A recipe to try

I know very few people who profess an enjoyment of eggplant. I am not particularly fond of it myself. However, this recipe is an excellent way to prepare eggplant that can be enjoyed by anyone who likes gyros. If you "saute" the eggplant in water and use non-fat yogurt and cheese then this is a nearly fat-free meal. For those who really can't stand eggplant in any form, try substituting tofu or chickpeas.

A note on substituting tofu: As with eggplant, I am not particularly fond of tofu. However, I have learned a few things that make it more palatable. First of all, I always use extra firm tofu since I invariably use it in a cooked dish where I want texture. Secondly, I have discovered that to aid it taking the flavor of the dish, I must dry the tofu as much as possible. This can be done by draining the tofu then pressing it between paper towels. I usually go through lots of paper towels and use a heavy cast iron pan to do the pressing. It also helps if you slice the tofu so there is more surface area to dry. The final "trick" to having tastier tofu is to marinate it. If you have dried it first, it will marinate better. For this dish I might marinate the tofu in balsamic vinegar.

Eggplant Aubergine Gyro


I like to mix the sauce and vegetables and then put it in the pita breads. I also "sauté" the eggplant in water
instead of oil and I do not add the olives because I don't like them.

1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
1/3 cup scallion, diced
1/3 cup kalamata olive, pitted, halved
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
2 Tbs parsley chopped
1 Tbs chopped fresh oregano
1 large eggplant, trimmed and diced into 3/4-inch pieces
2 Tbs olive oil (to saute)
4 pita bread

1. Preheat oven to 350. Toast pita bread in oven.
2. Prepare veggies and mix everything except the bread and the eggplant.
3. Saute eggplant in oil over medium-high heat 3 minutes. Add to vegetable mixture.
4. Mix the cooked eggplant with the other veggies, spoon onto warm pita bread and eat.

Original Source: http://www.food.com/recipe/eggplant-aubergine-gyro-171352

Cholesterol

Earlier this week I received a call from the doctor's office informing me that my lipid count was too high. I was preoccupied at that moment so I really had no idea what the nurse was talking about until she said, "low cholesterol diet and vigorous exercise at least three times a week." Oh. Well, since all of my family has high cholesterol, I was not very surprised with the news. Fortunately my cholesterol is not so high that they immediately recommend drugs.

My brother is a doctor-to-be and so I mentioned my cholesterol to him and he recommended a book to learn about diet changes that will lower my cholesterol. While waiting for this book to arrive I have been looking up research related to cholesterol, diet, and exercise. Currently I have discovered that while it is certain that exercise improves one's cholesterol, there is some controversy as to how, how much it improves cholesterol, how much and what kind of exercise are necessary, and what type of cholesterol (HDL or LDL) is affected.

Recent studies, this one in particular, show that High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) increase with increasing exercise session duration (the longer you exercise the better). As I understood the article, the intensity of exercise correlates with Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) concentration, so the harder you exercise, the better.

Most of the studies I have come across so far are studies of obese or "at risk" populations. I have been searching for studies of "healthy" population. I will let you know what I find.