Meal of the month: Healthy meals for 2022

This year, instead of highlighting different categories of food, we’re serving up dinner ideas that follow heart-healthy guidelines. The focus will be on easy-to-make, plant-centric dishes, although some will include fish or small amounts of poultry. In addition, we will feature popular or signature dishes from different areas of the United States, from the Pacific Northwest to the Florida Keys.

The meals will follow guidelines from Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate, which include the following:

• Fill half your plate with vegetables and fruits, aiming for variety. Potatoes and french fries don’t count.
• Choose whole grains rather than processed products made with white flour.
• Pick healthy proteins, such as beans, legumes, nuts, fish, and poultry. Avoid red and processed meat.
• Limit dairy to one to two servings daily.
• Use healthy unsaturated oils, such as olive and canola.

Do you have a heart-healthy dinner you’d like to recommend? Alternatively, do you have a favorite meal that could use some tweaks to make it more heart-friendly? Send an e-mail to heart_letter@hms.harvard.edu and please write "Meal of the month" in the subject line. We look forward to hearing from you.