Tag Archive for plant food diversity

Whole Foods Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwich

Whole Foods Lunch: Egg Salad
Egg Salad on a Rice Cake (plus extras)

Did you ever have one of those days? You’re committed to serving a whole foods lunch. Of course you’re going to eat your veggies! Wheat is in your dietary doghouse. And yet sometimes a person just has the vibe for an egg salad sandwich. What to do?

How to increase veggies and eat your egg salad sandwich too!

Sometimes when people take the first steps to move into a more healthful eating style, their intentions are great! But they just don’t know what to eat. If you’re someone who’s been eating a sandwich for lunch for decades, what are you supposed to do? Well, you could just buy a loaf of gluten-free bread and make your sandwich on that.

Let’s be candid. That may do in a pinch, but on its own, it’s really not a very healthful meal. In fact, there’s been some interesting research showing that people who commence a gluten-free diet, unless they select the right alternative foods, can actually decrease populations of healthy gut bacteria (1, 2). If you think that’s detrimental to increased healthfulness over the long term, you’re right!

The solution you’re looking for is to change the composition of your plate. More plant foods will provide the fiber and nutrients you need to support those beneficial bacteria, create a healthy gut environment, and support general health.

Make vegetables the star attraction of your lunch plate!

Egg salad add-ins
Egg salad add-ins: small beets, a clove of garlic, pickled radish, and turmeric

First things first. The egg salad. Here’s a little rule of thumb I try to live by. Add vegetables everyplace you can. Even into your egg salad. I was following my “what’s in the fridge” rule of thumb when I started rustling around for ingredients. What did we have on hand? Small beets (golden and red) left from the fall garden harvest, a clove garlic, and some brine-pickled (fermented) radishes. If there had been a carrot handy, a chunk of that could have gone in as well.

I just chopped the veggies up fine in my handy chopper. So easy! And added a bit of turmeric for its anti-inflammatory benefits. Then added the chopped hard-cooked eggs (4 this time) and mixed it together with a spoonful of organic mayo. Feel free to use an alternate product. So already, we’ve got small quantities of four different vegetables right in the egg salad! Small quantities do count. Especially if you make enough to serve again.

But wait. Aren’t we making a sandwich?

Sure, sometimes I’ll do a green salad for lunch. But it’s January right now, and I live in the north. We’re out of season. I’m always on the look-out for something to stack sandwich fixings on top of. I’ve used slices of cold baked potato and recently planned-over latkes. But in a pinch, I generally keep a bag of rice cakes on hand. They work perfectly, and I don’t mind eating them occasionally. So today, that’s what’s on the plate.

Then you’ll want some toppers. Depending on what you have on hand, you could use avocado slices, sliced tomato, shredded greens, baby greens, veggie slaw, pickled beet slices, beet relish, or do as I did today and grab the jar of homemade pickled red onions. They’re delicious and oh-so-colorful.

I added another 5 veggies to the count with today’s toppers: three baby greens from a bagged greens mix, red onion, and raspberry (a formerly secret ingredient in my pickled onion recipe).

Do you spy a side salad?

Depending on your appetite and what you have on hand, you could serve two of the topped rice cakes and call it good. I’ve done that for sure. But for this meal, there was a special treat. I’d just made a batch of this Crunchy Broccoli Salad with Maple Mustard Dressing, to which I’d added some chopped red cabbage. It’s quickly become a favorite around here! So I served up a scoop of that yummy deliciousness as a side salad.

That adds broccoli, red cabbage, garbanzo beans, sunflower seeds, and cranberries (5 plant items) to the plate. The salad has red onion in it as well, but we’ve already counted that once. Fair is fair.

The final plant count

In place of an old school egg salad sandwich, we’ve created an abundant plant-focused plate of goodness that features 15 different plants, counting the rice in the rice cake. Add a piece of fruit and count 16. Not bad!

Whole Foods Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwich
Egg Salad with added veggies step by step.

References:

  1. DePalma, et al (2009). Effects of a gluten-free diet on gut microbiota and immune function in healthy adult human subjects. British Journal of Nutrition. 2009 Oct; 102(8):1154-60 .
  2. Jackson (2010). Effects of a gluten-free diet on gut microbiota and immune function in healthy adult human subjects – comment by Jackson. British Journal of Nutrition 2010; 104: 773.

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Latke Tacos: Nourish your microbiome

Latke Tacos

Latke Tacos: vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free
Latke Tacos with Pickled Red Onion garnish

One day last week, I got the idea to make Latke Tacos. I’d never made latkes before, but a friend started talking about them and… What can I say? My creative muse took over. The next day, I set out to use only items on hand to whip up a batch of Latke Tacos.

Quick summary of the back story. In addition to the functional gut work I’ve been offering for several years now, I’ve lately been studying the human gut microbiome in some depth. We’ll discuss this separately, but let’s just quickly mention that bacterial diversity in the gut is really good for your health. It’s possible to fairly easily determine where you stand with respect to good bugs / not-so-good bugs. Who is present in your gut? How do the numbers look? How does the balance look? What’s to be done to improve upon it? (We can answer these questions for you as an individual if you’re intrigued and want to optimize your health.)

Whole Plant Food Diversity

For the last several months, I’ve been playing a little game with myself (and a few friends, and a few functional nutrition clients). Our goal is to consume, on average, 40 distinct whole plant foods in any given week. No single food is off limits, though some of us do have select foods that we avoid or keep to a minimum for one reason or another.

From there, it’s not hard to develop a simple supplementation strategy to skew the balance in your favor. Food choices have a lot to do with how well this all shakes out. Specifically, eating a diversity of whole plant foods.

In addition to diversity, I’ve been considering a few other factors. Polyphenols. Resistant starches. Whenever possible, I’m creating more complex dishes, including reds, purples, and dark colored foods, and looking for opportunities to eat some of my starches at room temperature or cooler. (Think potato salad, rice pudding, leftover refried beans.)

“If we had leftover latkes,” was my thinking, “then we could make tacos on top of them! Latke tacos! And the latkes themselves would be resistant starch.” Brilliant! (My creative muse has a funny sense of humor.)

Important note!

You’ll notice that this isn’t exactly a “recipe.” It’s some thoughts on how to creatively craft a diverse plant food dish. Let your muse out and have some fun!

Step 1: Make the Latkes

My first step was “Only items on hand”. It was the day after a major holiday and snowing. Grocery shopping was not high on my agenda. But I do keep a fairly well-stocked pantry. Here’s what went into the latkes (yield = 15 latkes):

  • Two good-sized red potatoes, shredded with food processor
  • A couple of onions from last summer’s garden, minced
  • Diversity add-ins (Let your mind go wild — I had a chunk of daikon and a red carrot in the fridge, so I shredded them with the potatoes. Other ideas are beet, sweet potato, turnip, kohlrabi, or something else of a similar texture. The more the merrier!)
  • Two eggs. For an egg-free or vegan version, I think “flax eggs” would work. If you try this, please leave a comment and let me know.
  • Two Tablespoons of “flour”. I used chick pea flour. Any type of flour or thickener should do the trick.
  • Salt to taste (optional)

Putting the latkes together:

You’ll want to get some of the moisture out of the veggie mixture. Put the potato / onion / add ins into a square of cheesecloth and hung it over a bowl for ten minutes or so. Then squeeze out as much moisture as you can, discard that, and place the squished veggies into a mixing bowl. Mix in the eggs, flour, and salt.

Baked Latkes
Latkes ready to pop in the oven.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. If using parchment, check the box to see what temperature your brand is rated for. Mine said 420 F.

Latkes are usually fried on the stovetop. I’m not a big fan of that cooking method. Plus I wanted to leave the door open for room-temperature leftovers (resistant starch) and I didn’t think a fried version would work very well in that situation. I baked them.

Spread a little butter or coconut oil on parchment paper with just-washed fingers. (Or use a glove or spatula.) Put that on a baking sheet. Then scoop out 1/3 cup of the mixture and flattened slightly. See the pieces of red carrot? Festive, eh? Bake 15 minutes on one side, then remove from the oven and flip them. Bake 10 minutes on the other side.

Baked vs pan-fried latkes
Two latkes on a plate. Left = baked; right = pan-fried.

I wanted to see if the stovetop version would be better than baked. I put a little butter into a frying pan and pan-fried a few test latkes. Here is a sample of each. The baked latke is on the left, and pan-fried on the right. The pan-fried latke looks more moist. Once they were topped with the taco filling, I couldn’t tell the difference. It’s up to you how you want to cook them.

Step 2: Make the taco topping mixture

Latke Tacos
Taco topping mixture

Next make the topping mixture. This will make your plain latkes into Latke Tacos! Keep in mind I was using only items on hand. Here’s what went into the mixture:

  • Dried beans. I used 1/3 cup black beans and 1/3 cup red beans for diversity. Other options would be garbanzos, great northern, or navy beans. You’re aiming for about 2/3 cup of dried beans. Pre-soak, then cook (about an hour) — preferably ahead of time. If you’re in a hurry, use a can of pre-cooked beans.
  • Organic canned corn — I had this in the cupboard. If your family doesn’t use corn, I would substitute chopped red (or green, or a mixture) cabbage.
  • Diversity ingredients: You could add additional shredded vegetables here. Zucchini, carrots, or parsnips come to mind. Maybe beets. I’ll bet that a bit of cooked / pureed pumpkin or winter squash would be delicious, especially if you use a less saucy tomato product than I did.
  • Tomato — I had home-canned tomato paste from garden tomatoes. An 8 oz jar. It’s a bit saucier than commercial paste. In the summer, I would use fresh tomatoes. Sun-dried tomatoes should be really nice! If your family doesn’t do well with nightshades, try a combination of well-cooked and pureed beets + pumpkin instead. Let me know if you try it!
  • Pepper — one dried Anaheim (left from the summer garden).
  • Chopped onion (left from the summer garden).
  • Chopped garlic (left from the summer garden).
  • Seasonings: 1/2 – 1 teaspoon each of cumin, chili powder, oregano, and salt, to your family’s taste. If you like cilantro and have some on hand, add that as well.

How to put it together:

In a medium frying pan, warm some coconut oil (or whatever you prefer to use). Saute the onion, garlic, and cabbage if using. When they’re softened, then add remaining ingredients and heat through.

Step 3: Plate and top your Latke Tacos

For each adult serving, put two of those yummy baked or pan-fried latkes on a medium plate and spoon taco topping on top. You’ll probably also want a garnish. Here are some ideas:

  • Pickled red onion — I’d made this previously and had it on hand in the fridge. Pretty festive, eh? Will post the recipe separately.
  • Guacamole and olives — Oooh, oooh. This was such a yummy variation with some of the leftovers. Yep, I had a ripe avocado on hand. Mashed it up with a little lemon juice, a clove of minced garlic, and some salt. Yum.
  • Avocado chunks — in case you don’t want to make it into guacamole, just cut an avocado into chunks.
  • Tomato chunks — in season, I might cut up some cherry tomatoes as a topper
  • Sour cream / cheese — for those who enjoy dairy, this might be just the thing. Let me know if you try it!
  • Let your creative muse inspire you. Leave a comment below & share your ideas!

So there you have it! Latke Tacos! This batch yielded 4 hearty servings + extra latkes. Serve with a side salad or slaw if you like.

Plant Food Diversity Update

In my original version, my count came to 12 plant foods. (I’ll share here that there is a secret ingredient in the pickled red onions — garden raspberries from the freezer. Oh yum.) Substituting guacamole and olives on the leftovers round added two more plant foods to the week’s tally.

If you’d like to get in on the Whole Plant Food Diversity experience, follow the WellnessImages Facebook page for updates. Also, if you’d like to learn more about what’s in your own gut, along with individualized strategies to balance things out in your favor, consider one of the functional nutrition testing / consultation options you’ll find on the Wellness Images website.

Happy feasting!

Latke tacos topped with guacamole and green olives
Latke Tacos topped with guacamole and green olives

Potato-broccoli salad – 18 plant foods!

Potato-broccoli salad – 18 plant foods!

This is the potato that inspired my salad:

It went in to bake on a Wednesday evening after I’d cleaned up the kitchen from dinner. I wasn’t sure exactly what would happen next, but my plan was to invent a salad that allowed me to consume the potato cold and therefore take advantage of its resistant starch.

I’m eating for microbiome health. Championing plant food diversity. Of course I’d also like my food to taste good, look good, and keep me satisfied from one meal to the next.

I’m playing around with different ways to increase the number and variety of plant foods I consume within any given week. One strategy, since I cook for one, is to make a dish with many ingredients and make enough quantity to have leftovers for a few days.

But I’m also cooking for you. You with a family to serve. A family who probably doesn’t want to eat the same supper four nights in a row. A family with different taste and texture preferences. So I’m also playing around with dishes that have fewer ingredients, that may be finished up in one sitting, that can be combined in different ways.

And let’s get real. It’s mid-week. My weekend food prep items were running low. I needed something to tide me over without running to the store. Something that could be prepped ahead of time and served quickly, since I work right up to mealtime on weekdays.

Enter the potato. Now known as future potato-broccoli salad.

Potato broccoli salad resistant starch

Soon to become a potato-broccoli salad side dish.

On Thursday after supper, I opened the fridge. What did I have on hand? Some broccoli and a couple of carrots from the supermarket. Small onions and dill seed from the garden. Beets from the farmer’s market. Plus salad greens, eggs, and some pantry items.

First things first. Let’s honor our star, the potato (previously cooked). It was respectfully chunked and placed into a glass mixing bowl. Then I chunked and lightly steamed the carrots and broccoli, minced the onion, and added dill seed, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt. (4 plant foods, not counting dill) Mixed everything up. Potato salad done!

Resistant starch

Potato broccoli salad resistant starch

Ta da! Potato broccoli salad from items on hand on a Thursday night. 🙂

Let’s have a word about cooked and then cooled potatoes. Since we’re eating for microbiome health, it’s useful to talk briefly about resistant starch. Basically, cooked and then cooled potatoes contain a particular type of starch that escapes digestion in the small intestine, and is instead broken down in the colon. There are some good things about this. They feed the microbiome. Basically they form a substrate that supports certain beneficial bacteria that produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including butyrate — which supports healthy gut tissue.

And since they’re metabolized slowly, they provide a longer-term energy source without raising blood sugar to the same extent as starches that the body consumes in the small intestine. Isn’t that great?

More variety, please. What about those beets?

At this point, I’m aiming to consume 40+ distinct plant foods in any given week. The potato-broccoli salad was cool, but not enough. And I had beets on hand. Beets are rich in polyphenols, those bright colors that also do your gut a world of good.

I quickly recalled a recipe for beet tapenade from one of the specialty cookbooks I picked up a number of years ago: Pestos, Tapenades & Spreads. Its main ingredients are beets, walnuts, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt. (2 plant foods) It’s very easy to prepare, and so I did. Between the beets themselves and the balsamic vinegar, this flavor is a bit sweet. It’s a nice contrast with the potato salad, and so colorful!

Legumes, any one?

Legumes provide additional benefits as a bacterial growth substrate, and I’ve been including them, when possible, every day. The easier-digesting ones, like garbanzo beans, great northern, black beans, maybe a few pintos. Well-cooked, please! I usually prepare mine from dried, and so before turning in for the night, I put equal portions of garbanzo beans and great northern into a pan to soak. (2 plant foods) The next morning, it was really easy to turn the burner on low so they could cook as I went about my weekday morning routine. (If you’re prone to getting distracted, please set a timer!)

Potato-broccoli salad is served!

plant food diversity, eat the rainbow, prebiotics

18 plant foods salad, inspired by one lowly potato.

You can do this part differently. Here’s where I found myself. In the fridge, I had the potato-broccoli salad, beet tapenade, the cooked garbanzo / great northern combo, some salad greens (spring greens mix – 9 plant foods), and hard cooked eggs. I piled greens into a bowl and then added a bit of everything on top. Sprinkled with sunflower seeds for crunch and additional variety (1 plant food). And ta da — lunch! It was colorful and hit the spot for sure. (18 plant foods in total)

For different diners, it would be easy enough to use the two side salads as an accompaniment for a piece of cooked salmon, a chicken breast, or maybe a burger. It could be your main meal for the day, and ready to go in a jiffy. You might even get a high five for creativity, flavor, or presentation.

Take home guidance on the potato-broccoli salad inspiration.

Here’s the thing I hope you’ll take home from my little kitchen adventure. If you don’t have these exact ingredients in your kitchen at any given moment, then use what you have. In place of the broccoli, I could have used cauliflower, green beans, or Brussels sprouts. We could add something or leave something out. Put a little garlic into the dressing. It could really be nearly any combination. For mid-week inspiration, just look in the fridge and use what you have.

 

References:

Effects of Potato Fiber and Potato‐Resistant Starch on Biomarkers of Colonic Health in Rats Fed Diets Containing Red Meat

Resistant Starch – A Review

 

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