Blog Posts by The Editors of EatingWell Magazine

By Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D., Nutrition Editor, EatingWell Magazine

Eating a Mediterranean diet may lower your risk of heart attack, stroke and death from heart disease by up to 30 percent, according to a new, highly publicized study out of Spain, published in April 2013 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

When older adult participants (aged 55 to 80 years) were divided into one of three groups (Mediterranean diet with extra-virgin olive oil, Mediterranean diet with nuts or a control diet), those who followed either of the Mediterranean diets reaped the heart-protective benefits.

Don't Miss: 8 Ways to Follow the Mediterranean Diet for Better Health

You can start eating the Mediterranean diet today--and help your heart health--by adding these key foods (which were staples in the diet of the study participants following the Mediterranean diet) to your meals.

1. Olive oil. The study participants' main culinary fat was olive oil--they ate 4 or more daily

By Wendy Ruopp, Managing Editor of EatingWell

Does it ever occur to you to make Caesar salad at home? I never think of it until I'm at a restaurant and it suddenly looks like the best thing on the menu--especially with some grilled chicken on top (even if I have to pay extra for that).

With this recipe dreamed up by the EatingWell Test Kitchen, it's not just the chicken that's grilled--the romaine lettuce is too! (Another thing I'd never think of.) That lightly charred lettuce adds more delicious smokiness to the Caesar salad filling for this easy meal rolled up in a warmed spinach wrap.

New Recipes: Healthy Grilled Salad Recipes and More Unexpected Foods for the Grill

Because you can pick it up and eat it, this portable wrap makes a great lunch, too, or quick take-it-with-you dinner for an activity-filled evening.

Don't Miss: More Light Wraps & Sandwiches

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap
Print, share and save this recipe!
High Fiber Healthy Heart

By Stacy Fraser, Test Kitchen Manager at EatingWell

Whenever you're gathering family and friends, serving brunch is a great way to celebrate. And when you plan and make the meal ahead, you can enjoy the party along with your guests. This make-ahead brunch menu from the June issue of EatingWell Magazine, with recipes created by Silver Palate Cookbook author Julie Rosso, is perfect for Mother's Day or any occasion. Here's the menu and a planner to help you get organized and get your brunch ready ahead of time.

Menu:
Sunrise Bellini
Very Berry Fruit Salad
Pistachio Breakfast Sausage Patties
Prosciutto & Asparagus Strata
Pecan-Berry Coffee Cake

Make-Ahead Planner

Up To 3 Days Ahead:
• Make berry puree (Step 1) and lemon sauce (Step 2) for Very Berry Fruit Salad and refrigerate.

Up To 1 Day Ahead:
• Make Sunrise Bellini mix (Step 1) and refrigerate in an airtight container. Freeze-ahead instruction: Freeze airtight for up to 1 month;

By Breana Lai, M.P.H., R.D., Associate Food Editor, EatingWell Magazine

For many of us, the promise of a good cup of coffee gets us out of bed in the morning. Somehow, prying off the warm covers doesn't isn't so hard when I know there is a warm cup of coffee waiting. But coffee is very personal. Everyone has a choice coffee-brewing vessel, coffee style and coffee mug.

Whether you choose to brew your coffee in a single-cup brewer, an automatic coffee maker or a French press, keep in mind there are variables that can affect the quality of the coffee you make. There is a reason the coffee from your local coffee shop tastes better. The coffee is freshly brewed, the beans were just ground, the milk was just steamed and the machine costs as much as a small car.

Don't Miss: Recipes for Coffee Shop Drinks at Home

While we can't all have the fancy machine (and barista to make the coffee), we can take some lessons from coffee shops to brew a perfect cup of coffee at home. Here

By Wendy Ruopp, Managing Editor of EatingWell

Thai food is so flavorful and so full of healthful fresh vegetables--why don't I cook it at home more? Naomi Duguid's story "Thai Tonight" in the May/June 2013 issue of EatingWell Magazine helped me realize what I'm missing: a few easy-to-find Thai ingredients.

Don't Miss: 10 Essential Ingredients of Thai Cooking

I just need to slow down in the "Asian" aisle at the supermarket and add a jar of fish sauce and a jar of curry paste to my shopping cart along with a couple cans of "lite" coconut milk (so when I use one this week I still have one for the next time I need it).

Don't Miss: Easy Thai Recipes to Make at Home

With those ingredients in my pantry, the next time I run across a Thai recipe I want to make I won't have to regretfully turn the page--and I'll have what I need to make this amazing Vegetarian Thai Red Curry for dinner tonight!

Vegetarian Thai Red Curry
Print, save and share this recipe!
Healthy Weight
Makes: 4 servings,

By Emily McKenna, Recipe Developer & Tester for EatingWell Magazine

Banana bread is a great solution for using overripe bananas. To lighten up your favorite recipe, use all whole-grain flour or whole-grain flour mixed with white all-purpose flour, and rely as much as you can on the natural sweetness of the bananas to cut the total amount of granulated sugar called for in the recipe. If you roughly mash or chop your bananas, there are big chunks of fruit to bite into. Consider a handful of toasted chopped walnuts or a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg and a handful of dark chocolate chips for a flavor boost.

Don't Miss: Watch our food editor make healthy banana chocolate chip bread

Want to lighten up your favorite banana bread recipe? Here are 4 of our best tricks you can use to make your banana bread recipe healthier and delicious, and a recipe for EatingWell's healthy Banana-Blueberry Buttermilk Bread.

1. Use Less Sugar
This is really a two-part tip. I try to add as

By Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D., EatingWell Magazine

Breakfast is important-it fuels your morning and may help keep your hunger in check so you don't overdo it at lunch. Although making breakfast at home is ideal-you have more control over the ingredients and can make sure you have a healthy, balanced meal-there are times when you need or want to pick up breakfast on the go. Many popular fast-food restaurants now offer breakfast sandwiches, which spurred me to look into the healthiest (and least healthy) options.

Here's what I found out about some of the healthiest breakfast-sandwich choices and the worst, which you should skip.

Don't Miss: Healthy 5-Minute Breakfast Sandwich Recipes

Starbucks
The Best: The Starbucks Spinach & Feta Breakfast Wrap (pictured, left) has 290 calories, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 6 grams of fiber, 19 grams of protein and 830 mg of sodium. It's Starbucks's lowest-calorie breakfast sandwich option, plus the 6 grams of fiber will help

By Wendy Ruopp, Managing Editor of EatingWell

How many meals can you make with a corn tortilla? The outside-the-box cooks in the EatingWell Test Kitchen gave themselves the challenge of creating a few new dinners based on corn tortillas for the May/June 2013 issue of EatingWell Magazine. But they really outdid themselves with this new Chicken Taco Bowls recipe and guess where they found their inspiration? At the bottom of a muffin tin.

By flipping the muffin tin over and nestling a tortilla into the creases between four cups, they were able to turn softened tortillas into little bowls. They filled the bowls with an easy-to-whip-up filling of chicken and your favorite healthy taco toppings.

Don't Miss: How to Make Killer Guacamole

To make the bowls, you'll first need to warm the tortillas to prevent them from cracking and breaking. Here are three ways to warm your tortillas:

In the oven: Wrap stacks of 8 tortillas in foil; place in a 375°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

On the stove: Turn