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beans

To Beans Or Not To Beans – Goodies Your Gut Will Love

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Everyone (Including Beans) Needs A Day In The Sun 

Beans, beans, beans! Not the green beans that add some colour to your plate but the smaller dried or tinned variety. All beans are special but they are extra special in February because it is Gut Health Month and World Pulse Day.  This doesn’t mean that we just do stuff for our gut health in February but it seems like a good time to start.

What The Heck Are Pulse’s?

It is clearly a good day when we all wake up with a pulse but in this case we are referring to the pulses that belong to the wider legume family.  This is a group of plants whose fruit or seed is enclosed in a pod.  Pulses refer specifically to the dried, mature seeds of these plants and include dry peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas.  The term legume, includes these dried varieties as well as fresh peas and beans and is a more commonly used term than pulses. 

Everyone is familiar with the good old baked bean but there are so MANY other varieties out there. Some that you may know of include chickpeas, lentils, peas and beans like butter, kidney, cannellini and soybeans.

I include legumes in my cooking at least three times a week and I don’t think anyone in my household even knows! Not that there is any need to hide pulses but they are super easy to add to almost any dish.  

If you are starting the legume/pulses journey, some easy ways to introduce these nutrition powerhouses into your day include adding a tin of brown lentils to a bolognaise sauce (as they virtually disappear once they are put into a dish) or throw them into a green salad or any kind of mince dish. Kidney or black beans are perfect for burrito bowls or wraps, chick peas are delightful when they are added to a curry and lentils can make a rather tasty salad.

The Nutrition Lowdown On Pulses

Legumes and pulses are truly multi-skilled and are:

  • a budget friendly source of plant based protein
  • higher in protein than most other plant based foods
  • usually low in fat
  • rich in low glycemic index carbohydrates
  • a good source of B vitamins including folate, plus iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium
  • super high in fibre – both soluble and insoluble with the added benefit of resistant starch which is fabulous for maintaining good gut health

For a bunch of great reasons to eat them, you can read the latest by the Grains and Legumes Nutrition Council here. While you are doing that, check out some handy Gut Health resources here too.

Product Review – Edgell Snack Time With Beans

The pulse gang have been around for ages and we have established over and over that they are great for our gut and overall health. Yet, as a population we still don’t eat enough of them. Let’s make it easier.  One of my favourite meals for lunch, is a fridge salad (whatever YOU have in your fridge) topped with a tin of Edgell Snack Time.

There are nine varieties to choose from and they are really delicious. Think chickpeas in a zesty vinaigrette, black beans and charred corn with lime and herbs and other just as delightful combo’s.  I am not sponsored in any way, shape or form by Edgell but I do appreciate how easy they make getting beans and legumes into a meal.

So, what about making inroads on your gut health and getting those beans in your day at the same time? If you have an easy way of doing this, I’d love to hear it!

 

 

pulses

Pulses Are The Star of The Show

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The Global Stage 

This week marks World Pulses Day. Yes, yes I do agree there does seem to be a special day for everything under the sun. And yes, to be honest I understand that it doesn’t sound like the most exciting thing to celebrate BUT believe me, these guys are severely underrated.

This global day was created to recognise the importance of pulses which includes beans, peas and lentils.

What The Heck Are Pulse’s?

It is clearly a good day when we all wake up with a pulse but in this case we are referring to the pulses that belong to the wider legume family.  This is a group of plants whose fruit or seed is enclosed in a pod.  Pulses refer specifically to the dried, mature seeds of these plants and include dry peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas.  The term legume, includes these dried varieties as well as fresh peas and beans and is a more commonly used term than pulses. 

Everyone is familiar with the good old baked bean but there are so MANY other varieties out there. Some that you may know of include chickpeas, lentils, peas and beans like butter beans, kidney beans, cannelloni beans and soybeans.

I include legumes in my cooking at least three times a week and I don’t think anyone in my household even knows! Not that there is any need to hide pulses but they are super easy to add to almost any dish.  

If you are starting the legume/pulses journey, some easy ways to introduce these nutrition powerhouses into your day include adding a tin of brown lentils to a bolognaise sauce (as they virtually disappear once they are put into a dish) or tip them into a green salad or any kind of mince dish. Kidney or black beans are perfect for burrito bowls or wraps, chick peas are delightful when they are added to a curry and red lentils can make a rather tasty  salad.

The Nutrition Lowdown On Pulses

Legumes and pulses are truly multi-skilled and are:

  • a budget friendly source of plant based protein
  • higher in protein than most other plant based foods
  • usually low in fat
  • rich in low glycemic index carbohydrates
  • a good source of B vitamins including folate, plus iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium
  • super high in fibre – both soluble and insoluble with the added benefit of resistant starch which is fabulous for maintaining good gut health

For a bunch of there great reasons to eat them, you can read the latest post by the GLNC here too.

Then there is the newish (but has been grown for eons) protein rich kid on the block packing a serious nutrition punch. This little goodie is the humble lupin flake – a unique legume that contains 40% protein, 40% fibre with a small amount of carbohydrate and fat and is completely gluten free. 85% of the world’s crop of lupins is grown in Australia (mostly in Western Australia) although they are available worldwide. You can try my recipe for the High Protein Lupinsagne here too.

I promise you it’s as simple as cracking open a can to get more of these pulses in your day, week or month.

While you are percolating all these ideas, it is always nice to finish on a sweet note don’t you think?  You will know what I mean when you make and bake Magic Bean Cupcakes 

You can thank me later.

 

 

 

Scroll up

Scroll up – the best recipe for the best dough

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Scroll, scroll, scroll

The scroll situation is limited only by your imagination – think pizza, cheeseymite, banana and nutella, strawberry and ricotta, chicken and sweet chilli sauce or bolognaise sauce and cheese.

I have always loved the symmetry of the scroll and the deliciousness too.  The thing is, very often the scroll is made using pastry and the high fat content really prevents it from being a food that can be eaten regularly.

You can also find a good scroll at the local bakery but these guys can be quite large and sometimes the cheese and bacon are taking up a lot of space (I know that might seem like a good thing!).

Fortunately I have the solution with just two ingredients. Flour and yoghurt.

The Best Recipe for The Best Dough

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour

1 cup natural or plain Greek yoghurt

Method

Place both ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl and using a butter knife, mix until dough comes together.  If the dough seems a little dry, add a small amount of extra yoghurt but be conservative as too much will make the dough too wet and sticky.

Flour a pastry sheet or large chopping board and knead the ball of dough until smooth (shouldn’t take too long and don’t overdo it). Using a heavy rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangular shape approximately 50cm by 30cm.  This is the basic dough and now you can decide what you are going to put in your scroll.

The Combo’s

You can choose from any of the following combinations or make up you own (and then let me know!).

Pizza – spread the dough with 1/2 cup of your favourite pasta sauce and top with 1 cup grated cheese

Cheeseymite – spread the dough with vegemite to taste (more is better for the flavour even if you are not a fan like me) and top with 1 cup grated cheese

Banana and nutella – spread the dough with 1/2 cup nutella and top with two small thinly sliced bananas

Strawberry and Ricotta – spread the dough with 3/4 cup ricotta and top with 10 thinly sliced washed and hulled strawberries

Bolognaise – spread the dough with 3/4 cup leftover bolognaise sauce (drain as much liquid as possible from the sauce) and top with 1 cup grated cheese

It’s Time to Rock and Scroll

Once you have decided on your filling and assembled all that you need, you can get cracking but remember to leave about 1cm around the edges so that you don’t end up with an exploding scroll!

To get things moving, start rolling from the long side and keep tucking and rolling until you reach the end, leaving that under the roll.

Using a well floured seated knife slice the roll into 2cm pieces and then place flat side down onto a lined baking tray.

Bake in a moderate oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

All you need to do now is enjoy but I dare you to be able to stop at one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

dietitian

Want to know what a Dietitian eats? There are no food police in sight I promise.

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A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post for my lovely clients Kale and Co. which was all about what a Dietitian like me eats every day.  Funnily enough, there were people who liked hearing about it, so I today I am sharing this with you just in case you might like to hear about it too.

 You know how some carpenters can have millions of unfinished building projects at their own homes, plumbers have leaky taps and electricians have lights without globes, despite excellent work for their clients? Both my Dad and brother are carpenters and builders, so I can say this with some authority.

If we follow the same pattern of thinking, does this mean that a Dietitian like me drops the ball with personal eating and nutrition habits?

Lets get a few things out of the way first. My profession as a Dietitian definitely suffers from being viewed by some as the ‘food police’ and in social situations; I would rather stick a pin in my eye than tell people what I do for a living. If this information does leak out, it is inevitable that I will be 1) thrown under the proverbial bus within milliseconds 2) bombarded with every nutrition question known to man or 3) the person that makes every single other person self-conscious about every teeny little mouthful of food they put in their mouth for the entire time I am there. Basically, it is a joy for everyone.

I get that there is something eerily fascinating about delving into what a Dietitian eats, so pull up a seat while I interview myself and spill the beans (pun intended).

What do I eat?

I like to keep things pretty simple and it takes a lot to bore me – I don’t mind eating the same kind of things over and over. Unfortunately when there is a husband and three kids at home who don’t agree with this ethos, my plan does not come to fruition. I do love to cook but I don’t have time for fancy pants cooking – delicious yes but complicated no.

My nutrition scorecard looks a lot like this:

Breakfast:

Porridge with prunes + Hi-Lo milk or Goodness Superfood’s Barley Clusters + blueberries + yoghurt or Bircher Muesli + a dollop of yoghurt + sliced fresh fruit.

I can eat porridge in forty degree mid summer heat – I just love oats!

Lunch:

A salad made of baby spinach leaves + undressed coleslaw + cherry tomatoes + Lebanese cucumber + tuna in oil or two boiled eggs with a fresh lime or lemon juice dressing.

Dinner:

Some typical meals include spaghetti bolognaise or meatballs, bean curry, steak and salad, roast chicken and vegetables, homemade pies, Moroccan slow cooked lamb with sweet potato and pumpkin, chilli chicken and rice, risotto, fresh salmon and rosemary potatoes, zucchini slice and homemade pizza. I also love lentil, freekeh and lupins in salads.

If I get hungry in the afternoon, I will snack on cashews, fruit, yoghurt or crackers and cheese and I drink a couple of cups of coffee and tea each per day too. It is a necessity I assure you.

My favourite food

Cheese, cheese and cheese. Did I mention cheese?

My favourite things

Chocolate or lollies? Chocolate all the way

Red or white wine? White

Sweet or savoury? Love them both

Favourite Alcoholic drink? Aperol Spritz

My favourite Kale and Co. food?  Beetroot Cake. So yum.

So what do you think?

My personal and professional ethos is all about enjoying good food that is mostly healthy, to fuel these busy bodies of ours BUT having the confidence to occasionally include ‘treat’ foods knowing that this is all part of a balanced diet.

What about you?  What are your favourite things?

salad

How to make your salad sing

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I love to cook but my motivation is at all time low right now.  I want the ingredients to get themselves together and just make something already. You know what I mean? Enter salad.

Salad vegetables (and all kinds too of course) are full of vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants, which all help our mind and bodies working day-to-day and reduce our risk of chronic disease.

That said, getting enough of those vegetables does become a little tricky if you leave your daily dose to one meal like dinner, so spreading the vegetable love across the day is key. Of course, you can tick off  a bunch at breakfast by adding mushrooms, tomato, spinach or baked beans to a poached egg and then gather speed by adding a crisp, crunchy salad to lunch.

We can most certainly make salad fancy but the question is, do we need to? 

Just like a coordinated wardrobe, there are some easy ways to mix and match colours and ingredients to put together a salad that everyone around you will be wishing they had too.

For an all seasons salad mix any of the following:

+1…Go Green – baby spinach leaves, crunchy Cos lettuce, beetroot leaves or tatsoi for a fibre, magnesium and folate boost
+2…Orange all over – roasted warm chunks of orange sweet potato, pumpkin or carrot, all excellent sources of the powerful antioxidant carotene.
+3…Go Fast Red – cherry tomatoes, sliced ripe Roma tomato

And don’t forget to add Exceptional Extra’s like – crunchy cucumber, baby roasted or canned beetroot, sliced mushrooms and crunchy combo sprouts.

Toss your choice of salad ingredients and add:

  • Protein Power – lean chicken, sliced cold leftover lamb or beef, lean ham, boiled egg, small tin of 4 bean mix/chickpeas or lentils.

Quick Salad Ideas

  • Lentil, Ricotta and Beetroot – combine 220g canned, drained lentils with 3 baby beets, a handful of baby spinach and 100g low fat crumbled ricotta
  • Orange, capsicum and avocado – toss a handful of mixed salad leaves with 1 orange peeled, segmented and sliced, ¼ of a sliced avocado and ¼ medium red capsicum topped with 40g crumbled low fat feta

Along with the rest of the world, the distinct green leaves of kale have been one of my favourites for a while. Kale going solo does lack appeal but in this recipe – kaboom!

Try my fave healthy Kale Caesar Salad recipe below and you will see what I mean.

Kale Caesar Salad (serves 6)

Ingredients
½ bunch curly or Tuscan Kale (washed, dried and leaves trimmed of stalks)
4 slices proscuitto (fat trimmed), grilled
4 slices sourdough bread

Dressing
½ cup low fat natural yoghurt + 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard + 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil + 1 large garlic cloven + ¼ cup lemon juice + 2 tablespoons fresh grated parmesan cheese

Method
Once trimmed, roll up kale leaves, slice finely and place in large salad bowl. Break the grilled proscuitto into small pieces and scatter over the kale leaves.

Tear the bread roughly into 1 cm pieces, place on a baking tray and spray with cooking spray. Bake in a moderate oven for approx. 10 minutes until crispy.

For the dressing, mix all ingredients together in a shaker or jug and pour over kale leaves. Using your hands, mix the dressing through the salad and serve.

 

Get Packed – how to organise your healthy lunch

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Regardless of how old you are, it only takes a moment to remember what it was like to go through the routine of getting ready for school. A big part of that process was packing your lunchbox because if you accidently forgot that (which I did on occasion) then your day was definitely below par. As a kid it was pretty tough to maintain those energy levels on little or no food and it’s really no different as an adult. Quite often when I am educating workplaces and their teams on how to choose healthy food and give them tips on managing their energy levels, organisation and thinking ahead are some of the key components. For this to happen like a well-oiled machine, there are a couple of logistical steps to take the night before.

  • Have one or several containers that you can use to store your lunch and snacks. You will also need a bag that is big enough to carry your food to work. It doesn’t need to be huge.
  • When you are choosing a meal to cook for dinner, double the recipe and instantly you have lunch for the next day plus some extra to store in the freezer for later. Everyone loves leftovers!
  • When you are preparing your salad or vegetables for your evening meal, have a container at the ready and just make an extra serve for the next day.
  • Pack your workbag before you go to bed leaving minimal preparation for the morning when you are rushing around getting ready and dramatically reduce your stress levels. The same thing you used to do for school right?

Simple Lunch Ideas to Bring to Work

  1. The Simple Sandwich – No-one likes a soggy sandwich! To avoid an unappetising lunch, simply store the sandwich ingredients in a separate container to the bread and assemble when you are ready.Use a mixture of breads such as sliced, rolls or wraps and choose wholegrain, wholemeal or chia seed enriched for a boost of fibre. No need to spread with butter or margarine. Tasty healthy fillings include: lean ham, sliced tomato and reduced fat cheese, smoked salmon and low fat cream cheese, sliced chicken with salad leaves and a light spread of low fat mayonnaise, grated reduced fat cheese topped with baby spinach leaves, sliced turkey breast topped with avocado, tuna mixed with low fat mayonnaise, finely diced red onion and flat leaf parsley.
  1. If a sandwich doesn’t appeal, try a big colourful salad with leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, crunchy sprouts and sliced red capsicum topped with an egg or a small tin of tuna or tin of 4 bean mix and a slice of grainy bread. Make the salad the night before and add the protein and bread at lunchtime.
  2. Anything left? – If you loved your dinner the night before there is nothing better than enjoying it again the next day. Just make sure that you have some protein in the form of meat, chicken or fish, some carbohydrate like rice or pasta and some vegetables or salad. Cooking an extra portion the night before is an easy and cost effective way of ensuring your lunch is organised.
  3. Something hot – Enjoy soup or a hot lunch that can be quickly whipped up in the office kitchen. Why not try:
  • Home-made or prepared soups (without added cream or salt) plus a wholegrain roll
  • A small tin of baked beans (or any other tinned legume) or small tin of tuna combined with a single serve pouch of brown rice or noodles (90 seconds in the microwave) and your favourite frozen vegetable.
  • A couple of slices of wholegrain toast topped with a handful of baby spinach leaves and a small tin of baked beans

If you start to think about getting ready for your workday just like a school day way back when, your food and energy levels will be on track for the day and you save money and precious time.

This blog was first published for Healthier Workplace WA

Sea urchin, radish salad and fish fluff

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My heart was touched today. I was privileged to visit Nishikasai Elementary School just out of Tokyo. The Grade Four students sang and danced to entertain their overseas guests and then we sat in their classroom and ate lunch with them. 99% of elementary schools provide lunch for their students and today this consisted of rice with kelp and fish fluff (very fine fish shavings) , grilled salmon with miso, radish salad, miso soup, fruit and milk. It was divine. All students sit at their desks and eat together and a catering company prepares the meals onsite. The kids were so excited to have us sitting at their desks and it was truly amazing how much two cultures can communicate when they have absolutely no language in common. Despite no English these 9 year olds knew what a kangaroo did ! Our Indian friends on tour with us explained their lunch program which is free and provided to 130 million children each day. Our Australian team couldn’t really explain to the other countries why we do not have a lunch program. Any explanation didn’t seem adequate next to 130 million meals per day! What if we could though? Each school meal costs parents $2.00, it ticks all the nutrition boxes and no home preparation, what an innovative and progressive idea. Each school has a nutrition teacher who may also be a Dietitian on their staff full-time, they are truly advanced in this area and their long term vision inspiring. Around 10% of children here are overweight and only 4% skip breakfast. Statistics to dream about in Australia.

Julie Meek

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