Recipe...Artichoke and White Bean Dip

You know that feeling...you kind of want a treat. But you don't actually want a meal completely devoid of nutrition. That was me a couple of days ago. I didn't want junk food...but I didn't want a typical meal either. Voila! A sauteed veggie dip that was inspired by artichoke dip but made healthier via white beans. The beans add fibre and protein without all the extra fat. Would have been a good Super Bowl snack. Oh well, there is always 2012! 


Recipe: Artichoke and White Bean Dip


1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
1 med zucchini, diced
2 med carrots, diced
1/2 cup artichoke hearts, chopped
salt and pepper


1 540 ml can of cannellini beans, mashed
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup of feta
1/2 cup of manchego 
1/8 tsp rosemary
Pinch chili flakes


1/2 cup of parmiggiano reggiano

3 roma tomatoes, diced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.


Heat oil in a medium skillet and saute red onion until softened, about 3 minutes. Add zucchini and carrots and saute until carrots are tender crisp, about 5 minutes. Add artichoke hearts and warm through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Turn off heat and mix in cannellini beans, sour cream, feta and manchego cheeses. Add in rosemary and chili flakes.


Spread into 9 inch pyrex pie plate or another oven proof dish. Sprinkle with parmiggiano and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until bubbly. Top with diced tomatoes and serve with good quality tortilla chips (I like Que Pasa).


You can definitely vary the cheeses - just be sure to include at least one sharply flavoured cheese or the dip will be pretty bland.


Enjoy!
Desiree


PS...this would count towards your UnDiet bean servings for the week. Don't say I don't look out for ya!

UnDiet...Week Six

Whether you are vegetarian or worship at the temple of bacon, we could all use a little more veggie protein in our lives. While meat can be a healthy part of a good diet, we tend to eat way too much of it and forget that plants have protein too. So the challenge this week is to work a little of my favourite veggie protein into your diet: beans. 
Yes, yes, it's the musical fruit...but it is also pretty close to a perfect food. Super high in fibre, beans are also a great source of vegetarian protein and slow burning carbohydrates. But it doesn't end there: full of magnesium, iron, B vitamins, potassium...and if you choose a richly coloured bean like kidney or black beans, chock a block with antioxidant pigments too. 


Don't like beans because they make you gassy? News flash: a little gas is good for you. One of the benefits of beans is that their "resistant" carbohydrates become food for healthy bacteria which helps keep your gut happy. Your system will get used to beans the more you eat them. If you are bothered by gas, the kind that doesn't seem to want to pass on its own, you have options. The standard treatment is Beano, which actually works. A more holistic approach is Asafoetida, which is an Ayurvedic herb that complements beans nicely from a digestive perspective. You can find it at Indian food shops and remember...just a tiny pinch is all you need.

So this week, welcome beans into your world at least twice. Not so bad, right? I will even help you out with some ideas!


1. Eat hummus with chopped veggies as a snack. Buy a good quality hummus with no unpronounceable ingredients or make your own tomorrow to pack in your lunch all week. It's easy...try this recipe.
2. If you regularly eat soups for lunch, just toss in a half cup of your favourite beans, rinsed and drained to boost the nutrition and help you feel more full all afternoon. 
3. Make your favourite chili with two different types of beans. 
4. Making a marinara? Substitute half of your usual amount of ground beef with canned lentils, rinsed and drained.
5. Taco night? Saute up some black beans instead of your regular ground meat (or add beans to your ground...you carnivore, you!).


So long, gassy jack.
Desiree

Eat...and teach your kids to eat well

As my little one turned six months old last week (don't even get me started on how quickly the time has gone) thoughts have turned to feeding baby. When it came to planning his introduction to solid foods, I chose not to feed him the ubiquitous white rice cereal. 


Why? A few reasons:


1. Aside from the iron that is added to it, plain rice cereal doesn't have a lot going for it, nutritionally speaking.
2. Since it will take a while for a new eater to eat substantial amounts, breast milk is still supplying 99% of his energy. I wanted to focus on nutrient dense foods instead of caloric filler.
3. During this phase of learning to eat and accept new foods, I wanted the foods I introduce to be preparation for the foods we are going to eat as a family, namely fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. 


So far he has eaten a variety of organic produce: carrots, acorn squash, garnet yams and avocado. The only food that got an amusing reaction was the avocado (kind of like a pucker and a shudder!) but after each squirm he still opened his mouth, eager for the next bite. I have been doing veggies before I go for fruits, with the idea that giving sweets first might make a child less willing to accept the more complex flavours of veggies.


Before I go any further, a disclaimer: while I am a dietitian, I am no expert on infant nutrition. I am speaking in this post from my own opinions and experience. 


In my work I often get questions from moms about how to get their kids to eat more vegetables. The question I always ask is, "have you fed your child vegetables from the very start?" The answer is usually "no". As parents, we tend to project our ideas about food onto our children such as "there is no way little Sally will like broccoli...". You want to know a secret? You teach your child what to like and dislike! It is all about what your child is accustomed to eating. How can you expect your child to want to eat vegetables if they were introduced to sweet, bland foods? Or worse, if you don't eat many vegetables yourself?  Consider your baby's first foods an opportunity to introduce them to the healthiest way of eating possible. It might even rub off on the entire family...


A couple of links you might find interesting:


I came across the White Out campaign today, spearheaded by Dr Alan Greene, a pediatrician. He is hoping to convince parents to substitute white rice cereal for whole grain rice cereal. This is a small step in the right direction of breaking our culture's obsession with super processed carbs. You can learn more about the campaign at WhiteOut Now! | DrGreene.com

For those of you in the greater Vancouver area looking to learn more about feeding your baby, check out Vitamin K Nutrition by a colleague, Kristen Yarker Edgar RD who teaches classes on feeding your baby so that you can have yourself a champion eater!


In good health,
Desiree

UnDiet...Week Five

Hello UnDieters!


My apologies for the late post...another week, another little nutrition tweak. Let's talk yogurt. Specifically, you. Eating yogurt. Good yogurt. Not "yogurt": a vague dairy like substance with a pound of sugar and a bunch of stabilizers holding it together because the manufacturer cannot seem to make proper yogurt. 


Yogurt is a simple super food. Just milk mingling with your friendly neighbourhood bacteria to enormous benefit. Probiotic bacteria in yogurt help to colonize your gut with happy bacteria and compete with and crowd out the kind of bacteria that no one wants: bugs that cause localized inflammation and reduce the integrity of that all important gut barrier between the inner you and outer you. The extent to which gut health affects overall health and the role that regular yogurt, not standardized supplements, plays is still up for debate in the research community. To read more about the immune enhancing effects of yogurt, see my earlier blog post. 


Let the lab rats debate...food first, I always say...so belly up to the bar and enjoy 3/4 cup of plain organic yogurt every single day. Yes, plain. If you can't afford organic, stick to nonfat. The ingredients should read: milk and probiotic cultures. No gelatin, no sugar, no modified milk ingredients. If your sweet tooth can take the beautiful tang of yogurt au naturale, stir in a bit of honey or chopped fruit. 


In addition to probiotics, yogurt offers calcium, magnesium and protein which are three nutrients we all need more of. Here are 3 super quick ways to enjoy your daily yogurt:


1. For breakfast: with your bran cereal and a cup of chopped fruit and a drizzle of honey.
2. In a snack smoothie: blend yogurt with a bit of skim milk or not-from-concentrate berry juice, 1/2 cup frozen berries and half a banana.
3. For dessert: topped with a bit of good granola, a bit of honey and maybe a few dark chocolate chips.


For bonus points, check out Liberte Kefir, a traditional Russian drinking yogurt. Makes a nice healthy "cocktail" when mixed one-to-one with a not-from-concentrate juice like blueberry or pomegranate.


Healthy Dreams,
Desiree

UnDiet...Week Four

Water, Water Everywhere...photo of the Calanques in the Mediterranean.

Good Morning UnDieters!


Time flies, doesn't it? Right about now, many people's New Years Resolutions are waning. Days of celery and chicken breasts are getting boring. And no one wants to slog out to the gym in the snow. You? You are coasting through the detritus of abandoned resolutions. You might even be enjoying the Hot Chocolate Festival and Dine Out Vancouver with nary a care in the world, knowing that you are on the path to better health. 


We are already eating an apple a day, skimming the fat off our milk and getting comfortable with roughage. Now is probably a good time to hydrate. So what's next?


Water: some people love it, others hate it. Regardless of your opinion, water is critical to life. Our body is essentially a liquid medium and dehydration of even 2% can lead to significant declines in mental and physical performance. Feeling tired, foggy and sluggish? Could be dehydration. Feeling snacky? Could be dehydration. Skin slack and dull? Water might be contributing to that too. Last week's fibre not working that well? Try water. Water is critical for healthy bowel movement and dehydration can significantly slow things down, down there. 


So this week, we are going to start drinking a glass of water before every meal. If you are already drinking plenty of water, pat yourself on the back and kick your heels up for the rest of the week! How do you know if you are drinking enough? Your urine should be clear or very pale yellow (except if you take B vitamins and then you might have a couple of day-glo voids) all the time. Drinking a glass of water before each meal may also help you to feel a bit more full after you eat. 


Don't like the taste of plain water? Try a generous squeeze of lemon or lime. Need a bigger flavour boost? Add a splash of juice...and make it a good not-from-concentrate blueberry, cranberry or pomegranate to get some antioxidants in there. Need a bone health boost? Try a mineral water rich in calcium and magnesium, like Gerolsteiner.


Until next week...now that my big presentation is over, I might even try to get a midweek post done! 
Desiree