Category Archives: Uncategorized

Failed recipe for the MIND diet

Recipes, The MIND Diet, Uncategorized, , ,

I tried to make Red Beans and Rice for my lunch today, but it wasn’t very edible. I got through about half of it but then threw it out. I won’t be able to face it again for a while, so I thought I would post it in hopes that someone else would refine it.

I started with this recipe for inspiration: Authentic Louisiana Red Beans and Rice.

My plan was to make a single-serving because, if I really didn’t like it, I didn’t want more than one. Unfortunately, it is something my husband would eat.

The problem started with the rice. I had Uncle Ben’s Instant Brown Rice, which I usually use successfully to make 4 servings using the stove top method. I wanted to make just one serving so I used the microwave method.  I divided the 4 serving amounts by 4 and ended up with 2 TBSP of the dry rice and 1/4 cup of low sodium chicken broth.  I scaled back the cooking times as I thought appropriate: 5 minutes on high, then 5 minutes on medium, then let it stand for 5 minutes. My microwave is only about 700 watts so not too high. But, this didn’t work. It looked ok after the first 5 minutes but after the second 5 minutes and standing time, it was all brown (browner than brown rice should be) and hard. I tried again and just cooked it 5 minutes on high and then let it stand 5 minutes. Better, but not very fluffy.  The box does say that the stove-top method is preferred and now I see why. Next time, I will cook 4 servings on the stove and just use what I need. Or, use left-over rice because I usually do have a bit when I make 4 servings.

I used 1/4 cup each of onion, red pepper, and celery and 1 clove garlic. I sautéed the veggies in 1/2 tsp olive oil.  That all worked well and smelled great.

I went to add 1/4 cup of pinto beans, but found out I didn’t have any. I used black beans and they seemed like a good substitution.

The biggest problem, though, was the scaling down of the spices.  I thought I did the math right, but somehow the result was HOT.  I like Hot, but this was too HOT. One of the reasons was that I didn’t have the Cajun Seasoning that was called for. So, I looked up a substitute on Allrecipes.

These were my seasonings

  • 1/8 tsp thyme
  • 1/16 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/16 tsp sage
  • ½ tsp dried parsley
  • 1/8 tsp Cajun seasoning (I used the spices listed below for a substitute)
    • 1/8 tsp salt
    • 1/8 tsp oregano
    • 1/8 tsp paprika
    • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper – I only used 1/8 tsp of this mixture so not much
    • 1/8 tsp black pepper

Anyway, that was too much cayenne for me. I found that trying to scale down spices to one serving was a challenge.

If you compare my recipe to the inspiration recipe, you might wonder what happened to the sausage.  For the lunch I was making, I decided to omit it. I still think this would be fine without it. If I were making it for dinner, I might add some chicken sausage.

Since this was so HOT, I couldn’t taste much else. But, I did like the texture of the veggies and beans – not the rice.  I wasn’t sure if I liked the other spices in this recipe. I like them all in other recipes, but here not so much. I am thinking the next time I try this, I might use chili powder and cumin.  With some avocado slices and cilantro, I think that is more my style.

 

 

 

 

Beans, beans, the musical fruit ….

Uncategorized

Beans are good.  Beans are nutritious. The MIND diet folks found evidence that beans help delay cognitive decline. But, it is true that beans can cause gas. And, that can cause people to avoid beans.

Ways to prevent gas caused by eating beans.
There seems to be a lot of ideas about this on the web. I am looking for some good research about this.

This is all I have found so far (on the PMC area of the National Library of Medicine) :

Perceptions of flatulence from bean consumption among adults in 3 feeding studies
  One of the conclusions was that “People’s concerns about excessive flatulence from eating beans may be exaggerated.”  But, they also stated that individuals vary in their responses to different bean types.

Efficacy and tolerability of α-galactosidase in treating gas-related symptoms in children: a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial (α-galactosidase is the active ingredient in Beano).
This is a study to see if Beano-like products work to prevent gas in children. The results indicate that it is somewhat effective.

That was all the publicly available  research I could find. I did find a couple more research articles that showed that Beano like products are effective fo some people. I think they are worth a try.

There are plenty of opinion pieces on the web. This one seems to have some good hints, but beware that it is not based on research.

I read an article by a physician once, but I can’t find it right now.
The gist was that we should eat beans on a regular basis.  That makes us develop an enzyme that helps digest beans.  However, we have to keep eating beans to keep the enzyme going. I will keep looking for that article.

Of course, I am going to eat beans anyway.  Here are some ways I have fixed them in the past, but I need to find more good Ideas for ways to eat beans:
Chili
Garbanzos on salad, roasted garbanzos with chili powder and cumin
Succotash
Pork & beans
Refried beans. I like Old El Paso fat-free
Bean dip
Black beans and rice

Beans are quite calorie-dense.  According to Nutrition Data,  http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4303/2 , 1 cup of canned pinto beans is 215 calories. I try to limit my bean intake to 1/4 to 1/2 cup.  Seems like the problem might be when I eat it in addition to meat.  The best way is to eat it in place of meat.  That’s what we do when we eat chili.  Keeping amounts eaten at one time should help prevent the gas problem, too.