DASH diet Menu

DASH diet Menu

What is a sample DASH diet sample menu?

A typical 1600 calorie DASH diet menu plan would include the following:

• 2 cups of vegetables
• 2 servings of fruit
• 2 servings of low-fat/fat-free dairy products
• 6 oz. whole grains ( 1 slice multi-grain bread plus 1 small serving brown rice)
• 5 oz. lean meat, poultry or fish (the size of 1 ½ playing cards)
• 2 teaspoons healthy oils such as olive oil
• 1 oz. nuts and seeds

Rare, mini servings of sweets, salty foods, and alcohol (once/week)

A typical daily DASH diet sample menu might look like this

• Breakfast: Steel-cut oatmeal with chopped pecans, ½ a chopped apple and cinnamon, black coffee
• Morning snack: another half of apple with 1 tsp peanut butter, a large glass of water
• Lunch: spring greens salad with mixed vegetables, grilled chicken breast and vinaigrette dressing on the side. Dip your fork in dressing to get flavor with every bite without saturating the salad with salt and fat. Drink unsweetened iced tea or water.
• Afternoon snack: unsweetened fruity iced tea or carrot sticks with hummus
• Dinner: spiralizer-made zucchini pasta with marinara made with ground turkey and Italian spices, sparkling mineral water
• Dessert: strawberries, 1 tbsp. vanilla yogurt, a dusting of cocoa powder

What are some DASH diet recipes?

Breakfast

• Whole grain toast, avocado, smoked salmon
• The night before muesli - in a glass refrigerator container combine equal parts quick oats, unsweetened coconut flakes, raw sunflower seeds, and frozen blueberries. Mix and cover with ½” unsweetened almond/oat/coconut milk or low-fat dairy milk if you aren't intolerant.

Lunch

• Make it easy. Make your lunch a salad plus protein and enjoy the millions of variations on the theme.
• From home: leftover roasted veggies and grilled chicken on a bed of butter lettuce with extra-virgin olive oil and quality balsamic vinegar and chopped walnuts drizzled on top
• If you are out: A mixed greens salad, hold the cheese, add chicken, hard-boiled egg, or grass-fed steak. Put the dressing on the side, and dip your fork in to get flavor with each bite without overdoing it.

Dinner

• Keep it simple. Focus on a healthy flavorful vegetable recipe, complement it with a protein, and add a side of whole grains.
• Brown rice pilaf made with pine nuts, celery, onion, and herbs de Provence.
• Grilled wild salmon with cracked pepper
• Steamed broccolini with a small pat of butter or olive oil drizzle

Snacks

• Fresh fruit and nuts and small servings of low-fat dairy are the mainstays of the DASH diet snacks.