What is a Rhizome, and why should I put it in my mouth?

A rhizome is the edible root of some plants. We are very familiar with one of them in the states - Ginger.  Another one that is good and easy to obtain is Turmeric.

In recent studies, more and more good things are being discovered about these roots. For instance, it's thought that turmeric can help prevent diseases such as Alzheimer's and certain kinds of cancer, such as prostate and melanoma. Ginger is very well known for helping with nausea and digestion, as well as other stomach problems.

The beauty of these spices are that they contain almost no nutritional value as a simple food, so there's not really a need to worry about using too much. Besides, you don't need that much to flavor your food anyway.  They add some interesting flavor to what you're eating, and they have those "mysterious" health benefits.

Recently, my favorite way to use turmeric is to saute ground chicken and onions, then add plenty of turmeric, a dash of salt (I use the low sodium salt) and some red pepper. Mix that all up, and then beat some eggs and toss that in there. If you want, you can even add your daily oat bran to the batch. Scramble that all up and enjoy. I like mine really hot, so I add a ton of chili powder to it.

Ginger is one of the key ingredients in some Indian curries. A great way to use it is to mince it with garlic (ginger garlic paste is used heavily in Indian cooking). Put a little oil in a pan and add the garlic ginger paste. Cook it for a few minutes, but don't let it burn. Garlic gets really bitter when it burns. Get some chicken (whatever kind you like) and fry it up with a small amount of oil. When it gets nicely sauteed, add a good helping of turmeric and mix everything up. It will seem a bit dry, probably. That's ok. Add whatever vegetables you like (eggplant is good, or broccoli. Anything, really). The moisture from the veggies will help create a kind of sauce. If there still isn't enough, add a tiny bit of water. Add other spices (coriander, star anise, etc) or just use store bought curry powder (just be careful it doesn't contain a lot of salt. Some curry powders are filled with it).  Let it cook in the sauce for a few minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Like I said, recently I LOVE turmeric. So if anyone out there has other good recipes, I'd love to hear about them.

The Magical Oat Bran

Dukan constantly touts the benefits of eating oat bran, and doesn't just recommend it, but requires it as part of his diet.

What's oat bran? It's the outer shell of the oat that gets removed during processing.

 

One of the benefits of eating oat bran is that it reduces cholesterol. It also helps digestion. What's more, it's one of the main sources of fiber during the attack and cruise phases of the diet.

Dukan requires you to take increasing amounts as the diet progresses.

Attack Phase - 1.5Tbs

Cruise Phase - 2Tbs

Consolidation Phase (and onward) - 3Tbs

I find it really fills you up and allows you a chance to eat something a bit like carbs. The easiest way to eat it is to put it in yogurt, but I've also made pancakes with it (using fat-free yogurt and eggs) as well as actually baking muffins with it (same as the pancakes, but add baking powder and spices, etc. It turns out quite well and goes pretty well with meat, etc.

We found ours quite cheap here in Japan, so I'm assuming in places like the US and UK, you can find it even easier. Whether or not you do the Dukan diet, it wouldn't be a bad idea to add a bit of oat bran to your diet.

The Night Before

Tonight I tested out making one of the Dukan galettes. No Quark (whatever that is) or fromage fraise (whatever that is either). I used some of the fat free yogurt, an egg and the bran with a dash of salt. Overall, I think they'll be pretty good. It's a bit eggy though, so if you make it sweet, maybe you should just use the egg white. I'll try that later.  Also, a good non-stick pan is a must.  My pan is a bit old, and my galette came out in a few pieces.

Not made by me, but looks similar.

 Also, I read that a substitute for Quark can be made with yogurt if you drain it overnight. So, in a colander, I put a couple pieces of paper towel, dumped a tub of yogurt into it, and put it all into a bigger bowl to catch the runoff.  In the couple of hours since I did it, a fair amount of water has already come out.  What's going to happen?

For tomorrow's lunch I butterflied some chicken breasts (which luckily are the cheapest cuts of chicken in Japan). I sprinkled with a little salt and pepper, rubbed on some crushed garlic, a pinch of bouquet garnis and sprinkled with lemon juice. It's marinating in the fridge as we speak. We'll have that with a galette for lunch. Breakfast will probably be a salmon omelet with some yogurt.  I think that should hold us to dinner, but my wife asked what about if she wants a snack. So I'll make some tuna salad (using yogurt instead of mayo) and she can munch that.

Dinner is going to be grilled Pacific Sauri, which is a really nice fish. We might have that with a Japanese Omelette. So, we'll see how this all turns out.