Recipes to Lower Your High Blood Pressure

A large number of people in the West suffer from high blood pressure brought on by being obese or/ |and the high degrees of stress that contemporary life provokes. Most sufferers are told to lose weight, take up yoga or walking or take tablets for life. This means that most individuals end up taking tablets for life, because lifestyle alterations are so difficult to achieve.

However, there is one enjoyable way of reducing your blood pressure and that is eating tasty food that does not require additional salt, because it is flavoured by other spices. Here are three such recipes.

Recipe One: France

Leeks Vinaigrette (Poireaux En Salade)

Serves 4

12 leeks
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tspn vinegar of your choice
black pepper, fresh ground
1 tbls fresh parsley, chopped
mustard to taste

PREPARATION:
Clean the leeks; cut off most of the green bits and wash thoroughly, split if necessary, under cold running water. If they are large, split them lengthways; each piece ought to be about the size of a big stalk of asparagus.

Tie them into bundles in two places, place them in boiling salted water just enough to cover, and cook slowly for 25 minutes, or until they are softish yet not limp. Drain them well (and be sure to save the water to add to a soup).

The leeks can be served in a serving dish or arranged on individual plates. Create your vinaigrette in a bowl, adding mustard to taste, and whip the dressing well until it is almost opaque, or emulsified; pour it on top of the leeks.

Recipe Two: Germany

Birnensuppe (Pear Soup)

Serves 2

2 tbspn raisins
1 tbspn dry sherry
2 small pears, cored, pared and sliced
1 1/2 cup water
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 pinch crushed aniseed
2 tspns granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

In small bowl combine raisins and sherry; set aside.

In 1-quart saucepan combine pears, water, cinnamon stick, and aniseed; bring to a boil and cook until pears are very soft, around 15 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and let cool. Transfer to food processor and blend until smooth; pour into bowl or container and mix in raisin mixture, sugar, and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.

Recipe Three: Greece

Fried Swordfish With Mediterranean Spices

Serves 4

1/2 cups white wine vinegar
1/2 tspn paprika
1/2 tspn red pepper flakes, dried
1/2 tspn oregano
1/2 tspn cumin, ground
1/2 tspn thyme
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 lb swordfish, cut in 1" pieces
olive oil for frying
1/2 cup white flour

PREPARATION:
Mix first 8 ingredients in a medium non-reactive bowl. Add swordfish bits; toss to coat. Cover and leave stand at room temperature at least 1 hour. (Can be marinated for up to 3 hours.)

TO COOK:
Heat oven to 200F. Heat oil in a frying pan or an electric deep fryer to 365F. Move swordfish from marinade to a sieve. Drain swordfish; discard marinade. Pat swordfish pieces dry with paper towels, then dredge in flour.

Working in batches to prevent overcrowding, fry swordfish until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain swordfish pieces on paper towel; relocate to a heatproof dish but keep them warm in the oven until about to serve. (Can be kept warm in the oven up to 1/2 hour.)

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on a number of subjects, and is currently involved with effort on high blood pressure charts. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at High Blood Pressure Recipes.