Lentils - Miracle Diet Food!

Lentils are my new miracle diet food. They are quick and easy to prepare compared to other legumes and contain many health benefits. They are so versatile, serve them as a side dish, add to soup, add cooked meat for a meal, or serve cold over a salad. 

Did you know? One cup of cooked lentils:

• contain (percentage of Recommended Daily Allowance) 89% folate, 62% fiber, 36% iron, 35% protein,  and only 220 calories.
• contain six important minerals plus two B-Vitamines
• have been shown to  reduce cholesterol levels
• help maintain blood sugar levels so you don’t crash and you feel full longer.
• can reduce your risk of Heart disease.
• prevent constipation
• help the flow of blood, oxygen, and nutrients throughout the body

Reference: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=52

Cooking Lentils are as easy as 1,2,3     1. Rinse Lentils
    2. Add to a pot of water (1 cup lentils to 2 cups water) Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook     

        for 20-30 minutes until plump and tender. 
    3. Enjoy. 

One of my favorite meals as a kid was franks and beans.  While beans are good for you, traditional franks and beans are full of fat and calories.  I love this alternative recipe from Biggest Loser.  I often make a giant batch and freeze for later. These are good with some turkey sausage, as a meal, or make a great side dish. 

BBQ Lentils - Inspired by Biggest Loser.  

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cup chopped red onion (aprox 1 whole red onion)

4 celery stalks chopped
4 carrots chopped 

2 tablespoon minced garlic 

4 teaspoons chili powder 

2 teaspoon mustard powder 

4 cups fat-free vegetable or chicken broth 

6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 

2 tablespoon Dijon Mustard 

4 tablespoons agave nectar  or honey **If you can't find this, you could try pure maple syrup 

3 cups dried (uncooked) brown lentils, rinsed 

2 cans 14oz tomato sauce 

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until softened and translucent (about 3 minutes.  Add celery, carrots, garlic, chili powder, and mustard powder and sauté until fragrant (about 1 minute); do not brown the garlic.

Add the broth, vinegar, mustard, agave nectar, and lentils; stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender, but intact (about 30 minutes). If necessary, add 1/4 cup water and simmer for 5 minutes longer if lentils are not tender.  Stir in tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves: 8 (1/2 cup) servings:  187 calories 12 gm protein 31 gm carb 2 gm fat 9 gm fiber 161 mg sodium

Add turkey sausage or hot dogs, serve on bread as a sloppy joe, Enjoy! 

Healthy Cocoa Protein Truffles

In my search for better nutrition and healthy snacks I cam across this recipe from Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe and thought I should give it a try. I did make a few modifications since I can never leave well enough alone.

Healthy Cocoa Protein Truffles  

• 4 tsp cocoa powder plus extra to coat finish truffles (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoon low fat Greek yogurt (I bet any yogurt would work though) 
• 5 tablespoons chocolate or vanilla protein powder (I used vanilla) 
• 2 egg yolks (to cut down calories, egg yolks have 80 calories each, I just used 1 whole egg. I also didn't want to left over egg parts in my fridge) 
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted. (do not substitute you need this to help the truffles firm up)
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar (you could also use honey)

1. Melt the butter in a small bowl then add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. 
2. Cover  the top of the mixture with plastic wrap so it doesn't form a skin and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. I left mine over night. 
3. Roll into 1 inch balls and roll in cocoa powder. Enjoy! Store remaining truffles in a sealed container in the fridge. 

Counting what I ate while making these I would save it makes about 10, 1 inch truffles.

Nutrition Information: this greatly depends on what brands you use but here is an proximate calculation. 

Serving size 2 truffles, 90 calories, Fat 4 gm, Protein 11 gm. This is also packed with several vitamins  iron, and calcium but those totals also depend on the brands you use so I have not included them. 

Now before you go crazy about the amount of calories and fat remember I used low fat yogurt because it is what I had on hand. You can reduce the fat by using non fat yogurt. You can reduce the calories by using plain (unflavored/unsweetened protein powder). You might even be able to substitute the butter with cream cheese. This is also meant as a treat to provide extra protein and not a meal. While this is good it is also rich so 2 truffles should be plenty. 

Now lets talk about the calories. One of the things I like is that this uses agave nectar (or honey) instead of sugar. Agave is low on the glycemic index (GI) rating, which means it won't cause a spike in your blood sugar levels the way sugar does. High-GI foods like white sugar tend to make us feel hungry sooner since they are digested quickly. So foods made with agave nectar may keep you feeling fuller longer than foods made with the white stuff, which translates to eating less.  Interestingly Agave  has a very low glycemic index, ranging between 10 and 19, while the glycemic index of honey is also low, ranging between 35 and 58. 

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/435109-is-agave-healthier-than-honey/#ixzz2H2xZguHj

Notes from Jule:

• My dough was a bit soft so I think I would add an extra tablespoon of protein powder next time.
• I thought these tasted better after sitting overnight than after just 30 minutes. 
• Because there are raw eggs I would not double the batch. If you want to avoid the use of raw eggs I bet you could use more yogurt, water, or apple sauce. Just add about a tablespoon to make up for the egg. This will also help reduce the calories but will also reduce the protein content.  
• If you want vanilla or another flavor just substitute the cocoa with flavored protein powder or try with flavored yogurt. 
• Roll in crushed nuts or mix the nuts in the dough to provide more texture. 
• Add ground flax seeds for added fiber.
• Use natural peanut or almond butter in place of the yogurt. 
• Add ground oatmeal to replace some protein powder.  
• The possibilities of the recipe are endless, in fact just Google protein truffles and you will come up with a ton of variations. 

Please share your variations and ideas 

in the comments section below.