Getting All The Nutrients Without Consuming Too Many Calories

When trying to control calories while balancing the diet, some foods can be especially helpful. Foods that are rich in nutrients relative to their energy content.

It is well established that some foods deliver more nutrients than others do for the same amount of calories, as they have a higher nutrient density.
Those nutrient dense foods give you the "biggest bang for the buck." You get lots of nutrients, and it doesn't cost you much in terms of calories1.
Let’s take for instance ice-cream and fat-free milk. Both supply calcium, but milk is much more calcium dense than ice-cream. The latter having over 300 calories per cup versus 80 calories for a cup of milk2.

Nutrition Science Should Be Taken With A Grain Of Salt

On this little space we like to call “TheIronYou” we talk about food, nutrition and health, almost on a daily basis. We create recipes that are supposed to be good for you. We discuss about the ultimate superfood landed in grocery stores. We point out the latest researches made by scientists. Often, we just ramble about what goes through our minds.
Whatever that might be, there’s one thing we want to stress out: when we talk about nutrition science keep in mind that it's a relatively young science still surrounded by much uncertainty.
So whenever you’re reading about “this is good for you”, “this is bad for you”, “if you eat this it will kill you”, “if you eat that you will live forever”, don’t take it for granted but process it into your mind with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Credit: Image courtesy of University of Aberdeen

Cauliflower Crust Cheese Pizza

I must come clean. I’m having too much fun making cauli crust pizza and it’s starting to become an obsession. Thing is, I’m fascinated by how well the cauliflower crust holds and how good it is.

It’s not only about the looks, I love flavor too. It’s just so delicious!
I really wonder why cauli crust pizza hasn’t become a big hit yet. Everybody seems to love it. There’s definitely room for taking up a paleo pizza business...
Plus, while you’re munching a slice you know you’re getting a full serving a cauliflower. On top of that there’s no gluten, low carbs and very few calories. Now, that’s rad!

30-Minute Chicken Tikka Masala

Spices and aromatics are the very heart of Indian cooking. Flowers, leaves, roots, bark, seeds and bulbs are used in endless combination to produce an infinite variety of flavors: sweet, sharp, hot, sour, spicy, aromatic, tart, mild, fragrant or pungent. 

Masala is a term that identifies a mixture of spices, that can be either a combination of dried spices or a paste made from a mixture of spices and other ingredients.
Chicken tikka is traditionally small piece of boneless chicken baked using skewers.
Chicken tikka masala is therefore a dish of roasted chicken chunks (tikka) in a spicy sauce (masala). The sauce is creamy, spiced, orange-colored and delicious!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

Nothing says carbs and fats quite like Mac & Cheese. If I have to picture in mind a dish that has no veggies in it, I go for Mac & Cheese.
Pizza at least has some tomato sauce, a burger has lettuce, tomatoes and it’s served with fries on the side, a hot-dog has relish and onions (that’s some veggies, ain’t it?) Mac & Cheese is just carbs and dairy fats, that’s about it.
No wonder Mac & Cheese never makes it to the healthy food list.
Too bad, because we all had our moments with a steaming hot bowl of Mac & Cheese (I’m thinking college after party...anyone?).
In other words, completely renouncing to Mac & Cheese makes life a little more miserable, certainly less tasty. I don’t know about you, but I still need/want Mac & Cheese in my life.

Baked Green Rice Balls

When I cook brown rice I have a tendency to go overboard. It all begins with soaking brown rice overnight to make it germinate. A reasonable person would soak one cup (maybe two) at a time.
The road I take is far from reasonableness. I usually empty the whole 1lb brown rice bag into a bowl a cover it with water. Damage is done.
But it’s only 24 hours later, when it’s time to cook it, that I suddenly realize my mistake. You see, 1lb of uncooked brown rice turns into a full 2 lb of cooked brown rice (maybe even more?). And what the heck am I going to do with that humongous amount of cooked rice?
As much as I like brown rice, it gets boring pretty quickly. 
Fortunately, there are many uses for leftover rice. One of my fave has to be baked rice balls. A simple, quick, healthy and d’lish recipe. An absolute winner!

Spaghetti With Greens and Cherry Tomatoes

All spaghetti is not created equal. There is spaghetti with meatballs, spaghetti carbonara, spaghetti with alfredo sauce and there is MY RECIPE for whole wheat spaghetti with greens and cherry tomatoes.
Is there a difference? I believe there is. A huge one. Mine is better, much much better.
Not just because I made it (although that’s a big part of it), but mostly because mine it’s healthier, much healthier.
It’s actually more of a “greens and tomatoes with pasta” than “pasta with greens and tomatoes”. Which is a good thing: less carbs, more veggies. Lots of veggies.
That’s the way we roll over here, the healthy way.

Make Activity Part Of Your Lifestyle...

New research at Oregon State University suggests the health benefits of small amounts of activity – even as small as one- and two-minute increments that add up to 30 minutes per day – can be just as beneficial as longer bouts of physical exercise achieved by a trip to the gym.

The nationally representative study of more than 6,000 American adults shows that an active lifestyle approach, as opposed to structured exercise, may be just as beneficial in improving health outcomes, including preventing metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Credit: Image courtesy of Oregon State University

The Importance Of Breaking A Sweat

There’s a great quote by Isak Dinesen that says “The cure for anything is salt water - tears, sweat, or the sea.”  I truly believe in it.  

If I’m in a bad mood, or I can’t seem to wrap my mind around something, breaking a sweat clears up my mind, getting rid of that negative feeling.
Going for a run, swimming my heart out, hopping on my bike, killing it in a Bikram Yoga class; whatever that might be, sweating always work (for me).
It’s not only about mental health though; sweating is a necessary part of helping maintain balance within your body. It also helps detoxification, strengthen the immune system, and boost mental awareness.
That’s why it’s so important to break a sweat from time to time, or better yet, daily.

The Best Millet Cakes

I bought a package of millet a while ago and it has been sitting in my kitchen cabinet for months. I really didn’t know what to do with it.
Thing is, millet is a healthy seed. Gluten-free, highly alkaline with lots of fiber, iron, B vitamins, and precious nutrients such as manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium.
I wanted so badly to include it in my diet but didn’t where to begin with.
Last week I finally muster up the courage and began experimenting. To make a long story short, I tried baking muffins with it but it was an utter disaster. I made some sort of porridge/oatmeal; it was so bad it nearly ruined my whole day. I made a bread with millet which was kind of good, nothing too exciting though. Yes, millet is a toughie to cook.
I was ready to throw in the towel but then I went to Cafe’ Ghia in Bushwick, Brooklyn (NYC) for brunch where I had some amazing millet cakes. I dissected them and tried to identify all the ingredients; made a mental note and went home experimenting.
It took me several attempts but in the end I aced it, or at least I think so.