Get the barbecue on...and eat your veg?

It’s the barbecue season at long last, which means eating tonnes of beautiful chargrilled meats and topping up your vitamin D levels by sitting in the sunshine ¹. But if I can make a couple of menu- and health-enhancing suggestions, I thought I’d post a couple of ideas for vegetable dishes that are great accompaniments to a barbecue, and may even steal the show.

First off, increase your vitamin C levels by chucking some corn cobs on the barbecue, straight out of the shopping bag. Let them char to a golden grown, then scoff them with a dab of butter (or chilli butter if you really want to pep them up).

Secondly, try chargrilling some of those little vitamin-bombs that are asparagus spears. Take them off when they look lightly charred, then dress with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil (this will actually help your absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A & E from the asparagus). A few shavings of Parmesan on top will set these off a treat.

Or, you could try this superb salad which I’ve adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe. A gorgeous combination of sweet veg and fruit, with sharp dressing and salty cheese.  Just the thing with barbecued pork, lamb or chicken. Plenty of vitamins (A, C and E), minerals and fibre to be had with this little lot, but other health benefits include:

·         Beetroot is high in nitrite, which the body can turn into nitric oxide to help lower blood pressure ²;

·         Apples contain a variety of phytochemicals, including quercetin, catechin, phloridzin and chlorogenic acid, all of which are strong antioxidants, as well as containing compounds which can prevent the spread of cancer cells and reduce cholesterol ³. These compounds are found in particularly high levels in the peel, which is kept ON in this recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 medium carrots

4 beetroot, boiled and peeled

1 large apple (Granny Smiths are good here)

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

40 grams of Feta cheese

Simply chop the carrots, beetroot and apple into matchsticks, then toss together. Dress with the oil and lemon juice, season, and crumble the Feta on top. Serve immediately, otherwise it will be limp, floppy and have the texture of wet hair.

Nutrition

One serving of this will give you:

Energy: 148 kCalories

Protein: 3g

Carbohydrates: 17g

Fat: 9g

References

1          Nair, R. & Maseeh, A. Vitamin D: The "sunshine" vitamin. J Pharmacol Pharmacother 3, 118-126, doi:10.4103/0976-500X.95506 JPP-3-118 [pii] (2012).

2          Hobbs, D. A., Kaffa, N., George, T. W., Methven, L. & Lovegrove, J. A. Blood pressure-lowering effects of beetroot juice and novel beetroot-enriched bread products in normotensive male subjects. Br J Nutr 108, 2066-2074, doi:S0007114512000190 [pii] 10.1017/S0007114512000190 (2012).

3          Boyer, J. & Liu, R. H. Apple phytochemicals and their health benefits. Nutr J 3, 5, doi:10.1186/1475-2891-3-5 1475-2891-3-5 [pii] (2004).

Everyone loves a curry...

This recipe of mine has appeared on my friend Liz’s Fit & Fun at Home Facebook page, so I thought I’d share it here too. As well as requiring no specialist skill or equipment, nor a vast list of ingredients which it takes hours to buy, this curry is very tasty, and packed full of beneficial ingredients:

·         I’ve previously mentioned the benefits of eating oily fish such as the salmon here, which could just as well be replaced by trout;

·         The cauliflower and spinach both contains high levels of compounds called glucosinolates, which may have a protective effect against certain forms of cancer. Studies have shown that they can block the initiation of tumours.¹

·         Quercetin found in the onion is a powerful antioxidant, and studies have linked high intake of it with reduced risk of heart disease; ²

·         Sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamins A and C, and are a source of low GI carbohydrate, which will not give your blood an insulin spike, keeping energy levels more constant.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium white onion, chopped
1/2 jar curry paste (Patak's Tandoori works well here)
1 can of coconut milk
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 cauliflower, cut into medium florets
4 salmon fillets, skinned and cut into 1" think slices
1 bag of spinach



Method:
Cook the onion in the oil until soft but not too coloured. Add the paste and sweet potato. Stir and add the coconut milk. Bring to the boil, put on a lid, and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cauliflower, and simmer with lid off for another 10 minutes. Throw in the salmon, then the spinach, cover and cook for about 8 minutes, until the fish is cooked and the spinach is wilted. Serve sprinkled with coriander leaves if you have them.
Eat with naan bread to mop up the sauce, unless you're on a gluten-free diet, in which case just tip the bowl up and slurp up the sauce!

Nutrition:

A bowl of this will give you the following nutrients:

Energy: 616 kCalories

Protein: 33g

Carbohydrates: 39g

Fat: 33g

To change things up, this would work equally well by substituting any white fish or prawns for the salmon, or broccoli for the cauliflower. A garnish of chopped fresh chilli would give a metabolism-raising hit of flavour.

References

1     Navarro, S. L., Li, F. & Lampe, J. W. Mechanisms of action of isothiocyanates in cancer chemoprevention: an update. Food Funct 2, 579-587, doi:10.1039/c1fo10114e (2011).

2          Davis, J. M., Murphy, E. A., Carmichael, M. D. & Davis, B. Quercetin increases brain and muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and exercise tolerance. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 296, R1071-1077, doi:90925.2008 [pii] 10.1152/ajpregu.90925.2008 (2009).

Pancakes are awesome...fact.

Since it’s a bank holiday, you might find that you have more time than usual to knock up a tasty and nutritious breakfast. Everyone loves pancakes, but they are generally not the healthiest option. These pancakes are adapted from a recipe I found on Mark's Daily Apple, an excellent resource for all things involved in the Paleo/Primal lifestyle (I’ll doing a post on the Paleo Diet soon). They are gluten-free, and contain a great selection of tasty and healthy ingredients. The banana is a source of gluten-free low Glycaemic Index carbs as well as nutrients such as potassium (linked with decreased risk of osteoporosis and possibly diabetes¹), while the almond butter is a source of unsaturated fats (linked with reduction of the risk of cardiovascular disease²) and the berries are a great source of anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant linked with reduction of blood pressure³.

They also happen to be super-tasty, so give them a go at once!

Ingredients (per person)

Pancakes:

1 banana

1 egg

1 tablespoon of almond butter

½ teaspoon of cinnamon

Butter for cooking

Sauce:

½ cup of berries (Sainsbury’s frozen mixed berries are good here)

Splash of water

½ a scoop of protein powder (chocolate or strawberry flavour work well here).

Method

Put the berries in a saucepan with a splash of water, and bring to the boil. Put a lid on, and turn down to the lowest heat while you get on with the pancakes.

Put all the pancake ingredients into the food processor, and whizz until they are a smooth batter. This can be done by hand, but will result in a chunkier texture. Fry tablespoon-sized dollops in butter, flipping once the undersides are firm. Keep an eye on these, since they can burn quite easily. Once all the pancakes are done, take the berries off the heat, and stir in the protein powder. Stir this well, so it totally dissolves and doesn’t give a grainy texture.

Serve the pancakes around the edge of your plate, with a puddle of sauce in the middle as in the picture.

Nutrition

This will give you:

kCalories: 331

Protein: 17g

Carbohydrates: 39g

Fat: 14g

If not using the protein powder, you get:

kCalories: 289

Protein: 8g

Carbohydrates: 38g

Fat: 14g

Enjoy (with not guilt at all)!

References

1          He, F. J. & MacGregor, G. A. Beneficial effects of potassium on human health. Physiol Plant 133, 725-735 (2008).

2        Jakobsen, M. U. et al. Major types of dietary fat and risk of coronary heart disease: a pooled analysis of 11 cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr 89, 1425-1432, doi:ajcn.2008.27124 [pii] 10.3945/ajcn.2008.27124 (2009).

3          Rodriguez-Mateos, A. et al. Blueberry intervention improves vascular reactivity and lowers blood pressure in high-fat-, high-cholesterol-fed rats. Br J Nutr, 1-9, doi:S0007114512003911 [pii] 10.1017/S0007114512003911 (2012).