(lively music)
- Beef and pork is what's for dinner today.
That's right, lean red meat can be part of
an overall healthy diet as long as you limit the amount.
nutrients that women and kids
generally need to eat more often.
Without enough of these nutrients,
you can feel tired and run down.
So let's take a look at some lean cuts of red meat
and how we can cook them to get more
bang for your buck, because these meats
can be more pricey than other types of meat.
Here I have a display of several of
the leanest cuts of red meat.
The pork cuts are pork tenderloin, loin chops,
rib chops, butterfly chops and pork sirloin roast.
You may have picked up on the fact that
the most common word among these lean cuts is loin.
For beef cuts, I have beef eye of round, top round,
top sirloin, and tenderloin.
Most lean beef cuts have the word round
or loin in the name.
On a package of beef, you can also look for words like
choice or select, which are leaner choices than
the very fat marbled prime.
And if you don't recognize any of these names
in the meat case, or if you want to spot
a lean cut by sight, look for red meat with
very little white fat along the edges.
There should also be very little white fat
marbled throughout the meat.
Staying away from cuts of meat that have a lot of fat
helps us follow the American Heart Association's
healthy eating recommendations,
which include limiting saturated and trans fat.
They also recommend limiting processed meat
like sandwich meat, sausage and hot dogs,
which can be very high in sodium.
Now, let's talk about portion sizes.
or the size of a beef patty that comes on
a plain hamburger or plain cheeseburger
at a fast-food restaurant.
It would fill up about 1/4 of a common dinner plate.
And that leaves about a fourth of the plate
for whole grains and half the plate
for fruits and vegetables.
Eating this way helps keep calories in check,
and it's also one of the most
budget-friendly ways to plan meals.
The first tip for cooking leaner cuts of meat
involves trimming and cutting it.
Take a look at this beef flank steak.
There is some visible white fat on it.
You want to carefully trim away like this.
Then, to make the meat seem especially tender
before cooking, you can slice it diagonally
across the grain like this.
It's probably best to usually cut it about one inch thick.
Cutting it before cooking cuts through
the tough meat fibers.
Plus, having large slices of meat in a dish like stir-fry
makes a portion of meat go further
and gives rich, meaty flavors throughout the dish.
It may even seem like more meat than
one single piece of meat on a plate.
So how do we cook these leaner cuts of meat
to get maximum flavor and the most delicious results?
Most cuts that are one inch or less thick can be broiled.
Broiling uses direct heat at high temperatures
and this will quickly brown the outside of the meat,
giving it a nice flavor, but keeping the inside
just cooked through and tender.
And if you have an extra 10 or 15 minutes,
most cuts will benefit from a quick soak
and a marinade of garlic, low-sodium soy sauce,
lime or lemon juice, and a little oil.
So add your meat to the marinade,
and this packs the meat with flavor
and helps keep it tender while cooking.
Lastly, cooking lean beef or pork roast, or beef top round
in the slow cooker is also a good way to produce
a meat that's tender and flavorful
and also super convenient.
All you do is add a cup or two of liquid,
like low-sodium beef broth.
Then, add the roast inside.
And then add in whatever veggies you have on hand.
Then, set it and forget it.
And dinner will be ready in several hours when the meat
reaches the proper internal temperature.
For slow-cooker recipes,
head to the American Heart Association's website,
heart.org, or head to the library to check out
a cookbook of slow-cooker recipes.
(lively music)