You’re Probably Not Eating Enough: Lentils

Lentils are not only one of the world’s healthiest foods, they’re also insanely cheap. A cup of lentils costs about $.80 (and a cup goes a looong way). For your $.80, you’ll get 63% of your daily recommended value of fiber, 90% folate, 35% protein, and 25% each of vitamin B1 and potassium (just to name a few).

Here are a few good lentil recipes:

Kale, Sausage & Lentil Skillet Supper
Cauliflower & Red Lentil Curry
Squash, Chickpea & Red Lentil Stew
Halibut with Lentils & Mustard Sauce
Lentil Stew with Oranges

Reader Arwen also sent in this recipe for Greek Lentils that she says is “DELICIOUS, hearty, and packed with things that are good for you.”

You’ll need:

• 8 ounces brown lentils
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 onions, minced
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 4 cups of water
• 1 pinch dried oregano
• 1 pinch crushed dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste
• vinegar to taste (I’ve used red wine, balsamic, pretty much anything works and you only need a dash. Plus, the vinegar will cut down on the need for salt since it packs such a punch)

Preparation:

1. Place lentils in a large saucepan, cover with 1 inch of water. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil; cook for 10 minutes, then drain lentils into a strainer.

2. Dry saucepan, pour in olive oil, and place over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and carrot; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour in lentils, 1 quart water, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Stir in tomato paste and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until the lentils have softened, 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add additional water if the soup becomes too thick. Ladle into soup bowls, and drizzle vinegar to serve.

This week’s guest post for Mary. I love pumpkin (and all types of squash, really)! The alternate title of this post is You’re Probably Not Eating Enough: Pumpkin

maryrambin:

Passion for Pumpkin — Nutritionista
I’m guessing the only times you ever think about pumpkin are at Thanksgiving (mmm, pie) or Halloween. But really, you should be thinking about pumpkin a lot more often. Canned pumpkin rounds out the New York Times’ list of the 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating for good reason: it’s low-calorie, chock full of vitamins, and can be used in a variety of ways to spice up your menu. 

Pumpkin, like all winter squash, has about 145% of your recommended daily value of vitamin A, over 30% RDV of vitamin C, 25% fiber, and even 15% omega-3 fatty acids. Not bad for one little veggie, right? And since canned, pureed pumpkin is sold inexpensively in most grocery stores, there’s no reason why you can’t eat it year-round. So how can you take advantage of all that the forgotten squash has to offer? To get you started, here are just a few things you can do with canned pumpkin:

• Add it to quinoa, rice, oatmeal, or millet for breakfast.
• Put some in your plain or vanilla yogurt with some spices and nuts to create pumpkin pie yogurt.
• Make pumpkin pancakes/waffles by adding it to batter (whole wheat batter, of course).
• Deviate from traditional red sauce and make a pumpkin pasta sauce.
• Stir it into soups, stews, or broths for more complex flavor. I love the idea of pumpkin turkey chili. It lends a creamy flavor to soup without using cream.
• Use it as a savory spread on sandwiches (it’d be great with almond butter!).
• Blend it into juices, smoothies, or protein shakes.
• Eat it plain! I microwave it with some lemon juice, spices (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, clove, etc.), a few nuts, and a drop of honey. It actually tastes great on its own… like the inside of a pumpkin pie!
• Scoop some on baked fruit, like apples or pears.

Remember, the key to enjoying healthy food is thinking outside the box and creating delicious flavors without adding lots of calories (I think that’s the easy way out). Foods like pumpkin, that are versatile, cheap, and easily accessible, make it easy to do just that.

You’re Probably Not Eating Enough: cabbage

And I DON’T mean the cabbage soup diet…

In brief, because I know this gets confusing for some, here’s what’s great about cabbage (of any color):

• Just 22 calories per cup.
• But those measley 22 calories have tons of nutrients (including one that could be cancer fighting, according to researchers).
• 92.7% of your RDV of vitamin K and 50% of vitamin C per cup.
• Learn more about the wonders of cabbage here.

How to get more cabbage in your diet:

• Use it as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
• Sautee it with onions, olive oil and spices for an easy side.
• Add it to your salad.
• Braise it with chopped apple and red wine.
• Make Indian-inspired coleslaw by combining shredded red and white cabbagew ith fresh lemon juice, oilive oil, and Indian seasons like turmeric, cumin, and coriander.
• Add it to broth in Asian-style soups (I’ve can vouch for this Southeast Asian Soup recipe).

You’re Probably Not Eating Enough: flaxseed

This might make me sound like a crunchy granola hippie, but flaxseed is just unarguably good for you. And SO easy to add to food.

What can flaxseed do for you? According to WHFoods, just two tablespoons of the stuff has 146.3% of your daily omega-3 needs (in the form of alpha linolenic acid, or ALA) and 20% of your required daily fiber intake. Omega-3 fatty acids, though they sound kind of gross, are actually great for you. They’re anti-inflammatory (they can reduce inflammation in conditions like asthma, arthritis, migraine headaches, etc.) and they protect bone health. Flaxseed has also been used to produce substances that reduce the formation of blood clots and can help prevent and control high blood pressure. It’s been proven to lower cholesterol and slow the growth of prostate cancer.

Really, the question we should be asking is, what CAN’T flaxseed do? Even if you’re skeptical of the power of flax, you have to admit that it’s a pretty healthy little seed. Here are some ways to get more flax in your diet*:

• Sprinkle it in yogurt, on fruit, in smoothie or shakes (it blends well into my protein smoothie), on oatmeal or cereal, or any kind of batter (you may need to add water if you put a lot in).
• Make a sweet or savory instant porridge by pouring boiling water over flaxseed meal (usually a 2:1 ratio of flax to water) and then flavoring it however you like.
• My mom loves to combine Greek yogurt, a tablespoon of peanut butter, half a mashed banana, and two tablespoons of ground flaxseed and eat it for breakfast. She’s been doing it as long as I can remember. You can spread the mixture on an English muffin or toast, or just eat it plain. I’ve tried it many times and it’s delicious.

*Note: you need to grind it or buy it pre-ground in order for your body to digest it properly.

Most of the time, it just gives food a slightly nutty taste, but if you add a lot to a dish, it can taste almost fishy, so gradually work up to putting 2-3 tablespoons in your food.

Do you eat flaxseed? On/in what? TELL ME about it!

You’re Probably Not Eating Enough: avocado

I’m starting a new weekly feature called You’re Probably Not Eating Enough. It’s sort of self-explanatory. This week’s feature food was inspired by smartblonde’s post about avocado pudding.

Why are avocados so great? First and foremost: deliciousness. I love the flavor and texture. Secondly, the health benefits. According to WHFoods (World’s Heathiest Food, my new go-to website to find out about ingredients), avocados contain oleic acid, a monosaturated fat that may help to lower cholesterol. They’re also a good source of potassium (blood pressure regulator) and folate (nutrient important for heart health).

This is a good time to discuss the difference between good fat and bad fat. As in, there is one.

Good fats = monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. Both types help lower LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) while increasing HDL cholesterol (the good kind). Mono and polyunsaturated fats are found in nuts, olive and other seed oils, fish and fish oils, and, of course, avocados.

Bad fats = saturated fats and trans fats (these are not so much bad as they are pure evil). Saturated fats are found in meat, dairy, eggs, some oils, and seafood. Even though some studies have shown that they raise LDL cholesterol (some say this isn’t conclusive), I’m not AS careful about sat fat as I am about trans fat. Trans fats were invented by scientists and are found in packaged and fast foods. They’re totally gross. Avoid them at all costs.

The differences in the types of fat mean you can’t just avoid fat altogether. Certain fats are good for you. In fact, you need some (good) fat to burn (body) fat. Okay, now that we’ve straightened that out, let’s go back to the avocado. Since it contains monounsaturated fat, we know that it helps lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol. WHFoods says:

In one study of people with moderately high cholesterol levels, individuals who ate a diet high in avocados showed clear health improvements. After seven days on the diet that included avocados, they had significant decreases in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, along with an 11% increase in health promoting HDL cholesterol.

Impressive.

To get more avocado in your life, try adding it to sandwiches (you can use it instead of mayo), salads, Mexican-inspired food (obviously), or just eating it plain. I love it plain. Have a good recipe with avocado? Lemme know.