How to beat high blood pressure with snow peas with apples and ginger

Garlic, ginger…and apples? You bet! Slices of firm apple, briefly stir-fried, have the same satisfying crunch as water chestnuts, making them an excellent partner to crisp, fresh snow peas. Here's how to put them all together in with one heart healthy recipe.

Preparation time 10 minutes 

Cooking time 10 minutes

Serves 4

• 10 ml (2 tsp) olive oil
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) finely slivered, peeled fresh ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 500 g (1 lb) snow peas, strings removed
• 2 crisp red apples, unpeeled, cut into thin wedges
• Salt to taste

1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over low heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook until tender, about 2 minutes.

2. Add snow peas, apples, and salt to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until peas are crisp-tender, about 7 minutes.

• For an unusual main-dish salad, fold the cooled snow pea–apple combination into a big bowl of chilled cooked brown rice along with cubes of cooked chicken breast or lean pork loin.
• Use this recipe with sugar snap peas or sliced asparagus in place of the snow peas.

• Apples contain anthocyanins, natural pigments in apple skin that may help to improve cardiovascular health. The soluble fibre pectin, abundant in apples, also assists in lowering harmful cholesterol levels. So "an apple a day" is good advice.
• Green vegetables such as peas contain chlorophyll, which studies suggest may deter certain chemicals from causing DNA damage to cells.

Each serving provides:

Key nutrients: 110 Calories, 25 Calories from Fat, 3 g Fat, 0 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 4 g Protein, 20 g Carb, 5 g Fibre, 5 mg Sodium

Blood pressure nutrients: 73 mg Vitamin C, 33 mg Magnesium, 328 mg Potassium, 58 mg Calcium