This is the time of year when good eating habits can go out the door. As Christmas approaches, parties and their associated drinks and nibbles are a bit inevitable. But, Rosemary Stanton says it’s not all bad news. You can enjoy yourself and still make lots of healthy drink and nibble choices.
Drinks
Alcohol isn’t all bad. It helps increase the good HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol in our blood and a glass of red or white wine or a gin, whiskey or beer all have this beneficial effect. Red wine has extra advantages. It’s a great source of antioxidants and they help prevent fats going rancid inside your arteries. Red wine is probably a major reason the French get away with eating so much rich food and yet have very low levels of heart disease. White wine doesn’t have the same advantages unless it is a sparkling white wine made from the pinot noir grape.
As a guideline two drinks per day for women and three or four for men is around the maximum recommended – for health and safety. One good way to stay within your limits and quench your thirst is to drink water or mineral or soda water before you start on anything alcoholic. It also helps to have a glass of something non-alcoholic like water or juice in between alcoholic drinks. Any fizzy alcoholic drink like sparkling wine or a gin and tonic is absorbed into your bloodstream very fast, especially on an empty stomach. So always make sure you have something to eat before you start drinking.
Nibbles
The body is totally unable to convert any type of alcoholic beverage into fat and will always burn up the kilojoules from alcohol before it burns anything else. But if the body is busy burning off the alcohol it won’t get around to burning any of the kilojoules from fat. Beer tends to go with fatty foods like chips, crisps, cabanossi (cabana), cheese and crackers, peanuts, hamburgers, meat pies, sausages and meats spitting fat from the barbecue. When at a party always go for seafood like prawns and oysters for a healthy accompaniment to the drinks. Fresh vegetables with a dip are also a healthy choice. Snack foods out of a packet like potato chips are high in fat, 30% and even Lite crisps, which have less salt, have 32% fat. Soya chips sound like a healthy alternative but have just as much fat as regular potato chips. Corn chips are a bit better but still have 24% fat. Oven baked corn chips are much lower in fat, with only 3% and they also have a low salt content. There are other low fat snacks available from the supermarket like pretzels (3-7% fat), Healthy Snack sticks (4% fat) and some rice crackers (1.5-20% fat depending on whether oil is added). Some alternatives can be a bit salty but are low in saturated fat. Another healthier alternative is nuts. Nuts do have lots of fat (50-70% fat) but it’s ‘good’ unsaturated fat and they’re packed with vitamins and antioxidants. The only downside to nuts is that they can be fattening if you eat too many of them. Slow down the intake by having nuts in the shells like pistachios and peanuts.
Rosemary’s healthy dips
Serve dips with oven baked corn chips or with a platter of raw vegetables such as strips of red and yellow capsicum, carrot or celery sticks, baby corn and green beans, asparagus or broccoli pieces that have been steamed for 1-2 minutes, then plunged into a bowl of iced water (this keeps them tender and crisp and maintains their bright colour).
Avocado dip
Ingredients
- flesh of 2 small or 1 large avocado
- 150g silken tofu
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon chopped chilli (or use 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce)
- 1 clove crushed garlic
- freshly ground black pepper
Method
Combine avocado flesh with remaining ingredients and mash or use a food processor until well blended. Best made the day it will be used. Cover with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated until needed.
Chickpea dip
Ingredients
- 400g can drained chickpeas or 1 packet Quickpulse chickpeas
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Method
In food processor, combine chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and garlic. Process until smooth, adding a little water or more lemon juice, if necessary. Place into serving dish and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Best served with oven baked corn chips or place pita or Lebanese bread into a moderate over for 15 minutes, or until crisp. Break into pieces to serve with chickpea dip.
Basil dip
Ingredients
- 1 bunch fresh basil, stalks removed
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
Method
In food processor, combine basil, garlic, lemon rind and juice. Process until well chopped. Add ricotta and process until well combined. Stir in pine nuts. Delicious with platter of raw vegetables.
Further information
For more of Rosemary Stanton’s advice on food and nutrition consult: Rosemary Stanton’s Complete Book of Food & Nutrition (Simon & Schuster, revised edition 1995, rrp $29.95) Eating for Peak Performance (Allen & Unwin, second edition, 1994, rrp $14.95).