Results tagged “glycemic load” from The Diabetic Vegetarian
Soups can be great for diabetics, but there are potential pitfalls. Pureed soups can have a much higher glycemic load than chunky ones, especially if they contain potatoes. I like winter soups to be thickened in some way, so recently I've taken to whizzing just a portion of the soup in the food processor, and adding it back to the main part, leaving mostly chunky vegetables with a thickened matrix. Generally a happy compromise!
Rather than using potato as a thickening agent I'll be experimenting with pot barley and possibly some pulses such as lentils and split peas - all glycemic goodies as far as I can establish. Rather than using generic soup mix (still in UK wholefood shops and supermarkets) containing a bit of everything, my plan is to match ingredients in a slightly more bespoke manner, eg.. red lentils to thicken a carrot soup, yellow split peas with pumpkin, so that the thickening agent takes a decidedly background role...
Another thorny issue is the length of cooking time. In general it seems the longer you cook things the higher the glycemic load. I'm not keen on vegetable soups al dente (although with oriental style soups it seems fine) so more experimentation is called for.
Recipes to follow - watch this space.
Rather than using potato as a thickening agent I'll be experimenting with pot barley and possibly some pulses such as lentils and split peas - all glycemic goodies as far as I can establish. Rather than using generic soup mix (still in UK wholefood shops and supermarkets) containing a bit of everything, my plan is to match ingredients in a slightly more bespoke manner, eg.. red lentils to thicken a carrot soup, yellow split peas with pumpkin, so that the thickening agent takes a decidedly background role...
Another thorny issue is the length of cooking time. In general it seems the longer you cook things the higher the glycemic load. I'm not keen on vegetable soups al dente (although with oriental style soups it seems fine) so more experimentation is called for.
Recipes to follow - watch this space.
We used to love creamy risotto made with arborio rice, but after Andrew's diabetes diagnosis we realised it wasn't a great thing for him to eat due to it's relatively high GL. Casting around for a suitable alternative I started experimenting with pot barley and we both like the results. When cooked, the barley has a similar texture to a good risotto rice and now, if anything, I think I prefer it to the rice version. We now use just olive oil (rather than the butter / olive oil mix we previously used) for the initial fry, which is no great hardship. The Orzotto, as it's technically called when made with barley, is delicious if you use stock alone in the cooking liquid, but it gains an extra something if you throw in a glass of decent white wine in the early stages. If you don't want to use wine just use extra stock.
Ingredients for 2 servings
Method
In a wide, heavy frying pan, fry the leeks in a small amount of olive oil for 3 - 4 minutes. Scoop them out of the pan and on to a plate (they'll finish cooking later). Add the barley, green peppercorns and bay leaf to the hot pan and a splash more oil if necessary. Fry for a few minutes more.
At this point start adding the liquid. First add the wine if you're using it, stir constantly and let most of the liquid cook down. When you add the first liquid set a timer for 20 minutes. Now add enough stock to cover the barley and stir again. Purists would have you stir constantly and add hot stock in very small increments quite frequently.
Rather than leaving a pan of stock simmering on the stove as is often recommended, I usually make make an initial small volume of very concentrated stock which I add in one go at the start. I then top up the pan with boiling water from the kettle, when necessary. So long as you stir regularly to stop the barley from catching, and top up with boiling water if the pan threatens to get dry, you don't have to stir constantly.
After 20 minutes add the partly cooked leeks back into the pan and give a good stir. Cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes, continuing with the stirring and adding of hot liquid as necessary, until the leeks are tender, the barley done to your liking and most of the liquid has evaporated.
Pass the Parmesan when you serve this out.
I've not said anything about salt as the bouillon is quite salty and we're trying to cut down. If you want to add it, many cooks claim you'll need less overall if you add at the start of the cooking process rather than the end. My jury's out on that one.
Ingredients for 2 servings
- 2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 - 10 leeks, depending on their size and your appetite, cleaned, trimmed and sliced
- 110 g pot barley
- 1 teaspoon green peppercorns (optional)
- 1 bay leaf
- a glass of dry white wine (optional), Italian if you want to be authentic
- about 400 ml well-flavoured hot vegetable stock (I use Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon)
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese, a small quantity
Method
In a wide, heavy frying pan, fry the leeks in a small amount of olive oil for 3 - 4 minutes. Scoop them out of the pan and on to a plate (they'll finish cooking later). Add the barley, green peppercorns and bay leaf to the hot pan and a splash more oil if necessary. Fry for a few minutes more.
At this point start adding the liquid. First add the wine if you're using it, stir constantly and let most of the liquid cook down. When you add the first liquid set a timer for 20 minutes. Now add enough stock to cover the barley and stir again. Purists would have you stir constantly and add hot stock in very small increments quite frequently.
Rather than leaving a pan of stock simmering on the stove as is often recommended, I usually make make an initial small volume of very concentrated stock which I add in one go at the start. I then top up the pan with boiling water from the kettle, when necessary. So long as you stir regularly to stop the barley from catching, and top up with boiling water if the pan threatens to get dry, you don't have to stir constantly.
After 20 minutes add the partly cooked leeks back into the pan and give a good stir. Cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes, continuing with the stirring and adding of hot liquid as necessary, until the leeks are tender, the barley done to your liking and most of the liquid has evaporated.
Pass the Parmesan when you serve this out.
I've not said anything about salt as the bouillon is quite salty and we're trying to cut down. If you want to add it, many cooks claim you'll need less overall if you add at the start of the cooking process rather than the end. My jury's out on that one.
The idea of foods having a high or low glycemic load (or index) is key to healthy eating for diabetics, and is actually useful for everyone, including the rudely healthy. Unlike the concept of calories, it actually seems a bit complicated and ill-defined when you first encounter the idea. It did to me, anyway. Basically it's to do with how fast or slowly your blood glucose levels rise after consuming a portion of a food.
Glycemic load can vary a lot for a food, depending on how the food is cooked, for instance. Basically, the less cooked or processed the food, the slower it will be to digest, and thus the lower its glycemic load so, for example, gram for gram, whole rice in grains would have a lower GL than ground rice, even before you factor in cooking methods. Raw carrots have a lower GL than cooked carrots, the latter being more easily digested. I found it worth the bother to try and sort it out in my mind, but I lay no claim to being an expert.
In case anyone needs more information about the concepts of the glycemic index or glycemic load this link to the official GI web site (set up by the people at Sydney University who first popularised the idea) has loads of stuff worth looking at. There are clear explanations of the various terms in use, an expanding data base of foods and their Gl values, plus links to appropriate books on amazon , etc. It's probably a good first port of call for anyone wanting to find out what GI is all about.
Glycemic load can vary a lot for a food, depending on how the food is cooked, for instance. Basically, the less cooked or processed the food, the slower it will be to digest, and thus the lower its glycemic load so, for example, gram for gram, whole rice in grains would have a lower GL than ground rice, even before you factor in cooking methods. Raw carrots have a lower GL than cooked carrots, the latter being more easily digested. I found it worth the bother to try and sort it out in my mind, but I lay no claim to being an expert.
In case anyone needs more information about the concepts of the glycemic index or glycemic load this link to the official GI web site (set up by the people at Sydney University who first popularised the idea) has loads of stuff worth looking at. There are clear explanations of the various terms in use, an expanding data base of foods and their Gl values, plus links to appropriate books on amazon , etc. It's probably a good first port of call for anyone wanting to find out what GI is all about.
