American Heart Association’s Lean Beef Cookbooklet

In conjunction with the American Heart Association (AHA), beef checkoff dollars have funded a heart-healthy recipe “cookbooklet” that features lean beef cuts, along with cooking tips and nutritional information. The AHA’s “Six Simple Steps to Good Nutrition” are included, as well as tips on how to include beef as part of a heart-healthy diet. The booklet also provides useful information comparing the fatty acid content of beef to that of chicken, tuna, salmon and olive oil.

The glossy recipe booklet, boldly branded with AHA’s familiar logo, features 14 lean beef recipes, with full-color photos.  Recipes for such dishes as Gyros-Style Steak Pitas, Burgundy Beef and Vegetable Stew, Beef Lasagna Rolls and Italian Beef Stir-Fry are included.

This project was conducted on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the NCBA. 

“This cookbooklet is an excellent way to remind consumers, health professionals and media that lean beef can play an important role in a heart-healthy diet,” said Cattlemen’s Beef Board member Wade Zimmerman, a beef producer from Sugar City, Colo., and chairman of the beef industry’s Joint Nutrition and Health committee.

State Beef Councils are also working with AHA affiliates to promote and distribute 100,000 copies of the booklet.  In Colorado, one of the recipes will be distributed to attendees at the AHA affiliate’s inaugural women’s luncheon in May 2005.  The Oklahoma Beef Council is sponsoring eight AHA women’s luncheons in the state, at which a lean beef meal will be served. The Beef Council will also make a brief presentation at each luncheon, and distribute a cookbooklet to each attendee.