Fiber Dieting Meals, Frozen is good! Quick and Easy

My patients are astounded when I encourage them to eat frozen vegetables. But research has conclusively shown that frozen vegetables in a packet are more often than not more nutrient-rich than their `fresh’ counterparts on the supermarket shelves, whose vitamin and mineral content has been damaged by exposure to light, heat and air.

Consider an average bunch of carrots. These carrots will be plucked from the earth on a Monday morning. They will be stored in a shed for some time, then the farmer will, load them onto a truck for transport to the city. For several hours they will travel in a warm truck. Then they will be off-loaded at the market, in the sun. It might be days before the carrots finally reach their destination: the supermarket shelf, where they sit under ultraviolet lights. Their ordeal is still not over: think about how long they will sit on the vegetable rack in your kitchen, exposed to warmth, sunlight and oxygen, before you finally boil them and eat them!

Now consider the frozen type. The carrots are plucked and taken straight to the factory, where they are immediately peeled and cooked and put into opaque plastic bags that prevent light from passing through. The bag of carrots is then quicldy frozen and tightly sealed. When you open them up and toss them into boiling water, all their original nutrients are still intact.

This might sound crazy, but it’s true: fear of convenience foods is often a reason for malnourishment amongst hard-working folk of the Nineties. This is hardly surprising, since many of them just don’t have the time to shop for — let alone cook — fresh vegetables. But by keeping a few bags of good quality frozen vegetables in your freezer, you can ensure that your body gets its daily dose of the ‘Special Seven’ veggiesand that your diet is highly nutritious.

Similarly, I advise my fruit-loathing patients to make up their daily deficit by trying cooked, tinned and frozen fruits, all of which are acceptable (although the ‘original’ is still the best!).

Special ways with fruit

If you’re not mad about whole fresh fruit, find other innovative ways of ensuring you get your daily ‘polish’. You should include at least three to four fruits in your daily diet. Here are some ideas:

• Slice a banana into fat-free yoghurt and drizzle with honey.
• Make fruit ’smoothies’ by liquidising soft fruits (such as tinned peaches or fresh strawberries) with yoghurt, honey and fat-free ice cream.
• Gently poach fresh or dried fruit in a light sugar syrup flavoured with vanilla pods, cinnamon or cloves.
• Chop your fruit finely, then place in the freezer overnight. Liquidise to make a refreshing ‘fruit ice’. This works particularly well with whole frozen soft berries such as raspberries and blueberries.
• Open a tin or bottle of peaches or guavas and eat the lot in a single sitting: South African tinned fruit is considered to be among the best in the world!
• Keep a packet of dried fruit on hand for quick nibbles: raisins, peaches, pears, apple rings and guava or peach roll.
• Poach pears in red wine or port and serve with sweetened fat-free yoghurt.
• Grate fresh apples or pears over a green salad and toss in a dressing made of equal parts honey, balsamic vinegar and wholegrain mustard.

Fat-free ‘cheese’ sauce

This white sauce contains no cheese or butter, but is so full of flavour that you — and your guests — probably won’t be able to tell the difference. Use it for coating cooked vegetables and poached fish, and for making fat-free lasagneHeat two cups fat-free milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. In a separate jug, mix six tablespoons milk and four heaped teaspoons cornflour to a very smooth paste. When the milk reaches boiling point, remove from heat and whisk in cornflour paste. Return to stove and bring back to the boil, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming. When thick and smooth, stir in minced spring onions, a dash of sherry, a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder, a tablespoon of soft brown sugar, hot English mustard and salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.

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