CDC gets cooking with healthy recipes

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a new prescription for you. But you'll have to cook it yourself.

In conjunction with Eating Well magazine, the CDC recently launched the Healthy Eating and Lifestyle Resource Center. The collection of heart-healthy recipes and menu plans are aimed at reducing sodium intake and is part of the Million Hearts initiative to fight heart disease and stroke.

The culinary website, recipes.millionhearts.hhs.gov, lets you browse hundreds of recipes by search term. You can also download a four-week menu plan based on how many pounds you want to lose per week. Outliers even found 22 recipes involving chocolate, so it's not all tofu and veggies. Chicken saute with mango sauce, perhaps? Or baked apple-cinnamon french toast?

Advanced search functions let you search by course, type of dish, total time to prepare, servings, cuisine type or desired calories per serving. Another set of search parameters sorts by “lifestyle”: quick, budget, entertaining, kid-friendly, one-dish, vegetarian, make-ahead, potluck or comfort foods.

“This resource helps people see that it's not about giving up the food you love, but choosing lower-sodium options that taste great,” Dr. Tom Frieden, CDC director, said in a news release. “Small changes can make a big difference. We could prevent 11 million cases of high blood pressure each year if everyone reduced their daily sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams.”