Chickpea and flageolet bean soup

Low G.I recipe for endurance training

This soup is a meal itself, it is very easy to make and is great for endurance. Beans and pulses are a very healthy alternative low G.I. carbohydrate to rice, pasta and couscous. You can experiment with different types of bean — flageolet and chickpeas work well, but you might want to try butter beans or borlotti beans.

This soup does taste better if you leave the beans to soak overnight, but quite frankly, unless you are cooking for a special occasion, life is too short to soak beans — a good quality tin is fine.

Method

1. Chop the onion and or or leek and sauté in some olive oil on a gentle heat with the bay leaf.
2. Roughly chop the other vegetables and add them to the pan and cook for 5 minutes or so. Add the ras-el-hanout spice mix (this is a north-African spice mix that you can buy in most supermarkets now. If you can't find it, use Schwartz Moroccan spice mix or make your own combination with a selection of the following: cumin, coriander, fennel, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, chili).
3. Add the garlic, ginger, orange zest, beans and chickpeas, tomatoes, tomato puree and the stock.
4. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Check for seasoning. You may need some more spice  — play around a bit; you could try adding a little ground coriander or cardamom, for instance. Add the fresh herbs but reserve a little for decoration.
5. Transfer to a large serving bowl. Drizzle some fruity olive oil onto the soup and sprinkle with a little fresh parsley or coriander.
6. Eat with chunks of crusty bread.

Ingredients

• 1 onion or leek, sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 carrot
• 1 small celery stalk
• Olive oil
• ½ litre vegetable stock
• 1cm fresh ginger, grated
• Grated orange zest
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 200g tin flageolet beans (use butter beans or cannellini as alternatives)
• 200g tin chickpeas
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbs tomato puree
• 1 tsp parika
• 1 tsp ras-el-hanout spice mix
• 2 inch cinnamon stick
• Handful of fresh flat-leaved parsley or coriander, roughly chopped

Vital Statistics

Serves: 2
Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Good for: Low G.I. meal good for endurance. Good, healthy weekday staple
Calories (kcal): 404.1
Protein (g): 23.1
Carbs (g): 53.4
Fat (g): 11
Fiber (g): 12.4
http://www.realbuzz.com/articles/chickpea-and-flageolet-bean-soup/
 

     

 

Spaghetti with fresh herbs

Low G.I. recipe for endurance training

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. In Italy, pasta with fresh herbs is cooked as a staple dish, rather like beans on toast in Britain! Not only is this one of the quickest dishes to make, it is great food for endurance: high in low G.I. carbohydrate, light on the stomach, plenty of vitamins from the herbs and garlic, plus a little protein from the cheese. Anchovies are really high in sodium, so adding these is a really good way of naturally increasing salt intake after a hot and sweaty workout. Good herbs to use are flat-leaf parsley, basil, chives, mint, marjoram, oregano ... whatever you can lay your hands on.

For this recipe a good portion size is 100g of spaghetti per person, 125g for the larger appetite.

Method

1. Bring a large pan of water to boil. Add some salt and then the spaghetti and cook according to pack instructions.
2. Sweat the garlic in the olive oil over a low heat, add the chili, lemon zest, anchovies and herbs and soften slightly.
3. Drain the spaghetti when it is cooked, reserving some of the cooking liquid to prevent the pasta from sticking together. Add the spaghetti to the herby sauce and toss well to combine. If you are not using anchovies, you may need to add some salt at this stage.
4. Serve with some parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper. A fresh tomato and basil salad goes really well with this dish as an accompaniment.

Ingredients

• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
• 50-75g chopped herbs (2-3 handfuls)
• ½ tsp dried chilli or small red chilli
• 2 canned anchovy fillets, chopped small (optional)
• Grated lemon zest
• 200-250g spaghetti (fresh, dried, standard or whole wheat)
• Parmesan cheese to serve

Vital Statistics

Serves: 2
Preparation: 2 minutes
Cooking: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Good for: Endurance training or pre-race meal
Calories (kcal): 315.9
Protein (g): 8.7
Carbs (g): 33.2
Fat (g): 17
Fiber (g): 1.8
http://www.realbuzz.com/articles/spaghetti-with-fresh-herbs/
 

Conchiglioni with roasted tomato sauce

Low-fat recipe good for training and endurance

Conchiglioni are basically enormous pasta shells — you can find them on the pasta shelf of most supermarkets. The conchiglioni and the tomatoes have a low glycaemic index, making the dish ideal for the night before a big workout. In fact, this is one of my favourite pre-race meals as it is so light on the stomach. The tomatoes are rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, and B vitamins (niacin, riboflavin, magnesium, phosphorous and calcium) and are also a good source of fiber and the antioxidant lycopene (good for fighting disease). The cheese adds a little protein to the dish.

We also like to slow roast tomatoes at this time of year because it gives them a lovely deep flavor. You could use any pasta in theory, but conchiglioni is really best suited for this dish, as the sauce gets caught inside the shells — you can eat each shell with a little basil leaf and a piece of feta … simple and delicious!

Method

1. Cut the tomatoes in half and place on a baking sheet.
2. Sprinkle over balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper and place in the oven at about 170˚C.
3. Add the garlic about 5 minutes before you remove from the oven — after about 30 to 40 minutes.
4. Transfer to a saucepan, scraping off all the caramelised bits as well, add the sugocasa (basically posh tinned tomatoes but less acidic than tinned tomatoes — and can be found on the same shelf in the supermarket. Use small tin of chopped tomatoes as alternative or you can use more fresh tomatoes instead if you have them) and chili if you are using it and cook very gently, covered, for another 20 minutes or so, stirring every now and then.
5. Add more balsamic, olive oil, seasoning, maybe some Lea & Perrins etc. to taste. Add the chopped basil at the last minute.
6. Grill the bacon until really crispy.
7. Cook the pasta shells in salted water according to pack instructions — warning, you need a big saucepan. When you drain the pasta, leave some of the cooking liquid to stop it getting sticky, and add some olive oil.
8. Serve the pasta in large individual pasta dishes with some sauce on top. Place a slice of bacon on top with some basil leaves and pieces of feta sprinkled over.

Ingredients

• 250g Conchiglioni
• 4 decent sized vine tomatoes
• ¼ bottle sugocasa
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• ½ tbs balsamic vinegar
• Glug of olive oil
• ½ tsp demerara sugar
• Plenty of salt and black pepper
• 1 flaked, dried chilli (optional)
• Bunch of fresh basil, chopped, saving a few leaves for decoration
• Feta cheese, cubed
• 2 rashers streaky bacon or prosciutto (optional)

Vital Statistics

Serves: 2
Preparation: 30 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Good for: Excellent balanced, healthy low-fat meal, good for training and endurance or just a quick-fix meal
Calories (kcal): 593.5
Protein (g): 21.1
Carbs (g): 95.3
Fat (g): 14.4
Fiber (g): 6.1

http://www.realbuzz.com/articles/conchiglioni-with-roasted-tomato-sauce/