Source of Wellness newsletter
Posted by kathryn in All In A Day's Work
Our latest Source of Wellness newsletter is out. It contains articles on trans fats, acupuncture and ways to get a good night’s sleep.
We also now have an acupuncturist on board at the clinic, Lisa Ogden . Lisa has over ten years experience as an acupuncturist and has worked with everything from fertility, HIV and more. She’s a great addition to the mix of practitioners at the centre.
Vitamin study in the news
Posted by kathryn in Health News
I’ve seen the reports this morning in the Herald , about concerns raised in a new study into vitamin supplements – that they may increase the risk of death.
I will be blogging about this, but want to review the original research and other reports before commenting. I’ll post something about thison Saturdaynext week.
Buying eggs
Posted by kathryn in Shopping Basket and Sustainablity
When shopping at the supermarket it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the the choices. I’m an avid food label reader, but even I’ll admit it sometimes takes too long to make an informed decision. It’s easy to be overwhelmed and end up buying the cheapest item, or the one you always buy.
If you’re in any way concerned about animal welfare, one of the tricky decisions can be in the egg aisle. Eggs are no longer just eggs – instead we now have cage eggs, omega eggs, free range, barn laid, vegetarian, organic and even biodynamic.
Paula Goodyer’s Chew On This blog has a good round-up of the differences and how to make the best choices for both you and the chicken. She also makes a good point about the relative cost of different types of egg:
the next time you’re trying to decide what comes first – the hen or your hip pocket – consider that even at $5.50 or $6.00 for a dozen free range or barn eggs, they’re such a good source of protein and other nutrients that they’re still a bargain compared to many other less nutritious foods for the same price.
Eggs are little nuggets of nutrition. They contain good quality protein (about 6g per egg), magnesium, potassium, vitamin A, thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), folate , B12, vitamin E and iron. While they do contain some fat, it’s a mixture of poly-unsaturated, mono-unsaturated and saturated fats. There’s more about egg nutrition, including the issue of eggs and cholesterol here .
Xenical
Posted by kathryn in Weight loss
I’ve been asked recently about the drug Xenical (also known as orlistat) and whether I’d recommend it for weight loss. I’ve been concerned, because the questions have been from people who, while they may need to lose a few kilograms, are in no way obese.
Xenical is a pharmaceutical drug manufactured by Roche. It was originally supplied in Australia as an S4 medication, ie it had to be prescribed by a doctor. However, in 2003 it was re-scheduled as an S3, meaning it could be sold by pharmacists. In the middle of last year, Roche were given permission to advertise Xenical to the public.
Does it work?
Xenical works by blocking the absorption of fat from the foods you eat. If you take it with food, Xenical will block about a third of the fat in that meal. This means you absorb fewer kilojoules than you’re actually eating and are more likely to lose weight. Xenical does work, as long as it’s taken correctly and participants in clinical trials have lost significant amounts of weight.
Who should take it?
Xenical is only appropriate for two groups of people
- adults who are obese, ie they have a BMI of 30 or more, or
- adults who are overweight, have a BMI of 27 or more, combined with obesity related health risks, such as high blood pressure or bad cholesterol levels
Xenical also only really works when combined with a reduced kilojoule diet and increase physical activity. It’s an adjunct, to speed the process along for people whose health is significantly at risk.
Who shouldn’t take it?
While Xenical does work, it is only appropriate for people who are obese. Those who are overweight, without the above conditions, should not be taking it . Xenical is a pharmaceutical medication, it’s a more extreme way of losing weight and there are risks involved with taking it. It should not, therefore be taken lightly, but only by people who really need it.
For it to work, Xenical has to be taken at meal-times, when you’re eating fat. You have to limit your fat intake at each meal and throughout the day. Side effects can include diarrhoea, oily bowel movements, abdominal pain and flatulence.
Along with these, Xenical will also block your absorption of essential fatty acids and the fat soluble vitamins and antioxidants – like vitamin A, vitamin E and the carotenoids. These are all important to maintaining good health.
Weight loss
Weight loss is one of those areas of health where everyone wants an easy-fix and the idea of taking a pill is very attractive. However, for most people, it’s a disappointingly boring fact that the “key” to weight loss is to reduce the amount of energy you’re eating (ie kilojoules) and increase the amount of energy you’re expending (ie by increasing physical activity).
For more on Xenical, check out the Choice mystery shopper report and also their FAQs .
Technorati tags: 
xenical , 
orlistat , 
weight loss .
Spearfishing
Posted by kathryn in Weight loss and Snacking
Great little post from Dietgirl about the munchies. Are you a person that walks in the door from work, opens the fridge straight away and starts pilfering around for food? It’s been hours since lunch, you’re not sure what you’re looking for, you just want something . Those cubes of cheese, few olives, spoonfuls of dip and handfuls of crackers can really add up kilojoule-wise and if you’re trying to lose weight, it’s these habits you need to question.
If it’s been four or five hours since your lunch, then yes, you’re going to be hungry. If you can’t wait until dinner, then it’s okay to have a snack, but make it a small one. Dietgirl (and her sister’s) advice, is to put a few bits on a plate and sit down to eat it. This means you’re controlling the portion, taking some time over eating and also having a a few minutes break from your busy day, to de-stress.
Instead of spearfishing , why not make yourself a yummy little mezze plate, take a seat and enjoy your after-work snack-time.
: Update: I realised later in the evening that Dietgirl actually links to me at the end of the spearfishing article – I didn’t mean to be quite so circular!
Life etc: yoghurt recipes
Posted by kathryn in All In A Day's Work and Recipes: 15 minute
The latest issue of Life etc is out, complete with my Ten Minute Kitchen recipes, this time using yoghurt. The three recipes are:
- Mango, maple and yoghurt tarts (these are also really good with banana – see the picture below)
- Lamb balls with tzatziki and tabbouleh
- Chick pea, couscous and pumpkin salad with a mustard yoghurt dressing
As per the name, the recipes only take ten minutes to prepare – super-quick and easy.
The current recipes can be downloaded from the Life etc website .
Another organic school canteen
Posted by kathryn in Kid's nutrition
News in the weekend herald of another organic school canteen, this time it’s Newtown High School of Performing Arts . They’re the first high school in NSW to have a completely organic canteen.
Soft drinks, ice-creams and junk food have been replaced by nori rolls, juices and fresh fruit.
In the last few years, the State government, through the NSW Canteen Association , has been actively encouraging school canteens to get healthier. While only a couple are going organic, many others are phasing out processed and junk foods that are high in sugar and saturated fat, and replacing them with healthier options. Some schools with a multicultural population are bringing in different ethnic food items, while others are involving students in food preparation.
There’s lots of information on the NSW Canteen Association website .
Antioxidant supplements
Posted by kathryn in Antioxidants
I’m writing an article for Wellbeing magazine at the moment, on the subject of antioxidants. There’s been a fair amount of discussion, over the past year, about the value of antioxidants, following this New Scientist article. The article received a lot of media coverage, as it specifically questions the value of taking antioxidant supplements.
It’s important to say at the beginning, during this debate nobody is denying that a diet high in fruit and vegetables will reduce your risk of developing many common diseases . Instead the question mark is over supplements, it’s over the extracted and manufactured antioxidants, and how they work in the body.
Anyway, in my research I’ve come across this well written and useful post at Ask Me How it Works.
What happened to Jamie at home?
Posted by kathryn in Health News and Vegetables
I posted last week about how much I loved the new Jamie at Home programme . Last night I sat down at 7.30pm, waited 20 mins, flicking between Channel 10 and the 7.30 Report , but Mr Oliver failed to materialise.
While I found out all about the wonderful volunteers in Warnambool working to save koalas after the bush fires, the cooking show just wasn’t on.
I wasn’t the only one annoyed and disconcerted by this.
After speaking to Channel 10 today, I can let you know Jamie at Home has been put on hold for a month – the rest of the episodes will be shown from 15th March. I didn’t ask why, just put it down to the vagaries of commercial TV in Australia.
More ways to eat vegetables
Posted by kathryn in A Balanced Diet and Vegetables
Almost Vegetarian posts on a subject very close to my heart . . . yep, how to eat more vegetables. They’re nice suggestions, I particularly like:
Make fruit and veg easy to snack on.When we bring home celery, for example, I trim the ends, rinse the stalks, and drop them into a drinking glass with a plastic bag loosely dropped on top. Then, whenever anyone wants a munch, there they are, all ready to eat. The same trick works with fruit. Berries, I store in the fridge. Apples and hardier fruits are washed and put in a bowl on the counter, all ready for the munching.
This mirrors advice I’ve linked to before from Connie Evers Nutrition for Kids site, on ways to promote vegies to kids :
Placing vegetables up-front-and-center increases the likelihood that they will be eaten. Always keep plenty of cleaned, ready-to-eat vegetables at eye level in the frig. In the late afternoon (when kids are super hungry), set out a bowl of pea pods, baby carrots, grape tomatoes or broccoli florets on a table or area nearby the children. It won’t take long for the veggies to disappear!
If it’s easy and it’s there, you (and your kids) are more likely to eat it. Prepping your fruit and vegies as soon as you get home from the shops takes about 10 minutes. However this extra bit of time may just mean you eat more healthily.
For more info on why and how to eat more vegies, check out my pictorial guide .
Peach, walnut and ginger muffins
Posted by kathryn in Recipes: vegan and Breakfast
After posting my date and walnut muffin recipe , I’ve recently adapted it, for using fresh fruit. I’ve cooked these muffins all summer, using peaches, nectarines, apricots and even mangoes, but I keep on forgetting to photograph them, hence the delay in posting this recipe.
These muffins are really good. They’re low in kilojoules, have no added fat, as well as being low in sugar . . . and yet they taste great. Moreover, most of the fat comes from walnuts, which are high in the lovely Omega 3 essential fatty acids and low in saturated fats.
There’s quite a bit of flexibility in this recipe. You can use different fruits, I’ve added mixed spice instead of ginger, tried out different jams, used spelt flour and made them with rice milk. I like to use Jalna vanilla or strawberry yoghurt, but have also made them with natural yoghurt. If you want to make a vegan version, just use soy yoghurt and soy or rice milk.
Once cooked, these muffins need to either be kept in the fridge and used within a few days or frozen. The use of fresh fruit means they won’t last beyond three days, out of the freezer.
Peach, walnut & ginger muffins
These have a high fruit-to-muffin ratio. I’ve found it easier leaving them to cool and firm up in the tin for a good 15 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack. Makes 12 muffins.
- 1.5 cups plain wholemeal flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/3 cup walnuts, broken into large chunks
- 1/2 cup yoghurt (I use Jalna vanilla or strawberry)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup light or skim milk (or soy or rice milk)
- 6 peaches, stones removed
- 4 tablespoons apricot jam
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease a 12 hole muffin tin.
Sieve together the flour, ginger and baking soda. Add in the walnuts and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl whisk together the yoghurt, egg and milk.
Roughly chop the peaches and put them into a food processor, with the jam. Pulse together, until the fruit and jam are combined, but there’s still some texture and lumpy-ness to the fruit. Stir this through the yoghurt mixture.
Add the yoghurt and fruit to the flour and mix together until just combined – do not beat, or over-stir. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin. Place the muffins in the middle of the oven and cook for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack.
Nutritional information per muffin:
Total kilojoules: 479kJ; Protein: 5g; Total Fat: 4g (mostly poly-unsaturated); Saturated fat: 1g; Carbohydrate: 6g; Fibre: 3g; Sodium: 26mg; Number of fruit serves towards daily total: 0.5 serves; Additional nutrients: potassium,Omega 3 essential fatty acids, beta-carotene, vitamin C and other antioxidants.
Cooking for one
Posted by kathryn in A Balanced Diet
Here in Australia more and more people are living by themselves. Whether by choice or necessity, the traditional nuclear family is no longer everybody’s reality.
As Chew On This points out, cooking for one can present challenges. Many people living by themselves can’t be bothered making a proper dinner and end up grazing on whatever comes to hand. Others, however, actually eat better by themselves, when they don’t have to make allowances for another’s likes and dislikes.
If you’re in the can’t-be-bothered category, then both Chew On This and Digs Magazine have some good strategies and tips for getting a healthy meal.
A doctor or not
Posted by kathryn in Health News
Big article from the Guardian on Dr Gillian McKeith, the host of You Are What You Eat . It’s emotive, angry and contains a big serve against nutritionists in general – worth a read.
And yes, I am a nutritionist myself, but I have some sympathies with the writer’s point of view.
Thanks to Dietgirl for the link.
More on the Macca's Tick
Posted by kathryn in Health News
This , from last week’s Age, on the Heart Foundation’s Tick accreditation of nine McDonald’s meals . Pros and cons of the deal, what’s involved, as well as a good outline of how the whole Tick programme works.
Lentil and haloumi salad
Posted by kathryn in Recipes: 15 minute, Recipes: main dishes, Recipes: legumes and Recipes: salads
This was my dinner on Tuesday night. Richard was out and I wasn’t in a big cooking mood, but I still wanted something tasty, healthy and home-made. This salad fitted the bill.
The original recipe prescribed tinned lentils, but I already had some dried to use up. Rather than fuss around cooking them on the stovetop, I thought I’d try cooking them in my rice cooker. I used one part lentils to three parts water, added a pinch of salt about 20 minutes into the cooking, otherwise I left the rice cooker to its own devices. It took about 35 minutes and worked really well. The lentils were cooked perfectly for a salad – soft, but they still retained their shape and texture. The remainder are now in my freezer for future salad appearances.
This is a flexible salad – it started off as this recipe from taste.com.au (thanks to CK for sending me the original link), but then morphed and changed a bit, according to what I had in the house. You can change the vegetables, for example a handful of baby spinach would work really well, and also the dressing. I’d like to try this with a yoghurt, lemon juice and herb dressing, but also with a bit of chilli in there. I don’t like raw onion and usually soak it in boiling water to take some heat out, but you could also use red onion, or leave it out completely. Feel free to play around as much as you want.
Lentil & haloumi salad
Serves 1
- 1/4 onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cooked or tinned lentils
- 1/2 small cucumber, chopped into small chunks
- 1 tomato, chopped into small chunks
- 1/2 cup of mint leaves
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 bunch asparagus
- 100g haloumi
Pour boiling water over the chopped onion and leave to soak for about 7 minutes.
Mix together the lentils, cucumber, tomato and mint leaves. Squeeze over the lemon juice and half the olive oil, then toss to combine and leave to marinate, while you cook the asparagus.
Heat a fry pan over a medium – high heat and add the rest of the olive oil. Put in the asparagus and toss in the oil for a few seconds, then immediately add the haloumi to the pan and cook for two minutes on each side. Continue to toss the asparagus, while the cheese is cooking.
Drain the onion, add to the lentil mix and stir to combine. Empty the lentils onto a plate and then arrange the cooked asparagus and haloumi on top. Serve immediately.
Cooking at home with Jamie
Posted by kathryn in Health News and Vegetables
Last week Jamie Oliver’s new cooking programme started on Channel 10, called Jamie At Home . I must admit to being a big fan of Jamie Oliver, from his style of cooking, through to the work he’s done in the UK to improve school dinners, plus the Fifteen Foundation. Moreover, unlike a lot of TV celebrity chefs, Jamie Oliver’s recipes are ones that you can actually make at home.
Last week’s programme was a corker – a handful of beautiful recipes that were easy to make, used fresh ingredients and simple, yet gutsy, flavour combinations. Vegetables were a key ingredient in all.
I wanted to make and eat everything and this time I’ll be watching it with pen and paper in hand.
Programme: Jamie At Home , Channel 10, Thursdays 7.30pm
More on McDonald's meal Ticks
Posted by kathryn in Health News and A Balanced Diet
I blogged yesterday about the announcement that nine McDonald’s meals have been given Heart Foundation Ticks. A follow up story in today’s Herald gives reactions from the AMA and Westmead Children’s Hospital.
The AMA are concerned the:
respected red tick, which indicates to consumers a healthy, low kilojoule, well-balanced meal, had been “hamburgled” by McDonald’s, and could create a “halo” effect around a small number of more healthy meals on an extensive menu high in fats, salt and sugar.
While Dr Louise Bauer from Westmead noted:
“We know that when McDonald’s started selling its [Lighter Choices] a while back, the sales of burgers and fries went up,” she said. “More people felt comfortable going there, but they weren’t necessarily ordering the healthier alternatives once they got to the counter.”
Let’s be clear about this, the Heart Foundation Tick applies to nine meals only , it does not apply to the whole McDonald’s menu. Unlike the Herald’s opening paragraph, the Heart Foundation has not given “McDonald’s a nutritional tick of approval”.
It has accredited nine meal combinations, which have to be eaten exactly as specified to fit within the Tick guidelines. No substitutions, no changing the drink to a coke, or the sauce to barbecue, or the salad to fries.
The big question mark over this initiative is whether people will actually choose the Tick meals. Will the people who eat at McDonald’s choose a burger with salad and juice, as opposed to fries and a thickshake. This is dependant on a number of things, including the advertising and costing. If the meals are a lot more expensive or are not effectively signposted as the Tick meals, then things may go awry.
Technorati tags: mcdonald’s , heart foundation , fast food
Heart Foundation tick on some McDonald's meals
Posted by kathryn in Health News
Big news from the fast food industry today, nine McDonald’s meals have been accredited with a Heart Foundation tick. What can be going on?
The Heart Foundation’s Tick is a guide to helping people make healthier food choices. It’s mostly found on processed and take-away foods, offering an independent assessment on which are the healthier options in that food category .
Tick programme guidelines
Over the last year Macca’s have been working with the Heart Foundation to improve the nutritional value of their foods, in order to comply with the Tick programme. In the accredited meals they’ve lowered salt and saturated fat levels, as well as converting to virtually trans fat free cooking oils.
All of the accredited McDonald’s meals had to comply with the following guidelines:
- less than 2% saturated fat
- virtually no trans fats
- minimum of one serving of vegies per meal
- the meal must not provide more than one-third of an adult’s daily kilojoule requirement
This of course means the traditional McDonald’s meal had to be changed – the accredited meals don’t include fries, they can’t be super-sized and they don’t include soft drinks. The meals are also quite specific and there’s no room for substitution or changes.
The Tick approved McDonald’s meals
There are nine meals that have the Heart Foundation’s Tick:
- Herb-Fusion warm chicken salad, Berrynice yoghurt crunch and a bottle of water
- Lean beef burger, garden salad and a medium orange juice
- 3 chicken McNuggets, garden salad and a medium orange juice
- 6 chicken McNuggets, garden salad and a medium orange juice
- Hamburger, garden salad and a medium orange juice
- Tandoori chicken Deli-Choices roll, Berrynice yoghurt crunch and a medium orange juice
- Thai chicken Deli-Choices roll, a bottle of water and an apple
- Filet-O-Fish, garden salad and a medium orange juice
- McChicken, garden salad and a bottle of water
To comply with the Tick all salads are served with either Italian or chilli and lime dressing, while the chicken nuggets are served with ketchup, sweet and sour or sweet Thai chilli sauce.
The benefits of these meals
In Australia, McDonald’s serves up one million meals per day, so it’s feeding a lot of people. The real benefits of these Tick approved meals can be seen when you start comparing them to traditional McDonald’s meals.
- the McChicken burger with salad and water has 50% fewer kilojoules and 50% less saturated fat when compared to the same burger plus fries and a coke
- the McNuggets with salad and orange juice have 65% fewer kilojoules and almost 70% less saturated fat than nuggets with barbecue sauce, fries and a coke. You’re also losing salt and picking up vegetable servings.
- the lean beef burger meal has 2,311 fewer kilojoules, 8.4g less of fat and 355mg less salt than a Big Mac, regular fries and coke.
These are big, big savings.
So is McDonald’s now healthy?
This is a tricky one. In my fantasy world everybody cooks from scratch, they use fresh ingredients, everyone eats their full five servings of vegetables each day, they shun fast food and enjoy a glass of wine in moderation only.
However, back in the real world, I realise very few people actually eat this way. At the moment, here in Australia, fast food is a frequent meal in a lot of peoples’ weekly diets. Until this changes, making fast food better is making individual’s nutritional intake better.
So yes, I think this development by McDonald’s and the Heart Foundation is a good thing, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to change my personal eating habits and I’m not going to rush out and start eating McDonald’s. I’m also going to continue to encourage my clients to eat less fast food, to cook for themselves and to take control over what they eat.
NB: Full disclosure
In the interests of full disclosure, I should tell you that a very close friend of mine works at the Heart Foundation and has been involved in this project. I don’t think this has biased me for or against the issue of putting the Tick on McDonald’s meals (and we certainly have a robust enough relationship that I wouldn’t have a problem disagreeing with her). However our friendship does mean I’m more aware of the Heart Foundation’s work and also of their aims and goals, than I may otherwise have been.
Technorati tags: mcdonald’s, heart foundation, fast food
February: what's in season
Posted by kathryn in Shopping Basket, Seasonal Health, Fruit and Vegetables
Below is my regular list of the fruit and vegetable in season in Sydney this month:
Fruit:
- Avocado
- Bananas
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Figs
- Grapes
- Kiwifruit
- Limes
- Lychees
- Mangosteens
- Melons
- Nashi pears (the first of the new season nashis will become available this month)
- Nectarines
- Oranges (valencias)
- Passionfruit
- Peaches
- Pears (Howell&Williams)
- Persimmon
- Pineapples
- Plums
- Rambutans
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
Vegetables:
- Beans (butter, flat, green, snake)
- Bok choy
- Capsicums
- Celery
- Chillies
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant
- Lettuce
- Okra
- Onions
- Peas
- Radishes
- Silverbeet
- Spinach
- Sweetcorn
- Sweet potato
- Tomatoes
- Watercress
- Zucchini
Normanhurst West's school canteen
Posted by kathryn in Kid's nutrition
On the subject of school lunches, this week’s herald also contained an article about Normanhurst West Public School’s canteen, where the school and parents have realised:
a good, healthy canteen is good for their child, just as good as sport
The menu features dishes called barbecue piranhas, shark-attack fish burgers and the Alpine gourmet sandwich. One of their biggest sellers is the Crunch and Munch snack, a plastic cup containing carrot, celery, cherry tomatoes and crinklecut cheddar.
No soft drinks are allowed and lollies are only on sale twice a term.
Back to school
Posted by kathryn in Kid's nutrition
Kids were back to school this week and Good Living had some lunchbox ideas from Bill Granger – mountain bread wraps with hummous, a Greek-style pasta salad, along with a simple Chinese rice salad. All the recipes are easy to make and have a nice balance of protein, low GI carbohydrates and vegetables. Simply add some fruit , a yoghurt and a bottle of water and you’ve got a healthy lunchbox.
There are also some cute ideas for sparking up kids’ lunches from Connie Evers at Nutrition For Kids – 13 ways to turn hum-drum into yum .
There are more lunchbox suggestions here , including a range of sandwich fillings, snack suggestions, as well as tips on putting it all together and how to keep everything fresh (including preventing soggy sandwiches).
Hot weather and rice paper rolls
Posted by kathryn in Recipes: main dishes, Recipes: vegan and Recipes: salads
When the hot weather hits I found myself craving rice paper rolls. When it’s 36°C and humid, the last thing I want is turn the oven or hot plates on. Which makes this recipe perfect.
We’ve been eating these a lot. I generally prepare the filling and dipping sauce, put the dried rice papers on a plate and put out a bowl of warm water. Then Richard and I can sit there, soaking and filling our rice papers and munching away, while catching up on each other’s day and lives.
I’ve been trialling a few different recipes, but my favourite combination at the moment is based on the rice paper filling from Chocolate & Zucchini and the dipping sauce from Fatfree Vegan.
This recipe takes about 15 minutes to prepare – the longest thing is soaking the shiitakes and it’s pretty darned healthy. This recipe makes enough for three to four people, depending on your appetite. The mixture is also fabulous the next day as a salad.
Rice paper rolls
There are a lot of ingredients, but don’t be put off, this is easy and quick to make. Serves 3 – 4.
- 1 cup dried shiitakes
- 150g rice vermicelli noodles
- 2 large carrots, grated
- 40 cm piece of cucumber (140g), grated
- 1 cup mint leaves, left whole
- 1 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped
- 300g tofu, cut into small pieces
- 1/3 cup peanuts, roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons shoyu
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons vegetarian fish sauce
- Rice papers
Dipping sauce:
- 2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and grated
- 3 shallots, finely sliced
- 1 teaspoon miso
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon palm sugar
Soak the shiitakes: Pour boiling water over the shiitakes. Leave to soak for 10 minutes until they’re soft and then finely slice.
Cook the noodles: At the same time, cook the rice vermicelli noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain and refresh in cold water. Drain again and place in a bowl. Toss through the rice wine vinegar.
Finish off the filling: Drain the noodles again and place in a bowl with the carrot, cucumber, mint, coriander leaves, tofu, peanuts and sliced shiitakes. Mix these together and then add the shoyu, vinegar, sesame oil and fish sauce. Toss to combine.
Make the dressing: Mix together the dipping sauce ingredients in a separate bowl.
To serve: Soak the dried rice papers in a bowl of warm water, until completely softened. On your plate add a couple of spoonfuls of the noodle mixture to the middle of the rice paper and wrap up tightly. Fold the edge of the rice paper closest to you over the filling, then fold each side towards the centre, before rolling up as tightly as possible, without ripping the wrapper. Dip in the sauce and eat immediately.
Wellbeing magazine
Posted by kathryn in All In A Day's Work and A Balanced Diet
The latest Wellbeing magazine is out and features my article on the the new RDIs and Suggested Dietary Targets , entitled Rebuilding the Food Pyramid .
This issue has a definite environmental bent, with a special report on water; an article on how palm oil plantations are threatening orangutan habitats; as well as an update on sustainable transport.
No comments
28 February, 2007