Down Home and Healthy

Debra Cotterill, nutrition education program director at the University of Kentucky’s Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, says, “Many of Kentucky’s traditional foods provide excellent nutrition value.” Cotterill and her team recommend consuming these Kentucky foods:

• Deep green vegetables: broccoli, spinach, other greens such as turnip greens and collards.

• Deep orange and red veggies: carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and red and yellow sweet peppers.

• Colorful fruit such as apples, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, peaches, and grapes. If the skin or seeds of a fruit are edible, they should be eaten. They provide the fiber and phytochemicals that deliver a multitude of health benefits.

• Soup beans can be very healthy. Dried beans are a great low-fat, high-fiber source of protein. Try cooking them without a lot of extra fat and seasoning them with onions, garlic, and pepper. If you’re accustomed to a lot of salty, fatty meat in your beans, try reducing the amount you use over time and supplementing it with other seasonings.

• Cornbread can be a good source of whole grain, if made without a lot of extra fat and salt.

Contact your Family and Consumer Sciences Extension agent and ask to be sent healthy recipes for some of Kentucky’s favorite foods. To locate your local Extension office click here.

You can also find healthy recipes online at Plate it Up Kentucky Proud, which is a partnership project between the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and the University of Kentucky School of Human Environmental Sciences. This project provides healthy, great tasting recipes using Kentucky Proud products for the people of Kentucky.

This health information is part of “Man Up, Kentucky.”

 Riccardo Bruni-Fotolia