Month: October 2019

Basil Spaghetti Frittata for a Blood-Sugar-Friendly Breakfast

Grace October 23, 2019

Nutrition Snapshot

Whole wheat pasta and egg protein digest slowly together, so this frittata fits a blood-sugar-friendly eating pattern.
A wedge carries 20 grams of protein, from the eggs and whites, the cheese and milk, and the pasta itself.
Sodium sits near 490 milligrams a wedge once the dish is seasoned, so use the lighter salt option if you are watching it.

Cook a little extra pasta at dinner and breakfast is most of the way done. Two and a half cups of cooked whole wheat spaghetti go into a skillet with eggs, basil, and green onion, and about twenty minutes later you have four wedges. Eat one warm at breakfast, or pack one cold for lunch with a salad.

Whole Grains and Egg Protein Together Slow the Rise in Blood Sugar

The Pasta Itself Digests Slowly

Pasta behaves differently from most starchy foods. The dough is dense, and the protein network in it traps the starch granules, so the starch breaks down more gradually than the starch in bread does. Whole wheat spaghetti adds to that, since it keeps the bran and germ that white pasta loses. The portion size is what drives most of the blood sugar response to a pasta meal.

Cooled Pasta Changes Again

This recipe is built on pasta cooked the night before, and the chilling does something useful. Some of the starch recrystallizes as it cools into resistant starch, which passes through the small intestine largely undigested and feeds the bacteria in the colon instead. It behaves more like fiber than like starch. Reheating in the skillet keeps part of that change.

Protein Slows the Stomach

A wedge carries 20 grams of protein, from the eggs and egg whites, the mozzarella and milk, and the spaghetti itself. Protein and fat in the same meal slow how quickly the stomach empties. The carbohydrate then reaches the bloodstream more gradually, and blood sugar rises more gently than it would after a bowl of pasta alone.

What the Yolks Add

The eggs bring more than protein. The yolks supply choline, which the body uses to build cell membranes and the signaling molecule acetylcholine, along with vitamin D and the eye pigments lutein and zeaxanthin. The two extra whites raise the protein with almost no added fat.

What’s in a Serving

A serving is one wedge, a quarter of the skillet. Most of the carbohydrate comes from the spaghetti, about 26 grams of it, and the whole wheat version brings fiber along with it. Protein comes to 20 grams, and it arrives from four places: the eggs and whites, the mozzarella, the milk, and the pasta.

Sodium comes to about 490 milligrams a wedge. Roughly 280 of that is the half teaspoon of salt, and the rest arrives with the eggs and the mozzarella in about equal shares. A quarter teaspoon of salt instead brings the wedge down near 350. Calcium comes to about 178 milligrams, and the fat is moderate.

What to Buy

The Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Look for whole wheat or whole grain as the first word on the ingredient line rather than enriched or multigrain, which can still be mostly refined flour. Buy organic (to avoid glyphosate), since wheat is one of the crops often sprayed to dry the field before harvest, and organic growing does not allow it. Leftover spaghetti chilled overnight is the best version to use here.

The Eggs and Egg Whites

Large eggs are the size the recipe card is built on. If you keep a carton of liquid egg whites in the refrigerator, two tablespoons stand in for each white and save you separating eggs.

Salt and Lemon

Eggs and pasta both need salt to taste like anything, and this recipe carries half a teaspoon across four wedges. Add it in two places, a quarter teaspoon over the pasta in the pan and a quarter teaspoon whisked into the eggs. The seasoning then reaches the whole skillet instead of sitting on top.

Kosher salt measures differently. Use a teaspoon of Diamond Crystal, or a scant three quarters of a teaspoon of Morton, in place of the half teaspoon of table salt.

A squeeze of lemon at the table is what keeps a seasoned egg dish tasting balanced. Acid sharpens the flavors the salt brings forward, and it lets you use less salt than you otherwise would. Two tablespoons of grated Parmesan whisked into the eggs does similar work.

The Mozzarella, Basil, and Green Onion

Two ounces of shredded mozzarella melt into the top and add a mild, milky flavor. A low-moisture block you shred yourself melts more evenly than pre-shredded cheese, which is dusted with starch. Fresh basil matters here. Dried basil tastes flat, and the fresh leaf is what gives the dish its flavor. Stir most of it in and scatter the rest over the wedges after cooking so it stays green.

Who This Fits

Who It Fits

This frittata suits anyone eating for steadier blood sugar, since the dense pasta, the fiber, and the protein all slow how fast the carbohydrate reaches the blood. For a vegetarian, one wedge supplies 20 grams of protein at breakfast, which takes some doing at that hour.

Fitting It Into a Carbohydrate Target

A wedge carries about 26 grams of carbohydrate, so place it in your day before you add bread or fruit alongside. Two wedges double that figure. Adding vegetables is the change that improves the wedge most, and two handfuls of spinach or a diced bell pepper go into the skillet with the pasta in about a minute.

How to Make It Your Own

Vegetables are the easiest upgrade. Wilt two handfuls of baby spinach into the pasta, or fold in chopped bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, or halved cherry tomatoes. More vegetables mean more fiber and a more filling wedge for about the same calories.

To lower the carbohydrate, cut the spaghetti to one and a half cups and whisk in an extra egg. A lentil or chickpea pasta raises the protein and the fiber at the same time, and it makes the dish gluten-free. For a dairy-free version, use unsweetened soy or pea milk, which keep some protein, and leave the cheese out.

The Health Swaps in Short

Lower sodium: use a quarter teaspoon of salt in place of the half, and lean harder on the lemon, the black pepper, and the basil.
Lower sugar: none needed here. The recipe contains no added sugar.
Dairy-free: use unsweetened soy or pea milk and leave out the mozzarella, or use a dairy-free shred that melts.
Gluten-free: use a lentil, chickpea, or brown rice spaghetti in place of the whole wheat.
Nut-free: the recipe is already nut-free.

Cook It Once and Eat It for Four Days

A frittata keeps well, which makes it a strong make-ahead breakfast. Let it cool, then store the wedges in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to four days. Reheat a wedge in a covered skillet over low heat, or in the microwave in short bursts, so the eggs stay tender.

Cold wedges are good straight from the container, which makes this an easy packed lunch. You can also cook the spaghetti a day ahead and keep it refrigerated. Cold noodles clump, so run warm water over them and toss them apart before they go into the pan.

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Basil Spaghetti Frittata

Cooked whole wheat spaghetti set into a basil and green onion frittata, seasoned and finished with lemon. One skillet, four wedges, and 17 grams of protein in each one.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Breakfast

Keyword: basil frittata, blood sugar friendly breakfast, high protein vegetarian, make ahead breakfast, whole wheat pasta frittata

Servings: servings

Calories: 368kcal

Equipment

Medium Nonstick Skillet
Skillet Lid
Mixing bowl
Whisk

Ingredients

1/3 cup green onions chopped
2 tablespoons basil chopped, fresh
2 1/2 cups whole wheat spaghetti cooked
1/3 cup milk 1% low fat
4 eggs large
2 egg whites large
1/2 teaspoon salt divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper ground
2 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded, low-moisture
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 lemon cut into wedges, for serving

Instructions

Chop the green onion.
Chop the basil and set a little aside for the top.
Coat a medium nonstick skillet with the olive oil.
Spread the cooked spaghetti evenly across the skillet.
Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of the salt over the spaghetti.
Cook the spaghetti over medium heat for 2 minutes.
Whisk the milk, eggs, egg whites, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the black pepper together in a bowl.
Pour the egg mixture gently over the pasta.
Sprinkle the mozzarella over the top.
Scatter the green onion and most of the basil over the cheese.
Cover the skillet and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes, until the center is set.
Cut the frittata into 4 wedges.
Scatter the reserved basil over the wedges.
Serve with lemon wedges.

Notes

Serving size: 1 wedge. The recipe makes 4.

The spaghetti is cooked before it goes into this recipe, so the prep and cook times here cover the frittata only. Leftover spaghetti cooked the day before and chilled overnight is the best version to use. Cold noodles clump, so run warm water over them and toss them apart before they go into the pan.

Look for organic whole wheat spaghetti. Wheat is often treated with glyphosate before harvest to dry the field, and organic wheat is grown without it.

Add vegetables: wilt two handfuls of baby spinach into the pasta, or fold in chopped bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, or halved cherry tomatoes. The recipe holds no vegetables as written.

Lower carbohydrate: cut the spaghetti to 1 1/2 cups and whisk in an extra egg. A lentil or chickpea pasta raises the protein and the fiber at the same time.

Gluten-free: use a lentil, chickpea, or brown rice spaghetti in place of the whole wheat.

Dairy-free: use unsweetened soy or pea milk and leave out the mozzarella, or use a dairy-free shred that melts.

Salt: the 1/2 teaspoon goes in two places, a quarter teaspoon over the pasta in the pan and a quarter teaspoon whisked into the eggs, so the seasoning reaches the whole skillet instead of the top. Kosher salt measures differently: use 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal or a scant 3/4 teaspoon Morton in place of 1/2 teaspoon table salt.

Lower sodium: use 1/4 teaspoon salt in place of the 1/2 teaspoon, and lean harder on the lemon, the black pepper, and the basil. That takes roughly 140 milligrams off each wedge.

More savory depth without more salt: a squeeze of lemon at the table, or 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan folded into the egg mixture.

Nut-free as written. There is no added sugar in the recipe.

Cheese: a low-moisture mozzarella block you shred yourself melts more evenly than pre-shredded cheese, which is dusted with starch.

Make ahead and storage: cool the frittata, then keep the wedges in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in a covered skillet over low heat, or in the microwave in short bursts, so the eggs stay tender. The wedges are also good cold.

Nutrition is calculated by WP Recipe Maker. Re-run the calculation after import.

Nutrition

Whole Wheat Pasta and Eggs Together Make a Gentler Breakfast

A wedge of this frittata carries whole grain carbohydrate and 20 grams of protein, and the two together raise blood sugar more gradually than a bowl of pasta on its own. Fiber stops at about 3 grams, so the wedge improves with vegetables folded in.

Sodium lands near 490 milligrams once the dish is seasoned, and the quarter teaspoon version takes about 140 milligrams off that. One wedge is the portion every figure above describes.

Serve It With

A wedge alongside a green salad and a piece of fruit makes a balanced plate at any hour. A bowl of berries suits breakfast, and a cup of tomato soup suits lunch.

For another make-ahead egg dish that tastes good cold, see Chickpea and Spinach Egg Scramble. Cool Summer Squash Soup keeps lunch light, and Easy Cilantro Lime Coleslaw for a Low-Sodium, Heart-Healthy Side adds crunch.

Quick Skillet Asparagus With Garlic and Red Wine Vinaigrette

Grace October 23, 2019

Nutrition Snapshot

Asparagus and garlic both contain inulin, a fiber your gut bacteria ferment into butyrate, the fuel your colon cells burn.
Asparagus is also one of the better vegetable sources of folate, which suits anyone filling that gap.
The bottled dressing is the one processed ingredient and the source of the 70 milligrams of sodium, so whisk your own.

This side takes five ingredients, one skillet, and about two minutes of heat. The garlic goes into the oil first, then the cut asparagus, then the vinaigrette and the pepper. The bottled dressing is the seasoning, so you skip building a sauce. The pieces come out bright green and very crisp. Asparagus and garlic also both contain inulin, a fiber your gut bacteria feed on.

Asparagus and Garlic Both Contain Inulin, the Fiber That Reaches Your Colon Intact

Most of the carbohydrate you eat is broken down in your small intestine and absorbed there as sugar. Inulin passes straight through. Your small intestine lacks the enzyme that would split it, so it arrives in your colon whole. A fiber that reaches the colon and feeds the bacteria living there is called a prebiotic.

Asparagus is one of the better vegetable sources of inulin, and garlic contains more of it per gram. This recipe uses both. One clove of garlic is a small amount, so most of the inulin here comes from the asparagus. For more on this fiber and the other foods that supply it, see Inulin.

Your Gut Bacteria Turn Inulin Into Butyrate, the Main Fuel for Your Colon Cells

Once the inulin reaches your colon, the bacteria living there ferment it. Bifidobacteria use it most readily, and feeding them raises their share of the population. That fermentation produces short-chain fatty acids. The one that matters most to your colon is butyrate.

The cells lining your colon wall absorb butyrate and burn it for energy. Butyrate is their main fuel, while most other cells in your body use glucose carried in the blood. A steady butyrate supply helps those lining cells hold a tight barrier between the contents of your colon and the rest of your body. For more, see Butyrate.

What’s in a Serving

A serving of this dish is mostly asparagus, so that is where most of the nutrition comes from. That means fiber, including the inulin, plus folate, which asparagus contains in larger amounts than most vegetables. There is vitamin K as well, a little vitamin C, and some potassium. The olive oil adds a small amount of monounsaturated fat.

Your body uses folate to build and repair DNA and to form red blood cells. Folate also helps keep the homocysteine in your blood at a healthy level. The dressing adds the sodium and any added sugar, and the recipe card below has the exact figures. For background on both nutrients, see Folate and Fiber 101.

What to Buy: Firm Spears and a Short Label on the Dressing

Asparagus

Look for firm stalks that stand straight and tips that are still tight and closed. Loose, mushy tips mean the bunch has been sitting a while. Thin spears are the best fit here, because the heat is short. Thick ones stay raw in the center, so cut those into shorter lengths or give them another minute.

The Vinaigrette

Turn the bottle around and read the label before you buy. That quarter cup is where nearly all the sodium in a serving comes from, and most brands add sugar as well. A lower-sodium bottle with a short ingredient list is the better choice. Whisking your own from red wine vinegar and olive oil puts you in control of both.

Garlic and Olive Oil

Fresh garlic has more flavor than the jarred minced kind, which matters when it gets only a minute in the oil. Extra-virgin olive oil adds a peppery note, and a two-minute sauté at moderate heat is gentle enough for it.

The Pan

Two pounds of asparagus fills a pan. Spread the pieces out in the widest, heaviest skillet (affiliate link) you own, because a crowded pan steams them instead of browning them.

Who This Fits and Who Should Go Easy

This side fits anyone working to eat more fiber, and it pairs with any protein. It is gluten-free, and a plain red wine vinaigrette keeps it dairy-free too. At 58 calories and 2 grams of protein a serving, it stays a side, so build the rest of the meal around chicken, fish, eggs, tofu, or beans.

The same inulin that feeds your gut bacteria is also a FODMAP, a fermentable carbohydrate. In people with irritable bowel syndrome or a sensitive gut, a large helping can bring on gas and bloating. If that describes you, start small and leave the garlic clove out. Garlic-infused olive oil still tastes of garlic, because the fructans stay behind with the solids. Our Low FODMAP Recipe Index has more options.

How to Make It Your Own

To roast instead of sauté, toss the pieces with the olive oil and spread them on a sheet pan. Give them 10 to 12 minutes at 425°F, then add the vinaigrette and pepper off the heat. Roasting browns the tips, concentrates the flavor, and cooks thick pieces all the way through.

Swaps Recap

Lower sodium: skip the bottle and whisk 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of dried oregano.
Lower sugar: most bottled vinaigrettes contain added sugar. If you build your own and want a little sweetness, allulose measures like sugar, and a monk fruit blend works when you follow the package.
Dairy-free: a plain red wine vinaigrette is dairy-free. Check the label on any creamy dressing you use instead.
Nut-free: every ingredient in the recipe is nut-free as written.
Gentler on a sensitive gut: leave the garlic clove out and cook the asparagus in garlic-infused olive oil for the garlic flavor.

Storage and Make-Ahead

Asparagus is best cooked the day you plan to eat it, so buy it close to when you need it. Before cooking, stand the bunch upright in an inch of water in the refrigerator with the tips loosely covered. It will stay crisp that way for three or four days. Cooked, it keeps about three days covered in the refrigerator.

Reheating softens the pieces, so leftovers are better cold. The vinegar keeps soaking into the asparagus overnight, and a cold serving the next day tastes like a marinated salad. Add the pieces to a grain bowl, or lay them over greens with a soft-boiled egg for lunch.

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Quick Skillet Asparagus With Garlic and Red Wine Vinaigrette

Fresh asparagus cooked fast in a hot skillet with garlic and red wine vinaigrette, so the pieces stay bright green and crisp.

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

Total Time15

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Asparagus, garlic, quick, sautéed

Servings:

Calories: 58kcal

Equipment

1 skillet

Ingredients

1 garlic clove
2 lbs fresh asparagus
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinaigrette dressing
1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Mince the garlic.
2. Trim the asparagus and cut it into 2 inch pieces.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
4. Add the garlic and saute 1 minute.
5. Add the asparagus pieces and stir to coat.
6. Add the red wine vinaigrette dressing and the black pepper.
7. Stir and heat 1 minute more.
8. Remove from the heat and serve.

Notes

Lower sodium: skip the bottled dressing and whisk 3 tbsp red wine vinegar with 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of dried oregano.

Lower sugar: most bottled vinaigrettes contain added sugar. If you make your own and want a little sweetness, allulose measures like sugar. A monk fruit blend works too, following the package to match the sweetness of the sugar being replaced.

Dairy-free: a plain red wine vinaigrette is dairy-free. Check the label on any creamy dressing used in its place.

Nut-free: every ingredient is nut-free as written.

Gentler on a sensitive gut: leave the garlic clove out and cook the asparagus in garlic-infused olive oil. Inulin is a fructan, and fructans stay behind with the garlic solids rather than passing into the oil.

Roasting variation: toss the pieces with the olive oil and spread them on a sheet pan. Roast 10 to 12 minutes at 425 F, then add the vinaigrette and pepper off the heat.

Pan size: 2 lbs of asparagus fills a pan. Use the widest, heaviest skillet you have so the pieces brown instead of steaming.

Storage: refrigerate cooked asparagus up to 3 days. Leftovers are better cold than reheated.

Nutrition

Vinaigrette Asparagus Turns a Two Minute Side Into Food for Your Gut Bacteria

Asparagus and garlic both contain inulin, and this recipe puts them in the same pan. Your gut bacteria ferment that inulin into butyrate, and the cells lining your colon burn butyrate for fuel. Asparagus also supplies folate. The dressing is the one processed ingredient, so read the label or whisk your own. Count a serving as one eighth of the pan.

Serve It With

Asparagus works next to almost any simple protein, and it is especially good beside fish. Honey Rubbed Salmon makes an easy pairing, and Braised Balsamic Chicken shares the same vinegar note. If you have asparagus left over, Asparagus Crepe Rolls turns it into brunch. Add brown rice or farro and the meal is finished.

Arepas

Grace October 22, 2019

Nutrition Snapshot

Arepas are made from corn, so they are naturally gluten free and fit a gluten-free eating pattern.
The cheese is worked into the dough, so an arepa gives you protein and calcium along with the starch.
An arepa is a starchy bread, so keep the portion to one and fill it with protein.

An arepa is a corn cake, and this one has the cheese mixed right into the dough. Five ingredients, one bowl, and a ten-minute rest before you shape them. What comes off the griddle is a soft round with a thin crust, sturdy enough to split and fill. For anyone avoiding wheat, it is a bread you can make on a weeknight without a special flour blend.

Corn Holds Arepas Together Without Gluten

Wheat breads hold their shape because gluten forms an elastic web that traps gas. Corn has no gluten, so an arepa gets its structure another way. Masarepa is corn that has been cooked and then dried, so its starch has already swollen and set once. Add warm water and it swells again within minutes. That swollen starch binds the dough.

During the ten-minute rest, the starch finishes taking up the water. A short knead afterward pulls everything together, and the loose paste turns into something you can pat into a round. Shape it too early and the edges crack. If the dough still feels wet after the rest, work in another spoonful of masarepa.

The Cheese in the Dough Supplies the Protein

Four ounces of cheese spread across four arepas puts protein, fat, and calcium into every bite of the bread itself. Grate or crumble it fine and it disappears into the dough, so the protein and the salt are spread evenly through the round.

Protein and fat also slow how fast the stomach empties, so the glucose from the corn starch reaches the bloodstream more gradually. The effect is modest. An arepa is still a starchy bread, so the portion is one, and what you put inside it changes the whole meal.

What’s in a Serving

Most of the carbohydrate comes from the masarepa, and so does the small amount of fiber. The cheese brings the protein, the calcium, and nearly all of the sodium. The butter on the griddle adds a little fat. The anise seed adds flavor and nothing else. The recipe card below shows the calculated figures for one arepa.

What to Buy

Masarepa Is the Precooked Corn Meal Arepas Need

Arepas need precooked white corn meal, sold as masarepa and labeled harina de maíz precocida. P.A.N. and Goya are the common supermarket brands. Masa harina, the corn flour cooked with lime and used for tortillas, gives a grainy, crumbly arepa. Fine corn flour and cornstarch give no structure at all.

If you are cooking for someone with celiac disease, buy a bag marked certified gluten free. Corn has no gluten of its own, and corn meal is often milled and packed on lines that also handle wheat.

Costeño Cheese and What Stands In For It

Queso costeño is a firm, salty Colombian cheese that holds its shape rather than melting into the dough. Queso fresco and queso blanco are the closest supermarket stand-ins, and both are milder, so the arepa tastes plainer and the sodium drops. They crumble instead of grating, so break them up fine with your fingers. A mild feta gets you closer to the original salt level.

Anise Seed Gives the Arepa a Faint Sweetness

The half teaspoon of anise seed gives a light licorice flavor that is common in Colombian coastal cooking. Crush the seeds between your fingers as they go in so the flavor spreads. Leave the anise out for a plain savory arepa, and the recipe still works.

Medium Heat Gives You a Crust and a Cooked Middle

Heat the pan first, then butter it, then lay the arepas in. Cook them over medium heat for four to five minutes a side. High heat browns the outside before the center sets, and low heat dries the round out before it colors. A finished arepa sounds hollow when you tap it.

A cast iron skillet or a ridged arepa pan both hold steady heat well. A thin nonstick pan heats unevenly, so turn the arepas more often if that is what you have. One teaspoon of butter is enough for all four.

Who This Fits and Who Goes Easy

This is a bread for anyone eating gluten free, whether that is celiac disease, non-celiac gluten intolerance, or digestive symptoms that ease when wheat comes out. Go easy if you are counting carbohydrate closely, since an arepa is a starchy bread and one is a full portion. Go easy on the cheese if you are watching sodium, because that is where nearly all of it comes from.

How to Make It Your Own

Split a cooked arepa most of the way through and fill it. Scrambled eggs, black beans, shredded chicken, avocado, or a slice of ham all work, and a filled arepa turns a bread into a meal. For a firmer round that holds more filling, work an extra spoonful of masarepa into the dough before you shape it.

Lower sodium: use half the cheese, choose a mild queso fresco, and add a little more anise seed for flavor. Dairy free: leave the cheese out, cook the arepas in coconut oil in place of the butter, and expect a plainer round that needs a filling. Nut free as written. The recipe has no added sugar, so no sweetener swap applies.

Storage and Make-Ahead

The dough keeps a day in the refrigerator, covered tightly so it stays moist. Cooked arepas keep three days refrigerated and two months frozen. Cool them on a rack first, then stack them with parchment between the layers.

Reheat in a dry skillet over medium heat for two or three minutes a side, which brings the crust back. A microwave alone leaves them soft and damp. Frozen arepas go straight into the skillet from the freezer, with a lid on for the first few minutes.

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Arepas

Cheese arepas cooked on the griddle from five ingredients. The cheese goes into the dough, so a naturally gluten-free corn cake gives you protein and calcium along with the starch.

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Course: and Cereals, Breads, Grains

Cuisine: Colombian

Keyword: arepas, cheese arepas, Colombian breakfast, gluten free bread, masarepa

Servings: servings

Calories: 112kcal

Equipment

Box Grater
Mixing bowl
Cast Iron Skillet
Arepa Pan

Ingredients

2/3 cup corn meal white, precooked masarepa such as P.A.N. or Goya
4 ounces costeño cheese grated, or queso fresco or queso blanco, crumbled fine
1/2 teaspoon anise seed lightly crushed
1 cup water warm
1 teaspoon butter for the pan

Instructions

Place the corn meal in a mixing bowl.
Grate the costeño cheese, or crumble the queso fresco fine with your fingers.
Add the cheese to the corn meal.
Crush the anise seed between your fingers and add it to the bowl.
Stir the dry ingredients together.
Pour in the warm water.
Mix with a spatula until the dough comes together.
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
Knead the dough for 2 to 3 minutes, until it is smooth.
Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.
Pat each piece into a circle about 4 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick.
Set a skillet or arepa pan over medium heat.
Grease the hot pan with the butter.
Lay the arepas in the pan.
Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the underside is lightly browned.
Flip each arepa and cook 4 to 5 minutes more, until the second side browns and the arepa sounds hollow when you tap it.
Serve warm.

Notes

Serving size: 1 arepa. The recipe makes 4.

Buy precooked white corn meal, sold as masarepa and labeled harina de maíz precocida. P.A.N. and Goya are the common supermarket brands. Masa harina, the corn flour cooked with lime and used for tortillas, gives a grainy, crumbly arepa, and fine corn flour and cornstarch give no structure at all.

Celiac disease: buy a bag marked certified gluten free. Corn has no gluten of its own, and corn meal is often milled and packed on lines that also handle wheat.

The 10-minute rest is inside the prep time. It lets the starch take up the water, so the dough pats out smoothly instead of cracking at the edges. If the dough still feels wet after the rest, work in another spoonful of masarepa.

Cheese: queso costeño is a firm, salty Colombian cheese that holds its shape as it cooks. Queso fresco and queso blanco are the closest supermarket stand-ins. Both are milder, so the arepa tastes plainer and the sodium drops, and both crumble rather than grating. A mild feta gets you closer to the original salt level.

Anise: crush the seeds between your fingers as they go in so the flavor spreads. Leave the anise out for a plain savory arepa.

Lower sodium: use half the cheese, choose a mild queso fresco, and add a little more anise seed for flavor. Nearly all the sodium in the recipe comes from the cheese.

Dairy free: leave the cheese out and cook the arepas in coconut oil in place of the butter. Expect a plainer round that needs a filling.

Nut free as written. There is no added sugar in the recipe.

Filling: split a cooked arepa most of the way through and fill it with scrambled eggs, black beans, shredded chicken, avocado, or ham. For a firmer round that holds more filling, work an extra spoonful of masarepa into the dough before shaping.

Storage: the dough keeps a day in the refrigerator, covered tightly. Cooked arepas keep 3 days refrigerated and 2 months frozen. Cool them on a rack, then stack with parchment between the layers.

Reheating: use a dry skillet over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes a side to bring the crust back. A microwave alone leaves them soft and damp. Frozen arepas go into the skillet straight from the freezer, with a lid on for the first few minutes.

Nutrition

Corn and Cheese Make a Gluten-Free Bread That Holds Protein

An arepa is corn, cheese, water, a little anise seed, and the butter it cooks in. That short list is the appeal. The cheese in the dough is what adds the protein and calcium, and the corn is what makes it a starchy bread. Keep the portion to one arepa. Split it and fill it with eggs, beans, or chicken, and it becomes a meal.

Serve It With

Split a warm arepa and fill it with Chickpea and Spinach Egg Scramble for a breakfast with protein in the bread and the filling both. Black beans, avocado, and a squeeze of lime turn the same round into lunch. If wheat is what you are avoiding, Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance: Key Strategies for Food and More covers what else to look at.

Pasties (meat hand pies)

Grace October 22, 2019

Nutrition Snapshot

A 2-ounce beef portion and a refined crust keep one pastie moderate in protein, potassium, and phosphorus.
At 382 milligrams of sodium a serving, this is moderate for a savory meat pie with a full filling.
Each pastie has 22 grams of fat and 1 gram of fiber, both from the crust, so add a vegetable side.

Savory pies usually come off the menu on a kidney-friendly plan, and this one does not have to. Seasoned beef and vegetables go inside a folded crust, and the crimped edge holds the filling while it bakes. One pound of ground sirloin stretches across eight pasties, which is what keeps the minerals in range. A batch takes about an hour and freezes for weeks.

A Small Beef Portion and a Refined Crust Keep the Minerals in Range

Why a Kidney-Friendly Plan Tracks These Two Minerals

Healthy kidneys clear potassium and phosphorus from the blood and hold the amount in circulation steady. When kidney function drops, less of each mineral leaves the body. The level in the blood then rises. A potassium level that climbs too high can disturb the heart rhythm. A high phosphorus level raises parathyroid hormone, and that hormone releases calcium from bone.

Your own limits come from lab results rather than from a stage number, so ask your care team which ones apply to you. For more on managing stages 1 to 3, see Early Kidney Failure.

Two Ounces of Beef per Pastie

Meat is the largest source of both minerals in most meals, so the size of the beef portion matters most here. One pound of ground sirloin divided across eight pasties comes to about 2 ounces each, which gives a serving 11 grams of protein. Most of the potassium and phosphorus in a pastie traces back to that beef.

A Refined Crust Is Low in Phosphorus

Refrigerated pie crust is made from refined white flour, which is low in phosphorus. A whole grain crust has more phosphorus and more potassium. Here the refined crust is the better choice.

The Vegetables Add a Small Share

A quarter cup of carrot, a quarter cup of corn, and one cup of peas spread across eight pasties, so each gets a spoonful or two. At that scale they add only a little potassium, along with color and fiber.

What’s in a Serving

The protein and the iron come from the ground sirloin, and so do most of the potassium and phosphorus. The peas and carrot add a little fiber and some vitamin A.

The fat and nearly all of the sodium come from the crust, since a refrigerated pie crust is built on flour, solid fat, and salt. The Worcestershire sauce and the teaspoon of ketchup each add a small amount of sodium. The card below lists the figure for every nutrient.

What to Buy

The Pie Crust

One 15-ounce package of rolled refrigerated crust holds two crusts, and each crust cuts into four pieces, which is where the eight pasties come from. Scan the ingredient list for anything containing PHOS, since added phosphates absorb almost completely and the nutrition label does not list them. Check for butter or milk solids too if you are avoiding dairy.

Buy organic (to avoid glyphosate), since wheat is one of the crops often sprayed to dry the field before harvest, and organic growing does not allow it.

Ground Sirloin

Sirloin is the leanest of the common ground beef cuts, so less fat renders out during browning. The drained meat stays crumbly and holds its shape in the filling. Ground round works the same way.

Frozen Peas and Corn

Plain frozen vegetables have no added salt, which keeps the sodium where the card says it is. Check the bag for a sauce or a seasoning blend, since either one adds sodium.

Worcestershire Sauce and Ketchup

A tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce adds a lot of flavor for a small amount of sodium. If you buy a reduced-sodium version, read the ingredient list for potassium chloride, which some of them use in place of salt. The ketchup goes on the side, a teaspoon per pastie.

Who This Fits and Who Should Go Easy

This fits anyone tracking potassium, phosphorus, and sodium, and anyone who wants a hand-held lunch that reheats well. The 2-ounce beef portion also suits a plan that limits protein, and cutting the sirloin to 8 ounces takes it lower still. The crust is wheat, so these are not gluten-free as written.

One pastie with a vegetable side is the portion to plan on. Each one has 22 grams of fat, most of it from the crust. Fiber is low at 1 gram for the same reason, so a salad or a cup of raw vegetables supplies the fiber for the meal. If you are watching saturated fat, a homemade crust made with olive oil is the way around it.

How to Make It Your Own

Green beans in place of the peas lower the potassium a little further, and chopped celery adds crunch and fiber. Mushrooms are the one vegetable to leave out, since they are high in potassium for their size. Rosemary, sage, or a teaspoon of Dijon mustard all work in place of the thyme.

Swaps recap:

Lower sodium: serve the ketchup on the side and skip the salt shaker. A crust made at home with unsalted butter or olive oil lowers it further.
Lower sugar: the recipe adds no sugar, and the teaspoon of ketchup is the only sweet element.
Dairy-free: choose a crust made without butter or milk solids, since many contain one or the other.
Nut-free: the recipe is nut-free as written.
Gluten-free: use a gluten-free refrigerated crust, and check the Worcestershire label, since some brands use malt vinegar.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Serving

Pasties freeze well, which is the reason to bake a full batch. Cool them completely, wrap each one, and freeze them on a tray before moving them to a bag so they stay separate. They keep 3 days in the refrigerator and 3 months in the freezer.

Reheat them in the oven at 350 degrees F, about 25 to 35 minutes from frozen and about 15 minutes thawed, until the center reaches 165 degrees F. The oven re-crisps the crust, and a microwave leaves it soft. To get ahead, cook the filling a day early and refrigerate it, then assemble and bake in about half an hour.

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Pasties (Meat Hand Pies)

Seasoned ground sirloin, peas, corn, and carrot folded into a flaky hand pie. A 2-ounce beef portion and a refined crust keep each pastie moderate in protein, potassium, and phosphorus, so it fits a kidney-friendly plan.

Prep Time25

Cook Time20

Total Time45

Course: Main Course

Keyword: beef hand pie, freezer meal, kidney-friendly, low potassium, meat hand pies, pasties

Servings: pasties

Calories: 154kcal

Equipment

Large skillet
Microwave-Safe Dish
baking sheet

Ingredients

1/4 cup carrot diced
1/4 cup onion chopped
1 pound ground sirloin
1/4 cup corn frozen
1 cup green peas frozen
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce reduced-sodium
1 teaspoon black pepper ground
1 teaspoon thyme dried
15 ounces organic pie crust refrigerated, unbaked, two rolled crusts from one 15-ounce package
1 egg white large
8 teaspoons ketchup

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Let the pie crusts stand at room temperature according to the package directions.
Dice the carrot.
Chop the onion.
Brown the ground sirloin in a large skillet over medium heat.
Drain the beef and set it aside.
Place the carrot in a microwave-safe dish and add 1 tablespoon of water.
Cover the dish and microwave on high for 2 minutes.
Add the frozen corn and frozen peas, then microwave for 2 more minutes.
Drain the vegetables.
Combine the beef, carrot, corn, peas, onion, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and thyme in a bowl.
Unroll the pie crusts on a lightly floured surface.
Cut each crust into four pieces.
Spoon 1/4 cup of the filling onto half of each piece of crust.
Moisten the crust edges lightly with a little of the egg white.
Fold the empty half of the crust over the filling.
Seal the edges by crimping them with a fork.
Cut slits in the top of each pastie.
Brush the tops with the remaining egg white.
Place the pasties on a large ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
Cool the pasties slightly on a wire rack.
Serve each pastie with 1 teaspoon of ketchup.

Notes

Look for an organic pie crust. Wheat is one of the crops often sprayed with glyphosate to dry the field before harvest, and organic wheat is grown without it.

Buying the crust: scan the ingredient list for anything containing PHOS. Added phosphates absorb almost completely and the nutrition label does not list them, which matters on a kidney-friendly plan. Check for butter or milk solids as well if you are avoiding dairy.

Lower sodium: nearly all of the sodium comes from the crust. Serve the ketchup on the side so each person adds their own, and skip the salt shaker at the table. A crust made at home with unsalted butter or olive oil lowers it further. If you buy a reduced-sodium Worcestershire sauce, read the ingredient list for potassium chloride, which some reduced-sodium products use in place of salt.

For a controlled-potassium plan: most of the potassium in a pastie comes from the beef, so the 2-ounce portion is what keeps it low. Green beans in place of the peas lower it a little further. Leave mushrooms out, since they are high in potassium for their size.

For a lower-protein kidney plan: cut the ground sirloin to 8 ounces and add another 1/2 cup of vegetables to keep the filling volume. Protein per pastie drops to about 8 grams.

More fiber: a pastie made with a refrigerated white-flour crust has only about 1 gram of fiber. Serve it with a green salad or a cup of raw vegetables, or stir 1/2 cup of chopped celery or green beans into the filling.

Gluten: the crust is wheat, so these are not gluten-free. A gluten-free refrigerated crust works the same way and bakes in about the same time. Check the Worcestershire sauce label too, since some brands are made with malt vinegar.

Allergens: nut free as written, and dairy free when the crust is made without butter or milk solids. Check the crust label, since many refrigerated crusts contain dairy.

Timing: the total time counts about 25 minutes of hands-on work and a 15 to 20 minute bake. Letting the crust come to room temperature is passive time and happens while the filling cooks.

Make-ahead and storage: pasties freeze well, which is the best reason to make a full batch. Cool them completely, wrap each one, and freeze on a tray before bagging so they do not stick together. They keep 3 days in the refrigerator and 3 months frozen. Reheat in a 350 degree F oven, about 25 to 35 minutes from frozen and about 15 minutes thawed, until the center reaches 165 degrees F. The oven re-crisps the crust; the microwave leaves it soft.

Working ahead: the filling can be made and refrigerated a day before you assemble the pasties.

Nutrition

One Pastie Plus a Vegetable Side Is the Kidney-Friendly Portion

This pie works because the beef is portioned small and the crust is refined flour, so the potassium and phosphorus in a serving stay well below what a full meat entree brings.

Most of the 22 grams of fat and the missing fiber both come from the crust, so eat one pastie with a vegetable beside it. Bake eight, freeze what you do not eat that day, and lunch is ready for the rest of the week.

Serve It With

These need a vegetable side, and a lower-potassium vegetable keeps the whole meal in range. Roasted Rosemary-Cauliflower makes a warm side and is low in potassium. Easy Cilantro Lime Coleslaw brings crunch and raw cabbage next to the soft filling. A green salad with a squeeze of lemon works too and takes less time.

Belgian Waffles

Grace October 22, 2019

Nutrition Snapshot

Low in potassium and phosphorus, so this waffle works as a breakfast bread on a renal eating pattern.
Also low in sodium, and the waffles freeze flat, so one batch of six covers weekday breakfasts.
High in carbohydrate and very low in fiber, so keep it to one waffle and top it with berries.

Breakfast is a hard meal to rebuild when the kidneys are clearing less waste than they used to. Bran cereal, potatoes, and milk-heavy foods are higher in potassium and phosphorus than most renal eating plans allow. That leaves a short list of breakfast breads.

This waffle belongs on that list. It comes out crisp outside and tender inside. It uses ingredients most kitchens already have, and the batter takes about twenty minutes of hands-on work. One batch makes six waffles, and the extras freeze well.

Cake Flour and Sour Cream Keep the Potassium and Phosphorus Low

The Minerals Sit in the Bran and the Germ

Most of a wheat kernel’s potassium and phosphorus is in the bran and the germ, its two outer layers. Cake flour is milled from soft wheat with both layers removed. A cup of cake flour holds roughly a third of the potassium and phosphorus in a cup of whole wheat flour.

That same milling step removes most of the fiber. On a renal eating pattern that trade is usually worth making, and the fiber comes from fruit and vegetables instead.

Phosphorus Matters Before a Lab Result Looks High

Healthy kidneys clear extra phosphorus from the blood and keep the blood level in a narrow range. As kidney function drops, the kidneys clear less of it. The body compensates by raising two hormones, parathyroid hormone and FGF23, so a blood phosphorus result often stays normal for years.

That compensation carries a cost. High parathyroid hormone releases calcium from bone, and a high phosphate load promotes calcium deposits in blood vessel walls. Phosphorus intake matters well before a lab result looks high.

Added Phosphate Is Absorbed Almost Completely

The phosphorus that matters most is the added kind. Phosphate additives in processed cheese, deli meat, and dark cola are absorbed almost completely. The phosphorus bound up in whole grains and beans is absorbed at roughly half that rate. This waffle uses cake flour, a small amount of fresh dairy, and eggs, so it carries no added phosphate at all.

What’s in a Serving

Most of a waffle’s calories come from carbohydrate. That carbohydrate comes from the cake flour plus the granulated and powdered sugar. The eggs, sour cream, and milk supply a moderate amount of protein and most of the calcium. Fat comes mainly from the butter and the sour cream, so it leans saturated.

Fiber is where this waffle is weakest, because refined flour has very little of it. The recipe card below lists the exact figures per waffle.

Ingredient Spotlights

Cake Flour

Cake flour has less protein than all-purpose flour, so it builds less gluten and gives a tender waffle. Buy organic (to avoid glyphosate), since wheat is one of the crops often sprayed to dry the field before harvest, and organic growing does not allow it. To make a cake flour stand-in from all-purpose flour, take out two tablespoons per cup and replace them with two tablespoons of cornstarch.

Sour Cream

Sour cream gives the batter its tang and keeps the inside moist. Three-quarters of a cup spread across six waffles is a small amount of dairy per serving, which is what holds the phosphorus down. Light sour cream works well in this batter. Plain Greek yogurt can stand in for half of it and adds a little protein.

Egg Whites

The beaten whites are what make this waffle light, so this is the step to get right. Beat them to soft peaks first, the point where a lifted beater leaves a peak that curls over. Then add the granulated sugar and beat to stiff peaks, where the peak stands upright on its own.

Fold the whites into the batter with a spatula. Stop while a few white streaks still show, because folding past that point deflates the whites and costs you the lift.

Butter

Melt the butter and let it cool a minute before it goes into the yolks. Hot butter poured straight onto egg yolks can scramble them. Use unsalted butter, which is what keeps the sodium in each waffle low.

Who This Fits and How to Portion It

Who It Fits

This fits anyone building a renal eating pattern, and it fits anyone who wants a lighter waffle than a standard buttermilk recipe. It also works in a household where one person is following a renal eating plan and everyone else is eating whatever they like.

Portion It Against Your Own Renal Targets

Renal eating plans differ by stage of kidney disease, and protein targets on dialysis are higher than they are before dialysis. Check the portion against the protein, potassium, and phosphorus targets your kidney care team gave you.

If You Are Managing Blood Sugar

If you are managing blood sugar, keep it to one waffle. A waffle is high in carbohydrate and low in fiber, so eaten alone it raises blood sugar fast. Two eggs alongside and a handful of berries on top slow that rise and make the meal last longer.

How to Make It Your Own

The batter takes additions well. Fold half a cup of blueberries in with the whites, or whisk half a teaspoon of cinnamon into the flour. For a savory waffle, keep about a teaspoon of the granulated sugar so the whites still hold their peaks. Skip the dusting and stir chopped chives and black pepper into the batter.

Swaps Recap

Lower sugar: allulose replaces the granulated sugar cup for cup. It is about 70 percent as sweet as sugar and it browns faster, so check the waffle a minute early. A monk fruit blend works too, so follow the package to match the sweetness of the sugar it replaces. Finish with powdered allulose, or skip the dusting and use berries.
Lower sodium: the recipe is already low. The small amount present comes from the leavening and the dairy.
Lower saturated fat: use light sour cream, or replace half the sour cream with plain Greek yogurt.
Dairy free: use coconut oil in place of the butter and an unsweetened plant milk in place of the low fat milk. A plain unsweetened coconut or almond yogurt stands in for the sour cream.
Gluten free: a 1:1 gluten free baking blend replaces the cake flour. The waffle comes out more fragile, so give it a full extra minute before you lift the lid.
Nut free: the recipe is nut free as written.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Serving

Cool the waffles in a single layer on a wire rack so the steam escapes and the shell stays crisp. Stacking them straight off the iron traps the steam and softens them. Use the batter the same day you make it, because whipped whites deflate as they sit.

They keep three days in the refrigerator and three months in the freezer. Freeze them flat with a square of parchment between each one, then pull out as many as you want. Reheat in a toaster, or in the oven at 350 degrees F for about five minutes. A microwave leaves them limp.

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Belgian Waffles

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Servings:

Calories: 367kcal

Ingredients

2 large eggs
2 cups cake flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup 1% low fat milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp granulated sugar
6 tbsp powdered sugar

Instructions

Heat a waffle iron. In a mixing bowl, mix together the cake flour and baking soda and set aside. Separate the egg whites and egg yolks. Whisk together egg yolks, sour cream, milk and vanilla extract. Melt the butter and then mix into the sour cream mixture.
In a different bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand-mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Add the granulated sugar to the egg whites and continue to beat until stiff peaks form, about 3 to 4 more minutes.
Whisk the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites until mixture is smooth; do not overmix.
Add about 1/2 cup of the batter to the waffle iron, close and cook for about 3 minutes. Serve waffles with the powdered sugar. Other suggested toppings include fresh berries, whipped cream, jam or syrup.

Nutrition

Whipped Egg Whites Make a Light Waffle That Fits a Kidney-Friendly Morning

Refined cake flour and a small amount of fresh dairy keep the potassium and phosphorus low, and unsalted butter keeps the sodium low. That is what makes this waffle usable on a renal eating pattern. The beaten whites give it a crisp shell and an open, tender inside.

The trade is a lot of carbohydrate and very little fiber, so treat this as a one-waffle breakfast. Add eggs and a handful of berries and the meal lasts until lunch.

Serve It With

Two eggs or a small omelet alongside turns one waffle into a full breakfast, and the Onion Apple Omelet is an easy match. Blueberries or raspberries on top add fiber and flavor for very little potassium. For the wider picture on eating to protect kidney function, see Cornerstone: Early Kidney Failure. For another side that fits a renal plan in a measured portion, see Harvest Wild Rice.

Avocado Shrimp Ceviche

Grace October 22, 2019

Nutrition Snapshot

A serving gives about 20 grams of protein from shrimp, with only about 1 gram of saturated fat in the whole dish.
Diced avocado adds the same kind of fat as olive oil, plus most of the fiber in a serving.
A serving holds about 346 milligrams of sodium, so use a no-salt-added ketchup and cut the Worcestershire sauce.

Ceviche is what you make when it is too warm to stand at the stove. Shrimp, lime juice, tomato, onion, and cilantro go into one bowl and chill for an hour. The diced avocado goes on at the very end so it stays green. Poaching the shrimp first makes the dish safe for guests who should skip raw seafood.

Lean Shrimp and Avocado Fat Make This a Heart-Healthy Starter

Shrimp Gives Protein With Almost No Fat of Its Own

Almost all of the calories in shrimp come from protein. A serving of this ceviche has about 20 grams of it. The 5.5 grams of total fat in a serving comes mostly from the avocado, and only about 1 gram of that is saturated.

Shrimp is high in cholesterol, and that matters less than most people expect. Your liver makes most of the cholesterol in your blood, and it makes less when you eat more from food. Saturated fat has a much larger effect on LDL cholesterol, which is why shrimp fits a heart-healthy pattern.

Avocado Adds the Kind of Fat That Helps

Almost all of the fat in an avocado is the kind that stays liquid at room temperature, called monounsaturated fat. It is the same type that makes up most of the fat in olive oil. Swapping monounsaturated fat in for saturated fat lowers LDL cholesterol.

The avocado is also the biggest source of fiber here. The tomatoes and onion add the rest, for about 3 grams a serving.

Shrimp and Tomatoes Bring the Potassium

A serving has about 472 milligrams of potassium, which is more than its 346 milligrams of sodium. Potassium relaxes the muscle in the walls of your blood vessels, which lowers the pressure inside them. It also increases how much sodium the kidneys remove in the urine. Eating patterns higher in potassium than sodium are linked with lower blood pressure.

The shrimp supplies about half of the potassium here, and the tomatoes and avocado supply most of the rest. For more on this mineral and where to get it, see Potassium: Understanding This Major Mineral and Its Impact on Health.

What’s in a Serving

Most of a serving comes from the shrimp: the protein, about half the potassium, and a good share of the sodium, since shrimp contains sodium on its own. The tomatoes and onion add water, fiber, and potassium for very few calories. The avocado adds the fat and most of the fiber. The bottled sauces add flavor and the rest of the sodium.

A serving is small in calories, so you can eat a real portion of it. For how much protein you need in a day and where to get it, see Protein: How Much Do You Need And Where Do You Get It. The recipe card below lists the full nutrition figures for a serving.

What to Buy

Shrimp

Raw shrimp that is already peeled and deveined saves you the fussiest step. Frozen is usually the better buy, since most shrimp sold thawed at the fish counter was frozen first anyway. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator or under cold running water. The shrimp gets chopped, so any size works. Buy whatever is on sale.

Limes and Cilantro

Squeeze the limes fresh. Bottled lime juice tastes flat here. Three quarters of a cup takes about six to eight limes, so buy more than you think you need. Choose limes that feel heavy for their size. Cilantro should look crisp, with green leaves and dry stem ends.

Avocado

You want one that yields to gentle pressure at the stem end. A firm avocado ripens on the counter in two or three days, faster in a paper bag with a banana. Dice it right before serving. Lime juice slows the browning, and the pieces still look best within an hour of dicing.

The Bottled Sauces

The Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and hot sauce are where most of the added sodium comes from. A no-salt-added ketchup and a lower-sodium hot sauce both work here with little change to the flavor.

Worcestershire also contains anchovies, so leave it out for a fish allergy or a vegetarian guest. If the dish needs to be gluten-free, check the label, since some versions use malt vinegar from barley and some use a soy sauce made with wheat.

Who This Fits and Who Should Go Easy

This fits anyone eating for their heart and anyone who wants a high-protein starter that stays light. Poaching the shrimp widens who can eat it. Lime juice firms raw shrimp, and it leaves bacteria and viruses alive. Poaching kills them, so the dish is safe in pregnancy, for young children, for adults over 65, and for anyone with a weakened immune system.

Shrimp is also among the lower-mercury seafoods, which answers the other half of the pregnancy question. If you are watching sodium closely, skip the added salt, use a no-salt-added ketchup, and cut the Worcestershire sauce to a teaspoon. Shrimp is the whole dish, so a shellfish allergy means a different starter.

How to Make It Your Own

Bay scallops work in place of the shrimp. They are small, so give them about a minute. Firm white fish such as cod or halibut also works, poached and flaked. Diced cucumber, jicama, or mango add crunch and sweetness. A minced serrano gives you more heat than the bottled sauce does. Leaving out the Worcestershire and ketchup gives you a cleaner, more traditional lime and cilantro ceviche.

Swaps Recap

Lower sodium: leave out the added salt, use a no-salt-added ketchup, and cut the Worcestershire sauce to 1 teaspoon.
Lower sugar: ketchup is the only source of added sugar here, so a no-sugar-added ketchup removes it.
Fish-free: leave out the Worcestershire sauce, which contains anchovies, and add another squeeze of lime instead.
Dairy-free: the recipe is dairy-free as written.
Nut-free: the recipe is nut-free as written.
Gluten-free: check the Worcestershire label, and scoop with corn tostadas or gluten-free crackers.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Serving

The shrimp mixture can be made a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. The shrimp gets slightly firmer as it sits in the lime juice, so the texture changes a little overnight. Hold the avocado and the green onion until you serve, then stir the avocado in gently so the pieces stay whole.

Leftovers keep two days in the refrigerator. Freezing turns the shrimp rubbery and the tomatoes watery, so plan to finish it. Serve it cold in glasses or small bowls, with whole grain crackers, corn tostadas, or endive leaves for scooping.

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Avocado Shrimp Ceviche

Poached shrimp chilled in fresh lime juice with tomatoes, onion, and cilantro, then topped with diced avocado. A light, high-protein starter you make ahead.

Prep Time20

Cook Time5

Total Time25

Course: Appetizer

Keyword: avocado shrimp ceviche, heart healthy appetizer, high protein appetizer, make ahead appetizer, shrimp ceviche

Servings: servings

Calories: 166kcal

Equipment

large pot
Colander
Mixing bowl

Ingredients

2 pounds shrimp large, raw, peeled, deveined, and chopped
3/4 cup lime juice fresh
5 tomatoes roma, diced
1 onion white, medium, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro fresh, chopped
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
black pepper ground, to taste
salt to taste, optional
1 avocado peeled, pitted, and diced
2 tablespoons green onion chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Add the shrimp and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until they turn pink and opaque all the way through.
Drain the shrimp and move them straight into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
Drain again, pat the shrimp dry, and chop them into bite-size pieces.
Put the chopped shrimp in a large bowl and pour the lime juice over them.
Stir until every piece is coated.
Add the tomatoes, onion, and cilantro, and stir until they are coated with the lime juice.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and hot pepper sauce.
Season with black pepper, and with salt only if you want it.
Spoon the ceviche into glasses or small bowls.
Top each serving with the diced avocado and the chopped green onion.

Notes

METHOD CHANGE FROM THE ORIGINAL CARD: the shrimp is now cooked for 2 to 3 minutes and chilled before it meets the lime juice. Lime juice firms raw shrimp, and it leaves bacteria and viruses alive, so a 5-minute acid soak is a raw-seafood preparation. Cooking the shrimp gives a firmer bite and makes the dish safe in pregnancy, for young children, for adults over 65, and for anyone with a weakened immune system. Every ingredient and amount is unchanged.

Passive time: 1 hour of chilling in the refrigerator after the vegetables go in. This is on top of the 25 minutes of active time.

Lower sodium: leave out the added salt, use a no-salt-added ketchup, and cut the Worcestershire sauce to 1 teaspoon. Shrimp contains sodium on its own, so the seasonings are where you have room to work.

Lower sugar: ketchup is the only source of added sugar in the recipe. A no-sugar-added ketchup removes it.

Fish allergy and vegetarian guests: Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies. Leave it out and add another squeeze of lime instead.

Gluten: check the Worcestershire sauce label. Some versions use malt vinegar from barley and some use a soy sauce made with wheat. Serve with corn tostadas or gluten-free crackers rather than whole grain crackers if the dish needs to be gluten-free.

Hot sauce: leave it out of the bowl and set it on the table so each person adds their own.

Avocado: dice it and stir it in just before serving so the pieces stay green and whole.

Presentation: save two whole cooked shrimp and hook them over the rim of each glass.

Serving: serve cold with whole grain crackers, corn tostadas, or endive leaves for scooping. Set out extra lime wedges, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and hot sauce so people can season their own.

Make ahead and storage: the shrimp mixture can be made a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. The shrimp gets slightly firmer as it sits in the lime juice, so the texture changes a little overnight. Leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated. Do not freeze it; freezing turns the shrimp rubbery and the tomatoes watery.

Dairy-free and nut-free as written.

Serving size: about 1/2 cup per serving, 8 servings.

Nutrition is calculated by WP Recipe Maker. Re-run the calculation after import.

Nutrition

Poaching the Shrimp Widens Who Can Eat This Cold Starter

Two or three minutes in boiling water is the whole difference. The shrimp is cooked, so you can serve this to a pregnant guest or a grandparent. The lime still gives it the flavor. What you get is a cold starter with about 20 grams of protein and about 1 gram of saturated fat. Serve it in small glasses, about half a cup each, with corn tostadas for scooping.

Serve It With

Ceviche is cold and acidic, so it pairs well with something crunchy and something green. Easy Cilantro Lime Coleslaw repeats the lime and cilantro and adds cabbage crunch. A Jicama and Carrot Salad uses the jicama from the variations above. An Easy Kale Salad turns either pairing into a light summer supper.

Shashlik (Shish Kebab)

Grace October 22, 2019

Nutrition Snapshot

High in protein and very low in carbohydrate, so it fits a blood sugar friendly dinner as written.
The seasoning is vinegar, garlic, pepper, and oregano instead of salt, which keeps a serving low in sodium.
Beef sirloin is red meat, so keep this to one skewer and put chicken or salmon on the grill other nights.

Shashlik is beef sirloin, onion, and bell pepper cut into chunks, soaked in vinegar and oil, and grilled on skewers. The marinade takes two minutes to mix. Most grilled main courses pick up their sodium from a rub or a bottled sauce, and the seasoning here is acid, garlic, and herbs, so a serving comes in at 60 milligrams.

Grilled Sirloin and Peppers Make a Dinner With Almost No Carbohydrate

The Carbohydrate Comes From the Onion and Peppers

A serving holds about 26 grams of protein and about 5 grams of carbohydrate. Beef has no carbohydrate at all, so those 5 grams come from the onion and the two bell peppers. Both vegetables are mostly water and fiber, so that carbohydrate arrives with bulk behind it. The skewer is the whole dish, so any bread or rice on the plate is one you add yourself.

Why Protein and Fat Keep the Glucose Rise Small

This dinner starts with very little carbohydrate, which is the main reason blood sugar moves so little after it. Protein and fat add a second effect. Both slow how fast the stomach empties into the small intestine, so sugars from a meal reach the bloodstream over a longer stretch of time. Between the two, the rise after this dinner stays small and easy to plan around.

What’s in a Serving

The protein comes almost entirely from the sirloin. The peppers and onion add potassium and vitamin C, and a red pepper holds more vitamin C than a green one. Sodium is low because the seasoning is acid and herbs, so the only sodium in a serving is what the beef and vegetables hold on their own.

The fat number on the recipe card counts the full half cup of oil in the marinade. Most of that oil is poured off with the leftover marinade and never eaten, so a serving is leaner than the card figure suggests. Marinating in a quarter cup of oil brings the card closer to what reaches the plate.

Vinegar and Oil Soften the Sirloin and Lower the Compounds High Heat Forms

Acid Keeps a Lean Cut Tender

Sirloin is lean, and lean muscle dries out and tightens over high heat. Vinegar loosens the protein structure at the surface of each cube, a change called denaturing. The outside then stays soft while the inside cooks through. Oil spreads the pepper, garlic, and oregano over the meat and helps the surface brown.

A Marinade of Oil, Vinegar, and Herbs Lowers the Compounds Grilling Forms on Beef

Muscle meat cooked over high heat forms heterocyclic amines, compounds that are suspected human carcinogens. Marinating the beef first lowers how much of them forms. Beef steaks coated with a commercial spice marinade formed 57 to 88 percent less. That marinade used an oil, water, and vinegar base and went on an hour before grilling (Smith, Ameri, and Gadgil, Journal of Food Science, 2008, PMID 19241593).

This recipe uses a shorter soak and a cooler grill, so expect a smaller effect than those figures. Mix the marinade first and give the beef the full 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Grill over medium heat, which browns the surface more slowly than a hot fire. Turn the skewers every few minutes so no one side blackens.

What to Buy: Sirloin, Peppers, and the Marinade Oil

The Beef

Top sirloin is the right cut here. It is lean enough to keep the saturated fat modest and firm enough to hold together on a skewer. Trim the visible fat before you cube it. That lowers the fat in the finished dish and cuts down on flare-ups over the coals.

The Oil

Canola oil as written is mild and mostly unsaturated. Extra virgin olive oil gives the marinade more flavor and works well here, since oil clinging to the meat reaches a far lower temperature than oil in a hot pan. Avocado oil has the highest smoke point of the three, which makes it the steadiest choice over a hot grate.

The Vegetables

Buy firm peppers with tight skin and heavy onions with dry, papery outsides. Cut the onion into quarters, then separate the layers into two or three leaf thicknesses. At that thickness they thread onto the skewer and cook through. One red pepper alongside the two green ones adds sweetness and color.

Who This Fits and Who Should Watch the Portion

This dish suits anyone eating for steady blood sugar, anyone keeping sodium down, and anyone on a lower carbohydrate eating pattern. It is gluten free, dairy free, and nut free as written.

Go easy if you have reduced kidney function. The peppers and onion are a fair source of potassium, and a serving is high in protein, so set the portion against your own potassium and protein targets. Anyone managing gout may want a smaller skewer, since red meat is high in purines.

How to Make It Your Own

Change the Protein

Swap the beef one for one: boneless chicken thighs, salmon chunks, or extra firm tofu all skewer and marinate the same way. Chicken needs an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Salmon and tofu are done in about 8 to 10 minutes on the grill.

Add More Vegetables

Mushrooms, zucchini rounds, and cherry tomatoes all thread well and take the same marinade. More vegetables raise the fiber and spread the beef across more skewers, which keeps the red meat portion modest.

Swaps Recap

For less fat, marinate in a quarter cup of oil. For a different fat profile, use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil. As written the recipe is already low in sodium, sugar free, dairy free, and nut free, so those four adaptations are built in.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Serving

Cube the beef and cut the vegetables up to a day ahead and refrigerate them, and mix the marinade in a jar at the same time. Combine the two up to eight hours before you grill. Thirty minutes is the minimum soak, and eight hours is a sensible maximum, because acid keeps loosening the surface proteins past that point and the outside of the meat turns soft.

Cooked kebabs keep 3 days in the refrigerator and 2 months in the freezer. Reheat them in a 350 degree F oven so the sirloin stays tender. Sliced off the skewer, the leftovers are good cold over greens the next day.

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Shashlik (Shish Kebab)

Beef sirloin, onion, and bell pepper marinated in vinegar and oil, then grilled on skewers. High in protein, very low in carbohydrate, and made with no added salt.

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Eastern European

Keyword: beef kebabs, grilled beef skewers, low sodium dinner, shashlik, shish kebab

Servings: kebabs

Calories: 338kcal

Equipment

Grill
Skewers
Mixing bowl
Cutting board
Chef’s Knife

Ingredients

1/2 cup vinegar distilled white
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper ground
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano dried
1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
2 onions medium, cut into quarters and separated into layers
2 bell peppers green, cut into 1 1/2 inch squares
1 bell pepper red, cut into 1 1/2 inch squares

Instructions

Whisk the vinegar, canola oil, black pepper, garlic powder, and oregano together in a bowl.
Trim the visible fat from the beef sirloin.
Cut the beef into 1 1/2 inch cubes.
Cut the onions into quarters and separate them into layers.
Cut the bell peppers into 1 1/2 inch squares.
Put the beef and vegetables in a covered container.
Pour the marinade over the beef and vegetables and turn everything to coat.
Cover the container and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Heat the grill to medium.
Lift the beef and vegetables out of the marinade and let the excess drip off.
Thread the beef and vegetables onto skewers, alternating meat and vegetables.
Grill the kebabs over medium heat, turning every few minutes, 10 to 30 minutes depending on how done you want the beef.
Discard the leftover marinade.
Rest the kebabs 3 minutes, then serve them hot.

Notes

Marinating time: at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator, and up to 8 hours for deeper flavor. This time is hands off and sits outside the prep and cook times.

Doneness: grill whole beef cuts to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F, then rest them 3 minutes before serving. Pull the skewers closer to 135 degrees F for medium rare.

Skewers: soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes so they hold up over the flame. Metal skewers need no soaking and carry heavier cubes better.

About the calculated fat: the nutrition figures count the full 1/2 cup of marinade oil, and most of that oil goes down the drain with the leftover marinade. A serving delivers less fat than the figure on the card shows.

Less fat: use 1/4 cup of oil in the marinade. The vinegar still coats the beef and the flavor holds.

Oil swap: extra virgin olive oil works in place of the canola oil, and avocado oil handles grill heat well.

Lower sodium: this recipe adds no salt, so a serving is already very low in sodium. Season at the table if you want more.

Protein swaps: boneless chicken thighs, salmon chunks, or extra firm tofu all work on the skewers. Chicken needs an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Salmon and tofu grill in about 8 to 10 minutes.

More vegetables: mushrooms, zucchini rounds, and cherry tomatoes skewer well and marinate in the same mixture.

Grilling tip: trim the visible fat from the beef and keep the grill at medium so the drips stay off the flame. A heavy black char tastes bitter and adds compounds worth keeping to a minimum.

Dairy free, gluten free, and nut free as written. Distilled white vinegar carries no gluten.

Make ahead: cut the beef and vegetables and mix the marinade up to a day ahead, and keep them refrigerated. Cooked kebabs keep 3 days in the refrigerator and 2 months in the freezer. Reheat them in a 350 degree F oven so the beef stays tender.

Nutrition: leave every field blank on the card. WP Recipe Maker calculates it. Re-run the calculation after any card edit.

Nutrition

Shashlik Turns a Lean Cut Into a Whole Dinner on One Skewer

One skewer gives you a serving of lean beef, a serving of vegetables, and a marinade that seasons the meat and lowers the compounds grilling forms on it. Both the carbohydrate and the sodium are low, which is uncommon for a main course off the grill. Red meat still belongs in a modest portion, so make one skewer the serving and fill the second one with vegetables.

Serve It With

A green salad and a scoop of cauliflower rice keep the meal low in carbohydrate. For something bigger, add flatbread. For another beef dinner that goes light on starch, see Beef and Vegetable Stir-Fry. For a make-ahead beef dish that freezes well, see Spicy Chili Con Carne. To use up leftover grilled beef, try Tacos with Mexican Spice Seasoning.

Baked Chickpea Falafel Fritters for a High-Fiber Lunch

Grace October 22, 2019

Nutrition Snapshot

Three fritters give you about 11 grams of fiber, nearly all of it from the chickpeas themselves.
Two tablespoons of oil cover the whole batch of 24, so these fit a heart-healthy eating pattern.
Three fritters have about as much carbohydrate as two and a half slices of bread, so count them as that meal’s starch.

Falafel is one of the few fried foods that bakes well, and the reason is structural. Soaked raw chickpeas, ground coarse, hold their shape on their own, so a muffin tin browns them the way a pot of oil once did.

Plan around the clock rather than the work. The beans soak overnight, the ground mixture chills two hours, and the hands-on time is about 25 minutes. One batch makes 24 fritters and they freeze for three months.

Soaked Raw Chickpeas Are What Hold These Together

Raw Starch Is What Sets in the Oven

This recipe starts with dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and put into the processor raw. Soaking softens the bean enough to grind while the starch inside stays raw and granular. The ground mixture holds together and sets in the oven.

Cooked Chickpeas Turn to Paste

A canned or home-cooked chickpea has already taken on water, and cooking has gelatinized its starch. Ground up, it turns to paste with nowhere for the moisture to go, and the fritters slump in the tin.

The Chill Firms the Ground Bean

Two hours in the refrigerator firms the ground bean enough that a scooped ball holds its edges going into the cup. Skipping the chill is the usual reason home falafel bakes flat.

The Soluble Fiber in Chickpeas Lowers LDL Cholesterol

Fiber Pulls Cholesterol Out of Circulation

Soluble fiber binds bile acids in the small intestine and carries them out in the stool. The liver has to build replacement bile acids, and it uses cholesterol pulled from the blood to do it. LDL cholesterol falls as a result.

Eating about one serving of beans a day for three weeks or longer lowers LDL cholesterol by roughly 6 points (Ha et al., CMAJ, 2014, PMID 24710915). Three of these fritters use about two ounces of dried chickpeas, which is close to that amount once cooked. A batch made on Sunday covers most of a week.

The Starch Arrives Slowly

The starch inside a chickpea sits behind plant cell walls that survive soaking and baking largely intact, so digestive enzymes reach it gradually. Soluble fiber adds to that. It draws in water and thickens, which slows how fast the stomach empties, and glucose from the meal reaches the blood over a longer stretch.

Eating chickpeas in place of a food with the same carbohydrate load lowers the rise in blood glucose after that meal (Mah et al., Nutrition Journal, 2025, PMID 40660242). That makes these a better choice than a roll for the same amount of carbohydrate, and the portion still needs planning.

Potassium Helps the Kidney Clear Sodium

Potassium raises how much sodium the kidney puts into urine, which lowers blood pressure over time. Chickpeas supply a useful amount of it, and the salt here is three quarters of a teaspoon spread across 24 fritters. For where potassium comes from and how much you need, see Potassium.

What’s in a Serving

A serving is three fritters, one eighth of the batch. Most of the carbohydrate is chickpea starch, and it comes with the bean’s fiber still attached, which is the difference between this and a starch eaten on its own.

The fat is small, and nearly all of it is the peanut oil brushed on the tin and the tops. Deep frying multiplies that several times over, the largest nutritional difference between these and takeout falafel. The salt is measured rather than added to taste, so the card’s sodium figure accounts for it. The recipe card below has the exact figures.

What to Buy

Dried Chickpeas

Buy plain dried chickpeas, sometimes sold as garbanzo beans. Beans more than a year old soak unevenly and grind into gritty pieces, so buy from a store that sells a lot of them. One pound is about two and a half cups. Buy organic (to avoid glyphosate), since chickpeas are often sprayed to dry the field before harvest, and organic growing does not allow it.

The Onion, Parsley, and Garlic

Two cups of chopped white onion is a lot of onion and a lot of water. Blot it with a towel before it goes into the processor so the mixture stays dry enough to shape. Use flat-leaf parsley and pull the thick stems, which stay stringy through any amount of pulsing. Use fresh garlic. Jarred garlic is packed in acid and tastes of it.

The Spices and the Oil

Cumin and coriander are the flavor of falafel, and ground spices fade within a year of opening. If the cumin in your jar smells like dust, buy fresh. Peanut oil has a neutral flavor and stays stable at 400 degrees. Avocado or olive oil substitute cleanly.

Who This Fits and Who Should Watch the Portion

Who It Fits

These suit anyone eating for heart health. The added fat is small and unsaturated, the fiber is high, and the sodium stays modest. They are meatless and dairy-free as written, and they supply real plant protein, which is hard to find in a snack.

Go Easy If

Carbohydrate is the honest limit here. Three fritters carry about as much as two and a half slices of bread, so count them as the starch for that meal rather than serving them alongside rice or pita.

The recipe uses one and a half tablespoons of all purpose flour, so it contains gluten as written. Use the chickpea flour or oat flour swap in the notes to make it gluten free. Peanut oil is the one allergen in the ingredient list, and anyone avoiding peanuts should use avocado or olive oil in its place.

Chickpeas are high in FODMAPs, so anyone eating low FODMAP for irritable bowel syndrome should reintroduce these carefully.

How to Make It Your Own

Herbs are the easiest change. Swapping half the parsley for cilantro, or adding a handful of fresh mint, changes the flavor and leaves the structure alone. A quarter teaspoon of baking soda folded in before chilling gives a lighter, more open crumb. For heat, double the cayenne or add a chopped serrano with the garlic. Flattening the balls into patties works too, and they bake in the same time.

Swaps Recap

Lower sodium: cut the salt to a quarter teaspoon and rebuild the flavor with an extra tablespoon of lemon juice and a half teaspoon more cumin.
Gluten free: use chickpea flour or oat flour in place of the all purpose flour, same amount.
Peanut free: use avocado oil or olive oil in place of the peanut oil, same amount.
Dairy free: the recipe is dairy-free as written, so serve it with tahini rather than yogurt.
Lower sugar: the recipe has no added sugar, so no swap applies.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Freezing

The uncooked mixture keeps a day covered in the refrigerator, so soaking, grinding, and chilling can all happen the night before. Baked fritters keep four days refrigerated and three months frozen. Freeze them in a single layer on a sheet pan and bag them once they are solid, or they freeze together into a block.

Reheat at 375 degrees for eight to ten minutes. A microwave steams the outside and softens the crust.

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Baked Chickpea Fritters (Falafel)

Baked instead of fried, so these keep the fiber and protein of the chickpeas without the oil a deep fryer adds. Dried chickpeas soaked overnight are what hold them together.

Prep Time25

Cook Time15

Soaking and chilling10

Total Time10 40

Course: lunch, Snack

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Keyword: baked falafel, chickpea fritters, high fiber, meatless lunch, plant based protein

Servings: servings (makes 24 fritters, 3 per serving)

Calories: 269kcal

Equipment

Large pot or bowl
for the overnight soak
Colander
Food processor
Standard 12-cup muffin tin
Cookie scoop or 1/4-cup measure
Pastry Brush

Ingredients

1 lb dried chickpeas about 2 1/2 cups, soaked overnight and drained
2 cups white onion finely chopped
2 green onions chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped, thick stems removed
4 cloves garlic chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice fresh
1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp peanut oil

Instructions

Cover the dried chickpeas with 3 inches of cold water in a large pot. Soak at room temperature overnight, at least 8 hours.
Drain the chickpeas in a colander, rinse, and pat dry with a towel. The drier they are, the better the fritters hold their shape.
Finely chop the white onion. Chop the green onions, parsley and garlic.
Put the chickpeas, white onion, green onions, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, flour, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a food processor.
Pulse in short bursts until the mixture looks like coarse meal and a squeezed handful holds together. Stop before it turns into a smooth paste.
Scrape the mixture into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate 2 hours. Chilling firms it up so the fritters do not crumble.
Heat the oven to 400 F. Brush a standard 12-cup muffin tin with about half the peanut oil.
Scoop a scant 1/4 cup of mixture per fritter, roll it into a ball, and press it into a muffin cup. Brush the tops with the rest of the oil. You will get 24 fritters, so bake in two batches.
Bake 7 minutes. Turn each fritter over and bake 7 to 8 minutes longer, until browned and firm at the edges.
Let the fritters rest in the tin 5 minutes, then lift them out and serve warm.

Notes

Use dried chickpeas only. Canned or cooked chickpeas hold too much water and the fritters fall apart in the oven. There is no substitute for the overnight soak.
If the mixture feels wet, blot the chopped onion with a towel before it goes into the processor, or add flour 1 teaspoon at a time until a squeezed handful holds its shape.
Lower-sodium version: cut the salt to 1/4 teaspoon and build the flavor back with 1 more tablespoon of lemon juice and an extra 1/2 teaspoon of cumin.
Peanut-free: use avocado oil or olive oil in place of the peanut oil, same amount.
Gluten-free: use chickpea flour or oat flour in place of the all-purpose flour, same amount.
Serving: three fritters make a snack. For a fuller lunch, serve them over greens with plain yogurt or tahini sauce, which adds protein and slows the carbohydrate.
Make ahead: the uncooked mixture keeps covered in the refrigerator up to 24 hours before baking.
Storage: refrigerate baked fritters up to 4 days, or freeze up to 3 months. Reheat at 375 F for 8 to 10 minutes. A microwave makes them soft.

Nutrition

Baking Cuts the Fat and Keeps the Fiber

The chickpea is what makes this dish worth eating, and it supplies the fiber, the plant protein, and the slow starch. None of that changes between the fryer and the oven. What changes is the fat, and two tablespoons brushed across a whole batch is a different food from a fritter cooked submerged.

The carbohydrate is the one thing to plan around, and the fix is what goes beside it. Put three fritters over greens with tahini or plain yogurt, rather than three fritters and rice.

Serve It With

Three fritters over greens with tahini or plain yogurt is the serving this recipe is built for, and the yogurt adds protein that slows the carbohydrate further.

For chickpeas in a different texture, see Crispy Roasted Chickpeas with Smoked Paprika and Garlic. To fold them into something, Cottage Cheese Flatbread holds a filling better than a pita. For more on the fiber here, see Fiber 101: Gut Health, Weight Management, Cholesterol, and More.

Berry Galette, a Kidney-Friendly Dessert from Frozen Berries

Grace October 22, 2019

Nutrition Snapshot

One wedge carries 58 mg of potassium and 27 mg of phosphorus, which is low for any fruit dessert.
Two cups of berries spread across six wedges, and berries run lower in potassium than most fruit.
A wedge has 27 grams of carbohydrate and 8 grams of fat, so count it as the meal’s starch.

A galette is a pie without the pan. You roll one crust flat, pile fruit in the middle, fold the edge over the outside of the fruit, and bake it on a sheet. The shape is forgiving, which is the point of it.

Plan on about 15 minutes of hands-on work and 30 minutes in the oven, plus half an hour at the start to thaw the dough and the berries.

Berries Keep the Potassium Low in a Fruit Dessert

Why Potassium and Phosphorus Get a Limit

Healthy kidneys pass extra potassium and phosphorus into the urine. When kidney function drops, both build up in the blood. Potassium at a high level disturbs the heart’s rhythm. Phosphorus at a high level pulls calcium out of bone and deposits it in the walls of blood vessels. That is why a kidney care plan sets a daily ceiling on both.

Dessert is the hardest course to fit under those ceilings. Dairy, chocolate, and nuts are the three highest-phosphorus ingredients in most sweets, and bananas, dried fruit, and melon carry the potassium. This galette uses none of them.

Berries Run Lower in Potassium Than Most Fruit

A cup of raw blueberries has about 114 mg of potassium. A medium banana has more than three times that. Strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries all sit in the low-to-middle range for fruit. Two cups of mixed berries divided across six wedges is what holds this galette to 58 mg a wedge.

The Plain White Crust Keeps the Phosphorus Down

Milling strips the bran and the germ from wheat, and that is where most of the phosphorus and potassium in the grain sit. A refined crust therefore contributes very little of either. A whole wheat crust would raise both. This is one of the few places in nutrition where the refined choice is the one that fits the plan.

Read the Crust Label for Added Phosphate

Phosphorus added to a food as an additive is absorbed almost completely. The phosphorus already built into a plant food is absorbed at a much lower rate. Nutrient databases report the two as a single number (Kalantar-Zadeh et al., Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2010, PMID 20093346).

The 27 mg on the recipe card comes from a database. Turn the crust package over and read the ingredient list for any word containing phos. A crust without one keeps the real figure close to the calculated one.

What’s in a Serving

A serving is one wedge, one sixth of the galette. By weight it is roughly equal parts fruit and crust. The fruit supplies the fiber, the color, and a small amount of vitamin C. The crust supplies the fat and nearly all of the sodium.

The sugar is split in two. Two tablespoons go into the berries before baking and a half tablespoon goes over the top at the end. The berries bring their own sugar as well. The recipe card below has the exact figures.

What to Buy

Frozen Mixed Berries

Buy a plain bag with berries and nothing else on the ingredient list. Some mixes are sweetened or frozen in syrup, which adds sugar on top of what the recipe already calls for. Frozen berries are picked ripe and hold their shape better than out-of-season fresh ones. Thaw them in a bowl and pour off the liquid that collects, or that liquid runs out through the crust in the oven.

The Pie Crust

Use an unformed crust, meaning one sold rolled or flat rather than pressed into a foil pan. A pressed shell cannot be folded over the fruit. Read the ingredient list twice, once for added phosphate and once for the sodium figure, since the crust accounts for nearly all of both in this recipe.

Buy organic (to avoid glyphosate), since wheat is one of the crops often sprayed to dry the field before harvest, and organic growing does not allow it.

The Sugar and the Jam

Any granulated sugar works here. One tablespoon of blackberry jam goes on the folded edge and turns to a glaze in the oven, which is what gives the rim its shine. Any dark berry jam or preserve substitutes for it.

Who This Fits and Who Should Watch the Portion

Who It Fits

This suits anyone eating to a potassium and phosphorus limit, which usually means reduced kidney function. The numbers that matter are the ones your kidney team set for you, and one wedge fits inside most of them.

It also suits anyone who wants a fruit dessert with no dairy, no chocolate, and no nuts, whether the reason is a kidney limit or an allergy.

Go Easy If

Carbohydrate is the honest limit here. One wedge has 27 grams, close to what two slices of bread carry, and 8 grams of fat comes with it. Anyone counting carbohydrate should plan the wedge into the meal rather than adding it on the end.

One wedge also has 118 mg of sodium, and almost all of it comes from the crust. Crusts vary more than most people expect, and a common supermarket refrigerated crust would push a wedge closer to 175 mg. Read the crust label, since that is where the real number for your galette comes from.

The crust is wheat, so the recipe contains gluten as written. A rolled gluten-free crust works in its place, and the same label check applies to it.

How to Make It Your Own

Single-fruit versions work well. Two cups of frozen blueberries alone give the lowest potassium of any berry combination. Thin-sliced apple also folds into a galette and stays low in potassium, though it needs a few extra minutes in the oven to soften. A half teaspoon of cinnamon or the grated zest of a lemon changes the flavor without changing the figures.

Swaps Recap

Lower sodium: compare crust labels and pick the one with the least sodium a serving, since the crust accounts for nearly all of it.
Lower phosphorus: choose a crust whose ingredient list has no word containing phos.
Lower sugar: allulose measures like sugar by volume and browns faster, so watch the top over the last five minutes. A monk fruit blend sold at one to one also works. Follow the package, since monk fruit on its own is far sweeter than sugar. Both are lower in sugar and gentler on blood sugar.
Gluten free: use a rolled gluten-free pie crust in place of the wheat crust.
Dairy free: crusts vary, so read the label. One made with oil or shortening rather than butter keeps this dairy free.
Lower potassium still: use two cups of frozen blueberries in place of the mixed berries.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Serving

The crust is crispest the day it is baked, because the fruit softens it from underneath overnight. Cover it loosely and keep it at room temperature for a day, or refrigerate it up to three days. Reheat a wedge at 350 degrees for eight to ten minutes to bring the crust back.

To get ahead, thaw the berries and drain them the night before and keep the drained fruit covered in the refrigerator. The dough rolls out straight from the refrigerator. Assembly takes about ten minutes once both are ready.

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Berry Galette

A free-form berry tart made from one rolled pie crust and two cups of frozen berries. The berries and the plain crust hold the potassium and phosphorus low for a fruit dessert.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: dessert

Cuisine: French

Keyword: berry galette, frozen berries, kidney friendly dessert, low potassium dessert, rustic fruit tart

Servings: servings

Calories: 184kcal

Equipment

Rolling Pin
baking sheet
Medium Bowl
Microwave
Pastry Brush

Ingredients

1 organic pie crust refrigerated or frozen, unformed
2 cups mixed berries frozen
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar granulated
1 tablespoon blackberry jam

Instructions

Heat the oven to 425 F.
Thaw the pie dough and the frozen berries.
Roll the pie dough into a 12 inch circle.
Coat a baking sheet lightly with cooking spray.
Place the rolled dough on the baking sheet.
Combine the thawed berries and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a medium bowl.
Arrange the berry mixture in the center of the dough, leaving a 2 to 3 inch border.
Fold the edges of the dough in toward the center.
Press the folds gently to seal. The dough covers the berries only partway.
Melt the blackberry jam in the microwave, 10 to 20 seconds.
Brush the folded edges of the dough with the melted jam.
Bake 10 minutes at 425 F.
Reduce the oven to 350 F.
Bake 20 minutes longer.
Remove the galette from the oven.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of sugar over the top.
Cut the galette into 6 wedges, as you would a pie.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

Serving size is one wedge, one sixth of the galette. One 12 inch galette cuts into 6 wedges.

Thawing the pie dough and the berries adds about 30 minutes of hands-off time. The prep and cook times cover only the hands-on work.

Thaw the berries in a bowl and pour off the liquid that collects before they go on the dough. Extra liquid runs out through the crust while it bakes.

Buy a plain bag of frozen berries with no added sugar and no syrup.

Use an unformed crust, the kind sold rolled or flat. A crust already pressed into a foil pan cannot be folded over the fruit.

Look for an organic pie crust. Wheat is often treated with glyphosate before harvest to dry the field down, and organic wheat is grown without it.

Lower sodium: nearly all the sodium here comes from the pie crust. Compare crust labels and choose the one with the least sodium a serving.

Lower phosphorus: read the crust ingredient list for any word containing phos. Added phosphate is absorbed far more completely than the phosphorus already in flour, and a calculated figure does not separate the two.

Lower sugar: allulose measures like sugar by volume and browns faster, so watch the top over the last 5 minutes. A monk fruit blend sold at one to one also works. Follow the package, since monk fruit on its own is far sweeter than sugar. Both are lower in sugar and gentler on blood sugar.

Gluten: the recipe contains wheat as written. A rolled gluten-free pie crust works in its place.

Dairy: crusts vary. One made with oil or shortening rather than butter keeps this dairy free.

Nut free and egg free as written. Crust labels vary, so read yours.

Storage: the crust is crispest the day it is baked. Cover loosely and keep at room temperature 1 day, or refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat a wedge at 350 F for 8 to 10 minutes.

Make ahead: thaw and drain the berries the night before and keep them covered in the refrigerator. Assembly takes about 10 minutes once the dough and the fruit are ready.

Nutrition

Berries and a Plain Crust Make a Dessert That Fits a Kidney Plan

Dessert is where a potassium and phosphorus limit usually costs people something, because dairy, chocolate, and nuts appear in almost every sweet. Fruit and a plain wheat crust hold one wedge of this galette to 58 mg of potassium and 27 mg of phosphorus. That is a real dessert inside the numbers.

Serve one wedge, warm, and count its 27 grams of carbohydrate as part of the meal rather than an extra.

Serve It With

A wedge lands best after a low-sodium meal, since most of the day’s sodium is usually spent by the time dessert arrives. Lemon Dill Chicken Salad for a Low-Sodium Cold Lunch and a wedge of this galette make a full plate that stays inside a kidney-friendly pattern.

For another dessert built to the same limits, see Low Phosphorus Fudge.

Herbed Cream Cheese and Asparagus Crepe Rolls for a Protein-Rich Brunch

Grace October 22, 2019

Nutrition Snapshot

Each roll pairs 10 grams of protein and 24 grams of fat with only 16 grams of carbohydrate, so blood sugar rises more slowly.
Asparagus and eggs add folate and choline, two nutrients worth getting more of at breakfast.
The butter and cream cheese supply most of the fat and the 247 milligrams of sodium, so one roll is the serving to plan on.

A savory brunch dish that looks like it came from a restaurant kitchen usually takes real effort. These rolls take about 30 minutes of hands-on time, then an hour in the refrigerator to firm up before slicing.

The crepe batter comes together in one bowl. The filling is a quick puree of cream cheese, parsley, and lemon juice. The asparagus spears only need a steam before they roll up inside. Chill the rolls for an hour, slice them into pinwheels, and brunch looks intentional even on a weekday morning.

Pairing Protein and Fat With the Crepe Slows How Fast Blood Sugar Rises

When you eat carbohydrate by itself, your stomach empties it into the small intestine fairly quickly, and the sugar it breaks down into reaches your bloodstream in a rush. Protein and fat slow that process. They make the stomach empty more gradually, so the flour in this crepe turns into blood sugar over a longer stretch of time instead of all at once.

This crepe holds only 16 grams of carbohydrate to begin with, and it arrives with 10 grams of protein and 24 grams of fat already mixed into the batter and the filling. That combination is why a serving here behaves differently on your blood sugar than a plain pancake made with the same amount of flour. For more on the nutrients that support healthy glucose metabolism, see Insulin Resistance.

What’s in a Serving

A serving here is one whole crepe roll, cut into three or four pinwheels once it is chilled. Asparagus contributes folate, a nutrient your body uses to build DNA and new red blood cells. Eggs contribute choline, a nutrient tied to liver function and brain development that many people fall short of.

The dish also delivers a meaningful amount of potassium, plus some phosphorus and calcium, mostly from the eggs and cream cheese. For more on these two nutrients, see Folate and Potassium.

What to Buy and Why

The Crepe Batter

The batter uses all-purpose flour, egg, egg whites, cream, and butter. Buy organic flour (to avoid glyphosate), since wheat is one of the crops often sprayed to dry the field before harvest, and organic growing does not allow it. Whisking the batter thin and letting it rest for a few minutes before cooking the first crepe keeps the crepes pliable enough to roll around the asparagus without cracking.

The Green Herbed Filling

The filling is cream cheese pureed with parsley, lemon juice, and black pepper until smooth. Let the cream cheese warm to room temperature first for a smoother puree. The lemon juice keeps the color bright and balances the richness in the cream cheese, so a little goes further in each bite. Reduced-fat cream cheese purees just as smoothly and brings the fat number down; see the swaps below.

The Asparagus

Twelve asparagus spears, trimmed of their tough woody ends and steamed until just tender, run through the center of each crepe before it rolls closed. Look for spears that are firm and deep green, with tips that are tightly closed rather than starting to open. Thinner spears roll more easily than thick ones, so choose the slimmer end of the bunch if you have a choice at the store.

Who This Fits and When to Go Easy

This dish fits a brunch built around steady blood sugar, since protein and fat are eaten at the same time as the carbohydrate rather than added later. It also fits anyone who wants a savory, egg-forward brunch instead of a sweet stack of pancakes.

If you are watching saturated fat or sodium closely, treat one roll as a full serving and pair it with a plain vegetable side instead of a second roll.

How to Make It Your Own

The recipe on the card stays exactly as written. These swaps let you adapt it to a different need without changing the method.

Swaps Recap

Lower sodium: a reduced-sodium or no-salt-added cream cheese lowers the 247 milligrams of sodium in each roll by a meaningful amount.
Lower fat: light cream cheese in the filling, plus a nonstick pan so you use less of the 4 tablespoons of butter for cooking the crepes, brings the fat total down.
Dairy-free: a dairy-free cream cheese alternative works in the filling, coconut oil replaces the butter in the batter and the pan, and canned coconut cream stands in for the cream.
Gluten-free: a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend makes a crepe with a similar texture, though it may need an extra minute to set in the pan before flipping.
Nut-free: every ingredient in the recipe is nut-free as written.

Storage and Serving Ideas

Wrap the rolled crepes tightly and refrigerate for up to two days, since the cream cheese filling limits how long they keep well. Slice them cold, straight from the refrigerator, for the cleanest pinwheel cut. Freezing changes the texture here, since cream cheese separates and turns grainy once it thaws, so plan to eat these within that two-day window.

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Asparagus Crepe Rolls

A savory crepe rolled around steamed asparagus and a lemon herbed cream cheese filling, sliced into pinwheels for a protein-forward, blood sugar friendly brunch.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Breakfast

Keyword: asparagus crepe rolls, blood sugar friendly brunch, egg brunch recipe, high protein brunch, savory crepes

Servings: servings

Calories: 322kcal

Equipment

Steamer Basket
Food processor
Mixing bowl
Whisk
8-Inch Nonstick Pan
Spatula
Aluminum Foil
Knife
Cutting board

Ingredients

12 asparagus spears
4 ounces cream cheese
1 parsley bundle
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup all-purpose flour organic
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cream
1 egg
2 egg whites
4 tablespoons butter

Instructions

Steam the asparagus spears for 6 to 8 minutes, until just tender.
Puree the cream cheese with the parsley, lemon juice, and black pepper to make the green filling.
Season the filling to taste.
Whisk together the flour, water, cream, egg, egg whites, and 2 tablespoons of the melted butter until smooth.
Melt 1/2 tablespoon of the remaining butter in an 8 to 10 inch pan over medium heat.
Pour in about 1/3 cup of batter and swirl the pan to spread it thin.
Cook until the top looks bubbly and the edges turn golden.
Flip the crepe briefly, then cool it on a plate.
Repeat the melting, pouring, and cooking process to make 4 crepes total.
Spread each crepe with the green filling.
Lay 3 asparagus spears across one end of each crepe and roll it tightly.
Wrap the rolls in foil and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Unwrap the rolls and slice each one into 3 to 4 pinwheels before serving.

Notes

Serving size is one crepe roll, cut into 3 to 4 pinwheels.

Passive time: allow 1 hour of chilling in the refrigerator after rolling and wrapping the crepes in foil, before slicing. This is not included in the total time above.

Organic flour: look for organic all-purpose flour. Wheat is often treated with glyphosate before harvest, and organic flour is grown without it.

Lower sodium: a reduced-sodium or no-salt-added cream cheese lowers the sodium in each roll.

Lower fat: light cream cheese in the filling, plus a nonstick pan to use less butter for cooking the crepes.

Dairy-free: a dairy-free cream cheese alternative in the filling, coconut oil in place of the butter, and canned coconut cream in place of the cream.

Gluten-free: a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend works in the batter, though it may need an extra minute to set before flipping.

Nut-free: every ingredient is nut-free as written.

Storage: refrigerate wrapped rolls up to 2 days. Not recommended for freezing since the cream cheese filling separates and turns grainy once thawed.

Nutrition

Asparagus Crepe Rolls Pair Protein and Fat to Keep the Crepe’s Carbs From Spiking Blood Sugar

This dish turns a small amount of flour into a brunch that eases how fast blood sugar rises. The protein and fat in the eggs, cream cheese, and butter slow how quickly that carbohydrate becomes glucose in your blood.

Asparagus adds folate, and the eggs add choline, so the nutrition here goes beyond the blood sugar angle. Plan on one roll, cut into pinwheels, as the serving, since the fat and sodium in the Nutrition Snapshot are based on that amount.

Serve It With

A small bowl of berries rounds out this savory brunch without adding much more carbohydrate to manage. If you want a second protein-forward option for the same meal, Chickpea and Spinach Egg Scramble follows the same blood-sugar-friendly approach. If you have asparagus spears left over from the bunch, Vinaigrette Asparagus turns them into a quick side for dinner.

Primary

Nutrition Snapshot

Whole Grains and Egg Protein Together Slow the Rise in Blood Sugar

The Pasta Itself Digests Slowly

Cooled Pasta Changes Again

Protein Slows the Stomach

What the Yolks Add

What’s in a Serving

What to Buy

The Whole Wheat Spaghetti

The Eggs and Egg Whites

Salt and Lemon

The Mozzarella, Basil, and Green Onion

Who This Fits

Who It Fits

Fitting It Into a Carbohydrate Target

How to Make It Your Own

The Health Swaps in Short

Cook It Once and Eat It for Four Days

Basil Spaghetti Frittata

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition

Whole Wheat Pasta and Eggs Together Make a Gentler Breakfast

Serve It With

Nutrition Snapshot

Asparagus and Garlic Both Contain Inulin, the Fiber That Reaches Your Colon Intact

Your Gut Bacteria Turn Inulin Into Butyrate, the Main Fuel for Your Colon Cells

What’s in a Serving

What to Buy: Firm Spears and a Short Label on the Dressing

Asparagus

The Vinaigrette

Garlic and Olive Oil

The Pan

Who This Fits and Who Should Go Easy

How to Make It Your Own

Swaps Recap

Storage and Make-Ahead

Quick Skillet Asparagus With Garlic and Red Wine Vinaigrette

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition

Vinaigrette Asparagus Turns a Two Minute Side Into Food for Your Gut Bacteria

Serve It With

Nutrition Snapshot

Corn Holds Arepas Together Without Gluten

The Cheese in the Dough Supplies the Protein

What’s in a Serving

What to Buy

Masarepa Is the Precooked Corn Meal Arepas Need

Costeño Cheese and What Stands In For It

Anise Seed Gives the Arepa a Faint Sweetness

Medium Heat Gives You a Crust and a Cooked Middle

Who This Fits and Who Goes Easy

How to Make It Your Own

Storage and Make-Ahead

Arepas

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition

Corn and Cheese Make a Gluten-Free Bread That Holds Protein

Serve It With

Nutrition Snapshot

A Small Beef Portion and a Refined Crust Keep the Minerals in Range

Why a Kidney-Friendly Plan Tracks These Two Minerals

Two Ounces of Beef per Pastie

A Refined Crust Is Low in Phosphorus

The Vegetables Add a Small Share

What’s in a Serving

What to Buy

The Pie Crust

Ground Sirloin

Frozen Peas and Corn

Worcestershire Sauce and Ketchup