Savoury, spicy & sweet satisfaction

At Vibes Cuisine, we live by the mantra of Hippocrates aka the Father of Medicine, who said, "Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food." Hundreds of years later, it's just common sense to eat the right things in the correct portions to be healthy and avoid illnesses.

Thirty per cent of Jamaicans have heart disease - that's one in every three persons. It is also the number one cause of death in the world, and the best preventative course is straight-forward proper nutrition. This entails making the right food choices, eliminating bad fats, excessive salt, sugar, refined carbs, and controlling eating portions.

And in this bid, you don't have to give up taste to eat healthy. We've compiled a few of our favourite dishes that are pleasing to your palate without compromising your family's waistlines.

Seafood, of course, is a great lean protein that we can afford to eat more often. We've made lovely tarts using basa fillets, cutting the fish to stretch our budget and combining it with lots of veggies.

Baking eliminates fatty oils (but you get the good omega-3 fatty acids from the basa) and less-processed cornmeal is a superior option to white flour. Grating the cheese also helps it to go further and you consume less. Make a family-size pie or do individual ones that can be presented very attractively.

CONTROL BLOOD PRESSURE

Now, hypertension or 'pressure' can be a contributing factor to heart disease, but there are more options for you to control the salt/sodium your family consumes. Our citrus chicken recipe makes the right moves using 'lite' soy and no further salt. Flavour comes from the orange juice and ginger. And once you are watching your sodium intake, you will enjoy the other seasonings much more.

Jamaica has seen quite a few raw-food restaurants coming on stream, so we've got an unconventional method to serve ripe plantain. Not only is it delicious, but you don't even have to cook it (saving your gas bill too). Yes, fried plantain is a much-loved traditional dish, but set some new trends or family favourites and try oil-free, flavourful, ceviche plantain. Your heart will thank you.

A neighbourhood stroll after your supper will "release endor-phins into your system", says the Heart Foundation of Jamaica's nutritionist, Frances Mahfood, "alleviates stress and makes you feel great. And when you feel great, you eat better." Such is the circle of (a well-balanced, healthy) life.

Vibes Tip: The simplest way to judge proper servings is to imagine your 9" dinner plate divided into segments. One half should be veggies, with one quarter starch and the other quarter the protein.

DASH diet meal

Ceviche plantain

INGREDIENTS

1 ripe plantain (firm but ripe)

¹/⁴ cup lime juice

3 stalks scallion cut into small pieces

Method

1. Peel and slice plantain in very thin slices.

2. Place on a plate in a single layer.

3. Sprinkle lime juice and allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

4. When serving, sprinkle scallion.

Ceviche plantain