Thyme for Rice & Peas! + the how & why of introducing more legumes into your diet

As a vegan I sometimes feel that the food I eat is a bit exotic & slightly obscure which I find really exciting but at the same time it seems a shame that I don’t eat a lot of food associated with my heritage.  So here’s a recipe for a very tasty (and healthy if made with brown rice!) traditional Jamaican side dish that can be served as an accompaniment to main courses. It's one of many great ways to gently introduce legumes into your diet.

Ingredients:

• Brown basmati rice. It cooks easily & softens in about 25 minutes unlike long grain brown rice which is still horrible and chewy after 40 minutes.  Use 3 parts water to one part rice.  Great source of B vitamins! Allow around 50g dried weight per person.
• Creamed coconut (around 100g per lb rice)
• Canned Kidney beans.  The ‘peas’ in rice & peas refers to kidney beans or sometimes gungo peas, a Caribbean legume.  (thankfully as I absolutely despise green peas and am physically incapable of eating them without gagging!)
• Vegetable stock cube
• Spring onions, chopped finely
• Dried thyme, which is used widely in Caribbean cuisine.  Adds a lovely aromatic touch and is one of the highest iron herbs!

Very simple steps:

Bring 3 times as much water as rice to the boil on a medium power hob

Add a vegetable stock cube (about 1 per lb brown rice)

Add rice, spring onions, drained kidney beans, thyme. After 5 minutes add creamed coconut & mix in well.

Reduce heat to a simmer for 25 minutes.
Enjoy with a flavoursome main course of your choice but be sure to serve with plenty of vegetables for a genuine vivacious carnival feeling (that doesn't come from booze!)

How & why to introduce more legumes into your diet.

I am aware these foods don’t generally tend to stir up excitement in people and many people may have negative associations (peasant food, dullness, farting…etc etc). 

When I first became vegetarian I hardly ate them at all.  I was used to the strong flavour and texture of meat & I didn’t find them particularly appealing and so I ate meat substitutes quite a lot of the time.  After a while I realised that this was not healthy and I began to introduce them gradually.  The ways they are cooked in Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Mexican cuisine make them a lot more exciting and there are some seriously delicious meals you can make.

The many health benefits of the diverse legume family!

• Good (& affordable!) source of protein.  Although they also contain a fair amount of carbohydrate, it is a very slow releasing kind of carbohydrate that sustains energy for longer
• Good source of iron which is needed for red blood cell formation & energy. see http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/iron-like-lion-in-zion.html for more about iron.
• Good source of zinc (more so if sprouted)
• Excellent source of fibre which aids in weight loss and elimination of toxins
• Excellent source of folic acid. 
• May aid in lowering cholesterol. 
• Good source of phytoestrogens which are plant-based compounds that may help normalise a number of female hormonal issues.

Tips for introducing more legumes into your diet

lovely lentil dahl

• Borlotti beans, pinto beans and black beans have a nice smooth texture that is not as ‘floury’ as some other kinds of beans.
• Falafel is based on chickpeas or sometimes broad beans and is commonly found in middle-eastern restaurants and supermarkets.
• Hummous is a dip made out of chickpeas, tahini (sesame seed paste) and garlic.  Supermarkets sell several different flavours.
• Red lentils cook quite quickly and do not need soaking.  Dahl is a traditional Indian dish made from lentils that is a great accompaniment to a vegetable curry to add some protein. 
• Buying dried beans and soaking them overnight works out very cheap but it’s good to have a few cans of cooked beans/lentils on standby for those days when you don’t have the time.  

How to digest beans well

a bay leaf may help to make beans more digestible

• Chew your food thoroughly!  This can be easier said than done if you’re an enthusiastic eater like me & want to eat your food whilst it’s still hot but aim to chew each mouthful 20 times.  There are no teeth in your stomach and it’s difficult for large food particles to be broken down effectively solely by your stomach acid and digestive enzymes.  Chewing thoroughly may help to reduce bloating and gas that some people experience after meals.
• Introduce them gradually! Going immediately from a low fibre diet to one that’s high in beans and lentils can be a bit of a shock to the digestive system.
• Cooking with a bay leaf or tiny piece of kombu seaweed may help to make beans and lentils more digestible. 
• Digestive enzyme supplementation (on the advice of a nutritional therapist) for a temporary period may help to break down the complex carbohydrates more effectively and reduce bloating.

lentil bolognese I made with marrow 'spaghetti'

More Recipe ideas!

Burritos, Mexican Black beans, Vegetarian chilli, falafel, hummous, lentil & vegetable soups, stews, dahl, chickpea curries, dried bean snacks, lentil Bolognese, bean or lentil salads, bean burgers.  They are also used in desserts in some types of cuisine (Oriental & Asian).

Why not try visiting your local library to get borrow some good cookbooks for free & get some inspiration!

My £3 per day challenge. How I managed to eat well on a small budget

my Sainsbury's receipt! 

As well as changing people's perceptions about veganism, I really want to change people's view of health professionals with this blog.  

Some may hold the view that health professionals are wealthy, elitist snobs who have no idea what things are like for normal people.  Through my course I've learned that most are just everyday people who have the same difficulties and barriers to eating perfectly that most people face, including financial restraints.

I decided to challenge myself to see how much healthy food I could buy with £21, equivalent to £3 per day.  Here's what I bought:

Organic items: Oats, Brown Rice, Kidney Beans, Mushrooms, Garlic, Onions, Tomato Passata, Lentils, Chickpeas, Spinach, Kiwi fruit.

Non-organic items: Soya milk, Molasses, Mixed herbs, Mixed spices, Rice bran oil, Oranges, Linseeds.

(see my blog http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2014_07_01_archive.html for more on why I think buying organic where possible is important and how it can be made affordable)

Here's just some of the many meals I made: 

Oat pancake with molasses &
mixed spice & an orange
for breakfast

Tomato, Onion, Garlic & Lentil soup 
with mixed herbs

Kidney bean & mushroom risotto

I managed to feed myself many healthy, nutritious meals every day with these foods. By the end of the week I had ran out of soya milk and fresh fruit and veg but I still had plenty of everything else left, meaning I could easily have topped up for another week with far less than £21. 

I am well aware there are some people for whom even £3 per day is a lot but it is extremely common for people to spend more than this just on lunch.  A bottle of beer in most London pubs is more than this and a packet of cigarettes costs around double this amount.

Chickpea & Spinach (sort of) curry with brown rice

This does not represent how I usually shop at all.  What normally happens is I go to Planet Organic and get seduced by all the lovely vegan foods on offer and buy things like coconut milk yoghurt, dark chocolate covered pumpkin seeds, cashew nut ice-cream and about 15 different types of tea.  

By the end of the month I end up being like, 'which of my accounts am I the least overdrawn on again? Or should I use my credit card? Hurry up pay day!'

Perhaps I should start taking my own advice!

What is organic food? 10 tips for saving money whilst reducing toxic exposure.

So what is organic food? Something reserved for people like this?

Or this?

NO!

Organic food is simply food that has been produced naturally without the use of artificial pesticides and fertilisers and is not genetically modified. Non-organic food has actually only existed since 1950 when the population expanded rapidly after the Second World War.  Prior to this everything was organic.  As well as being better for our health, it is better for the environment. It is also better ethically for the working conditions of the farmers whose health can seriously suffer from the effects of pesticide exposure.  

me with my abel & cole
fruit & veg box. 

The word ending ‘icide’ literally means to kill (in this case it refers to pests, not humans, but still!). Does consuming something that contains residues of something designed to kill, sound healthy? Up to 350 pesticides are permitted in non-organic food.  Certain pesticides have been linked with cancers and other health conditions.  Although nothing has been proven yet, why expose yourself to more toxins than is necessary?  Our bodies have mechanisms for eliminating toxins and there’s no need to get obsessive but it’s a good idea to try to reduce your toxic load as far as is practical for the sake of your health.

For those who do consume animal produce it is worth buying organic in terms of health.  Consumption of meat from animals given antibiotics is linked with antibiotic resistance in humans. The use of antibiotics is not permitted in organic meat and dairy production, the animals are fed a healthier diet and the products contain a better ratio of omega 3 to 6 fats.

In terms of animal welfare, organic produce should be regarded as the lesser of two evils rather than cruelty free.

Unethical practices permitted in organic farming include:

• The disposal of day old male chicks considered useless to the egg or meat industry via gas or maceration (mincing alive!) 
• Separating calves from their mothers within 2 days of giving birth. 
• Killing unwanted new-born male calves from the dairy herd. 
• Repeatedly impregnating dairy cows without sufficient rest. 

see http://www.animalaid.org.uk/images/pdf/factfiles/Highwelfare.pdf for more info on this. 

(I am not saying this to deliberately try to make people feel guilty about the foods they consume but rather to explain my dietary choice which is often regarded as extreme or even an eating disorder.)

The animals are however given more outdoor space and de-beaking of chicks, castration without anaesthetic and tail-docking which are commonly practiced in factory farming are less common.

But it’s so expensive!

Yes, it can be but there are choices you can make to reduce your spending.  As a part-time library assistant and ex-student of an extremely expensive course, I’m on a limited budget but I still buy 80-90% of my food as organic.  I am aware that not everyone is as passionate about health as me and I might be ever so slightly neurotic about this but I really want to change people’s attitude towards organic food.  There are small changes that many people can make.

10 tips for saving money whilst reducing your toxic exposure:

1. Reduce (or eliminate) meat and fish! It’s far cheaper to base your meals around plant foods. If you do consume animal products opting for the slightly less fashionable (but still usable) kinds and using them to make vegetable-based meals (stews, stir fries etc) go further rather than as the centrepiece of a meal may make buying organic more manageable.  It's most important to try to do this with poultry and pork which is extremely intensively farmed.

this book is really good
 for
 advice on 
issues around food.

2. Focus on the vegetables and fruits that are more affordable (onions, carrots, kale, cabbage, leeks, broccoli, mushrooms, tomato passata, strawberries, British apples, plums, kiwi fruit) as opposed to pricier asparagus, avocado, raspberries, blueberries, cherries.  Other healthy foods that are affordable are: lentils, beans, chickpeas, flaxseeds, oats, brown rice, beansprouts, and peanut butter.  You’ll be amazed at what you can make if you have some imagination!

3. Not everything you buy has to be organic but if you prioritise buying the items that are most heavily sprayed with pesticides as organic (Lettuce, sweet peppers, peaches, apples, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, grapes, spinach, lettuce, potatoes) you can reduce your exposure dramatically .  The least contaminated fruit and vegetables are: onions, avocado, sweet corn (frozen), pineapples, mango, asparagus, sweet peas (frozen), kiwi fruit, bananas, cabbage, broccoli and papaya.

4. Make good use of left overs and avoid food wastage.  Lots of food can be frozen to be eaten at a later date rather than thrown away.

5. Find out what time of day/day of the week your supermarket or local shop reduces the price of items.

6. Buy fresh ingredients rather than relying on ready meals and take-aways.  For complicated recipes that require lots of different ingredients, this does not always work out cheap, so keep recipes simple.

7. Be aware that organic fruit & veg tends to go off quickly as there’s no preservatives so avoid buying too much at once to prevent wastage.

8. Grow some of your own fruit & veg or herbs if you have time & a garden or windowsill.

Me picking blackberries in my garden.
the amount they charge in shops f
or blackberries & raspberries is a joke!

9. Try box schemes such as Abel & Cole or Riverford where you get a good mixture of fruit & veg for decent value.

10.Think about other ways you could save money. ‘Bring lunch to work, stop having that Starbucks latte in the morning, blah blah blah….’ Chances are if you don’t have a lot of money you are already putting these things into practice but there are other things that can be done to save money in other areas of your spending. Swishing (clothes swapping), buying items like books and CDs second hand online and freecycle schemes can be very helpful ways of saving money. 

I didn't pay anything
 for this dress,
got it swishing & it's a perfect fit

I am aware that with the astronomical rent and house prices and high cost of living today, buying organic is not always the first thing on people’s mind but not having a lot of money does not have to mean you are destined for poor health.

Can we all go 100% organic tomorrow? No. Do I eat 100% organic myself? Of course not. Can organic farming sustain a planet of 7 billion people? Who knows? But can we all take little steps? YES!

You can have your cake and eat it! (under these 5 conditions)

Throughout my years on my course I’ve learned that the vast majority of health problems currently plaguing the nation can be related to imbalanced blood sugar levels and insulin resistance, caused by a diet far too high in sugars and refined carbohydrates.  This doesn’t leave cake as a food that comes highly recommended by health professionals!  Nonetheless it is still my favourite food and I enjoy it as often as I want! & here’s how!

1. Have a healthy relationship with food. 

Remember that cake should be eaten for pleasure and celebration, not as a substitute for proper stress reduction.

Me & my friend enjoying our late
Christmas present of cocktails and cake

There is a culture in many workplaces of constantly bringing in cakes for no particular reason and when you’re having a stressful time it’s all too easy to reach for them as a source of comfort and to help you get through the day.  I am certainly no stranger to succumbing to this and this was one of my main barriers to being vegan (and healthy!).  

It is completely understandable, given that stress lowers serotonin (one of the happy feel-good brain chemicals!) levels in the brain and consuming high carbohydrate foods helps to increase its activity.  Nonetheless, constantly doing this can lead to addiction and obesity and does nothing to address the problems that have made you stressed in the first place.  If you are depressed or stressed, seek professional help and try to think of practical solutions to your problems.

See my blogs http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/5-things-to-do-when-black-dog-strikes.html and http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/depression-part-2-food-mood-and.html for more on how to get help for stress and depression. and http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/chocolate-cake-cheese-or-steak-what-do.html for more on cravings

    

2. Ensure the majority of your diet is healthy!

Make fresh, lightly cooked vegetables or low GI (low sugar, slow releasing) fruits a major part of every meal.  Potatoes don’t count! Green leafy vegetables, asparagus, courgettes, aubergines, peppers, runner beans, mushrooms (ok, they’re not vegetables if you want to be pedantic but they’re still very healthy!) onions, avocados are some of many great vegetables to include in your diet.  In terms of fruit, the lower sugar ones include blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries (yum!) apples,         plums, nectarines, pears and peaches.  Tropical fruits are higher in sugar but should not be seen as out of bounds (as you’ll see on my earlier post ‘Tropical Morning Sunrise’), it’s just better to focus on the lower sugar fruits most of the time.

Consume adequate protein with each meal to slow the release of carbohydrates into the bloodstream.  Protein requirements vary from person to person depending on gender, body weight and level of physical activity but as a general rule people should consume around 0.8g protein per kg of body weight per day.  Aside from animal products, plant-based sources of protein include a great variety of beans, lentils, nuts and seeds, tofu and tempeh, protein powders and wholegrains, particularly quinoa and amaranth. Including meat or fish substitutes occasionally is fine as long as they’re GM free and do not contain hydrogenated fats.  It’s good to eat a wide range of protein sources to ensure a good balance of amino acids and nutrients.

Also eat healthy fats!  Fats should not be consumed in excess but the correct kind and quantity of fat in the diet is essential for healthy hormone signalling, absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K, for antioxidants to be correctly utilised, brain function, protection of internal organs and skin health.  2 kinds of polyunsaturated fats are essential (omega 3 and omega 6).  Most people tend to consume too much omega 6 and insufficient omega 3 fats and this can lead to inflammation in the body.  Aside from flax and chia seeds and their oils, most polyunsaturated fat sources (sunflower oil, soya oil, corn oil) are too high in omega 6 and can lead to imbalanced levels.  To counteract this it’s good to make the bulk of your fat intake centred around sources mainly composed of monounsaturates such as olive oil, avocados, nuts (particularly macadamia and hazelnuts), high oleic (monounsaturated) sunflower oil and rapeseed oil.  Coconut oil is high in beneficial medium-chain saturated fats and low in omega 6 and therefore a good versatile fat to use.

 

3. Adopt measures to increase insulin sensitivity. 
Chromium is a mineral that has well-documented use for increasing insulin sensitivity (allowing insulin to do its job better so that insulin resistance does not develop) and supplementing it can help reduce carbohydrate cravings.  A nutritional therapist can help determine an appropriate dosage for you.

Cinnamon (yum again!) is great for increasing insulin sensitivity and has a long history of use for this purpose.  In winter I like to have it with porridge and oat-based fruit crumbles.  I love that it adds flavour as well as health benefits to baked goods! 

Omega 3 fats can help to increase insulin sensitivity.  The kind found in flax and chia seeds must undergo changes in the body in order to be utilised correctly but supplements made from algae-based omega 3 fats can also be taken.  See opti3omega.com for some supplements that, unlike fish oil capsules are environmentally sustainable and free from mercury, toxins and pollutants.

Exercise!  Exercise is wonderful for increasing insulin sensitivity.  I personally enjoy going to the gym but if that’s not your thing that’s fine.  I also enjoy walking, running, swimming, dancing around in my room, ice skating and roller-skating.  Even things that might not be considered exercise like mowing the grass and doing housework can contribute.  There are so many ways exercise can be incorporated into your life.

(Please note that any changes to the diet should be made gradually and diabetics must consult a suitably qualified health professional when adopting anything new that may increase insulin sensitivity to avoid the risk of hypoglycaemic attacks.)

  

4. Make your own (where possible)!

I can certainly appreciate that not everyone has the time to make their own cakes but if you do (or know someone who does) it’s great to make your own baked goods so that you know exactly what’s gone into them!  Shop-bought cakes tend to have horrendous amounts of sugar in them, flavour enhancers and artificial colourings.  When I make baked goods I use good quality organic ingredients but I don’t go so far with trying to make it healthy that it’s just not edible!  The website veganbaking.net is wonderful for tips on making cakes without using overly artificial (or animal-derived) ingredients.

  

5. Eat mindfully and enjoy!

Bingeing followed by guilt, not what you want!

I think this is such an important part of health advice that is often unfortunately missed.  We so often eat too quickly, eat out of boredom, eat in front of the television or whilst doing something else that we can forget to stop and fully appreciate the food we’re eating.  Try to eat slowly, chewing thoroughly and paying attention to the amazing flavours and textures of cake!  Beats mindlessly stuffing your face and the self-loathing that inevitably follows!

Once all of these conditions have been satisfied, you can have your cake and eat it! Guilt free!