Diet list... move along, nothing interesting here

[icarus]

Okay, worked up a list of all those recommended foods. New diet items:

Taking Viactiv calcium supplements, vitamin D, and flaxseed oil (a friend has now recommended Udo's oil). Walking home with pack.

Dairy
Milk (cal, vit D)
Eggs (cal, zinc)
Cheese (cal, fats)
Unsweetened Yogurt (hoorah Raita! Cal, vit K)

Fruits & Veggies
Leafy greens (other than spinach - cal, beta-c)
Sprouts (alfalfa - vit D)
Sweet potatoes (vit D)
Yams (vit D)
Potatoes (vit C)
Apples (vit C)
Fresh fruit (vit C)
Bananas (vit C)
Carrots (vit C)
Tomatoes (vit C)
Red/Green peppers (vit C)
Pineapple (vit C)
Peas (vit C)
Citrus (vit C)
Cantaloupe (vit C)
Strawberries (vit C)

Breads & Grains
Corn tortillas (cal)
Oatmeal (cal)
Whole grains (vit D)
Cereal (vit D)
Brown rice
Beans (isoflavones & fiber, various vits)
Legumes (isoflavones & fiber, various vits)
Lentils (isoflavones & fiber, various vits)
Peanut butter (fats, isoflavones, various vits)

Health Food
Tofu (cal!)
Horsetail tea
Red Clover tea

Snacks
Dates (cal)
Prunes (cal)
Seeds (fats)
Sunflower seeds (fats)
Pumpkin seeds (fats)
Nuts (fats, boron, manganese)
Almonds (fats, boron, manganese)
Peanuts (fats, boron, manganese)

Spices/Sweeteners
Blackstrap molasses (cal, vit K)
Olive oil (LDL fats: use a small bottle in 1-3 months)
Canola oil
Honey

Reduce: meat and soft drinks, which are calcium killers.

Comments

[ursula]

. . . A small bottle of olive oil?

But then, I make spaghetti-with-garlic-and-olive-oil in the moments of culinary blahness in which normal people make pasta with red sauce.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

And I make vats of spaghetti sauce and pesto and boy, I can go through that bottle of olive oil easily.

This increased calcium and LDL fats diet isn't so bad. I have to change my snacking habits from sugar to nuts, cut down on meat and cut out the sodas. Then throw in some more Indian cooking with lentils, more greens... and I'm all set. :D

Icarus

[ursula]

I live with a vegetarian boyfriend who loves lentils . . . Which means that if you only looked at what I cook, and ignored my desperate vending-machine purchases, this would be my natural diet.

If you ever want to know more things to do with lentils and cumin, let me know ;)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! Right now all I know how to make is dahl. :D I have an Indian cookbook, but a large part of it is lamb and chicken recipes.

Icarus

*mouth watering, eagerly awaiting recipes*

*really ought not to write these things so close to lunch.*

[ursula]

I make a lot of stuff out of Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East, which is a vegetarian cookbook covering everywhere from Lebanon to the Philippines. If you have nonstick pans you can reduce the amount of oil a lot from her recommendations, but overall she's pretty reliable.

Most of my lentil recipes are from Fields of Greens, though. This cookbook was a present from my mother, and it's really aimed at a cook like her: someone who's experienced, has her own vegetable garden, cooks seasonally and (since all the vegetables are free from the garden) can afford to splurge on things like fancy cheese. The recipes are uniformly good, but can be over-elaborate, and you can cut the amount of butter in any of the baked-goods recipes in half without doing any harm (in some cases that's actually an improvement!)

The lentil recipes are all pretty simple, though.

Moroccan Lentil Soup

1 cup lentils, about 6 ounces
6 cups cold water
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium-sized yellow onion, diced, about 2 cups
Salt
Cayenne pepper
1 small carrot, diced, about 1/2 cup
1 celery rib, diced, about 1/2 cup
1 small red or yellow bell pepper, diced, about 1/2 cup
1 tsp. cumin seed, toasted & ground
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/8 tsp. turmeric
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1/2 pound fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, about 1 cup, or 1 8-ounce can tomatoes with juice, chopped
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro

Sort & rinse the lentils & place them in a soup pot with the cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 20 minutes.

While the lentils are cooking, heat the olive oil in a medium-size saute pan and add the onion, 1/2 tsp. salt, and a few pinches of cayenne. Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft, 7 to 8 minutes, then add the vegetables, another 1/2 tsp. salt, and the spices. Cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the garlic & ginger & cook for another minute or 2. Add the vegetables & tomatoes to the lentils & their broth. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, allowing the flavors to blend and deepen. Season to taste with salt and cayenne. Garnish each serving with a sprinkle of cilantro.

Notes:

I usually get bored and cook the onions over higher heat for less time.

There are a couple of other lentil soup recipes in Fields of Greens, but this one is my favorite. It's still yummy if you omit the celery and/ or bell pepper; if you do this and use canned tomatoes, then the recipe only uses things that keep indefinitely (like lentils and cumin) and vegetables that store for a long time (especially if you freeze your ginger), so it's great for the end of the week when you're running out of fresh stuff to cook with.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's wonderful! Madhur Jaffrey's Real Indian Cooking is the Indian cookbook I use.

I look forward to trying this out.

Icarus

[ursula]

Madhur Jaffrey: movie star and universal cookbook author.

Hard to beat that resume ;)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Is she a movie star, too? Her cookbook is so down-to-earth!

Icarus

[ursula]

Yeah, she is:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0415528/

*And* she introduced Merchant and Ivory.

[ursula]

Muzawarra (medieval Andalusian lentil salad)

Recipe is online here:

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/islamic_w_veggies.html#26

I made this using spinach, basil vinegar for the vinegar, and olive oil for the oil. It was good but the spinach was almost indetectable, so should probably be thrown in almost at the last minute. This is especially good with a garnish of something like cilantro.

Lentil Salad With Curry Spices and Yogurt

1 1/2 cups French lentils, about 9 ounces
1 bay leaf
1/4 medium-sized red onion, diced, about 1/2 cup
Champagne vinegar
1 small carrot, diced, about 1/2 cup
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. cumin seed, toasted and ground
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/2 red bell pepper, diced, about 1/2 cup
2 tbsp. coarsely chopped cilantro

Rinse the lentils and place them in a medium-sized saucepan; cover generously with cold water and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the lentils, being careful not to undercook or overcook them.

Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a boil and drop the onion in for 15 seconds. Scoop out with a strainer and toss with a splash of Champagne vinegar. Drop the carrot in for 1 minute, then set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon juice, 1 tbsp. Champagne vinegar, spices, salt, cayenne, and black pepper.

Drain the lentils when tender; remove the bay leaf and immediately toss with the vegetables and the yogurt mixture. The lemon flavor will be strong at first, but the lentils will gradually absorb it. Toss in the cilantro just before serving.

Notes:

This is a slightly creamy dressing; it's not super-yogurty.

Any sort of vinegar that you'd put in a vinaigrette works fine; I think I used red wine vinegar. The recipe says French lentils are the best for marinating and one should be sure to use them; but you can apply your own judgment on that issue. I use much more cayenne and black pepper; 1/2 tsp. cayenne is still barely spicy in my book. You can probably switch the vegetables around (I left out the bell pepper when I tried this, and used purple basil instead of cilantro for garnish.)

It takes longer than 15 seconds to rescue the diced onion from your pot, but that's not a big deal.

My mother says you can also make a very good and simple lentil salad using fresh onion & carrot, cilantro, and a dressing made of lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I haven't tried the experiment yet.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Ummmmmm.... *drools* *takes notes*

I have friends over, and I'm gonna try these. I'll tell you how it goes.

Icarus

[ursula]

Cool!

. . . Maybe I should start dinner myself, now :)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I'm still at the office, staring at spreadsheets, "caked up" on farewell cake (well, mostly I'm eating the frosting).

Hey, if I'm gonna have a health problem, not enough fat is not a bad one to have. Though, yeah, I know, frosting HDL cholesterol and I want LDL, but anyhow. CAKE!

Icarus

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

Blueberries are the superfood.

Edamame (fresh frozend soybeans) are a close second.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

... adds blueberries to the list... ;)

Icarus