Although February is designated "Heart-Smart Month," here's one smart idea that will serve you the rest of your life: eat foods that are good for the cardiovascular system all year long. Some of the best heart-smart foods around are artichokes, cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, green peas, soy beans, red beans, and pinto beans, just to name a few.

Following are two heart-smart recipes to get you started.

3 Bean Soup      Download this recipe.

4 C vegetable broth
1/2 C diced celery
1/2 C diced carrots
1 C diced onions
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 15-oz can raw soybeans
1 15-oz red kidney beans
1 15-oz can white beans
1 16-oz can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp seasoning salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Bring broth, celery, carrots, onions, Italian seasoning to a boil in large pot. Reduce to low heat; cook for 5 minutes. Rinse all 3 beans in cold water. Add beans, tomatoes, salt and pepper (to taste.)to pot. Bring back to boil; cook 5 more min. or until carrots are just tender.

Artichokes With Balsamic & Flax Oil Vinaigrette      Download this recipe.

4 whole artichokes
1 Tbsp seasoning salt
1 C balsamic vinegar
1/4 C brown sugar
1/8 tsp pepper
1 oz flaxseed oil

Cut 1/4 inch from artichoke stems; trim upper leaves 1/4 inch to remove sharp spine. Place artichokes, stem down, in large pot. Sprinkle with seasoning salt; cover with hot water (place serving plates atop artichokes to keep them under the water). Boil. Reduce to low heat; cook 45 min., or until done. (Check for doneness by scraping teeth on an inner leaf.) Drain and upend artichokes so they can drain.


As artichokes cook, combine vinegar, brown sugar, salt and pepper in small pan; boil; reduce heat to low and cook until mixture is reduced by half.

To serve, cut artichokes in half, step side up, right down the middle with serrated knife. Remove the choke (the fuzzy center in the heart) and discard.

Add flax oil to the balsamic reduction, and mix. Place artichokes on plates face up and drizzle with vinaigrette.



(If YOU have a smart idea, won't you share it? Life is so much easier and we accomplish so much more when we pool our resources. And after all, we're all in this together. So email patty@dvo.com or alice@dvo.com with YOUR Smart Ideas!)

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