Replacing items in recipes to make it healthier

I have a couple of stew/soup recipes that I love, but they are loaded with potato's or pasta. To make them better i replaced the potato with lentils or chick peas and same with the noodles.

For example- I love beef stew. So if I want something hearty. I brown some beef with some garlic and a little splash of oil. Before I add water i through in some crmini mushrooms (better then white) and let them brown a little as well.  I add water and a splash of low sodium soy sauce for flavour and colour. I add some basil and pepper. Sometimes I will add some hot sauce or I use cajun spices (cuz I like it spicy). I then add the lentils ( normally 2 cups of green, depending on how thick i want it. I let the lentils cook for about an hour and youve got a hearty stew that will cure any cold...lol

Same as my slow cooker minestroni, I replaced the noodles with chickpeas.

I've always considered potatoes and pasta to be healthy foods.  They are high in calories, so I make the portions smaller.

I've learned to make thick gravy using Wondra flour without fat mixed in.  It works fine since it's so finely granulated.  I love stews!

Love cooking as well, whether it comes to soups. salads, appetizers (healthy ones), smoothies, lunch dinner, breakfast I have made a goal to do it as healthy as possible starting in 2008.  Look forward to posting as well as borrowing good recipe ideas.

I use a few (1 or 2) red potatoes (lower glycemic value) and some beans - garbanzo (chick peas) or great northern.  To make a "creamy"-like gravy, you can mash the beans and potato or just the beans if you don't want to use any potato. Add a wee bit of milk or cream if you want also.  Kind of like if you are making pea soup - it is "creamy" because the peas are pureed....  also works with corn, but corn is "starch" also.

Original Post by ndero:

I have a couple of stew/soup recipes that I love, but they are loaded with potato's or pasta. To make them better i replaced the potato with lentils or chick peas and same with the noodles.

 

For example- I love beef stew. So if I want something hearty. I brown some beef with some garlic and a little splash of oil. Before I add water i through in some crmini mushrooms (better then white) and let them brown a little as well.  I add water and a splash of low sodium soy sauce for flavour and colour. I add some basil and pepper. Sometimes I will add some hot sauce or I use cajun spices (cuz I like it spicy). I then add the lentils ( normally 2 cups of green, depending on how thick i want it. I let the lentils cook for about an hour and youve got a hearty stew that will cure any cold...lol

 

Same as my slow cooker minestroni, I replaced the noodles with chickpeas.

 

 

Awww man, you actually made it a bit less healthy.  From a calories perspective it's not more "healthy" you actually can gain anywhere between 100 and 200 calories per serving and you gain about 1-2% more fat.  Calories from fat is larger too, as well your sodium intake has gone up by almost 40% depending on how you cook it.  But from a dietry perspective you gain V-A, V-B and V-C as well as some Carbos.  Really depends on type of diet I guess.

Higher calorie doesn't need to mean less nutritious.  Beans provide fiber and protein as well as complex carbs. If you add good fats like olive oil or walnut oil, that adds all kinds of good things.  You need a little fat to enable you to absorb the vitamins in your food.  Beans and good fats are super good for you.  To control the calories, simply control the portion size. 

What you want to avoid are refined starches like white flour and corn starch.  Small amounts are fine, but they need to be balanced with those complex carbs and proteins.