Hello hello! So I’m trying to broaden my culinary horizon right now, things have gotten a bit stale since I have a mild case of ARFID and tend to fall back on safe foods (protein bars, fruit pureés, burritos) when I don’t keep an eye on my diet. Ideally I’m looking for something that’s healthy and reqires little prep. And it should be obtainable in Germany. But if the title speaks to you in any other way I’m interested to hear your thoughts anyway.
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Any type of bean. You can make dips, chili, put them in rice, and they are really healthy.
The recipe from ‘Jose el Cook’ on YT for Arroz Rojo is really good.
Added kidney beans in the riceToo bad that reheating in the microwave makes it a bit too dry and it needs some protein which is also hard to reheat at work.
I love beans! The burritos I make usually contain some baked tofu and onions, brown rice and refried as well as whole beans. They’re like at least 70% bean 😄 Best way to get some protein in when you prefer plant based foods.
Shakshuka with some pita is one of my comfort foods. I use David Lebovitz’s recipe
Used to make that all the time, thanks for the reminder. Recipe sounds good, personally I like to put beans in the sauce for added protein.
I have just discovered chia pudding. If you like Boba tea, (is that what it’s called?) it’s got that same bubble poppy, feel, if you don’t, puree / grind the chia first. 1tbsp chia, Add whatever flavor you like, chocolate pudding mix, drinking chocolate, whatever. And a cup of whatever milk you like (or water). (I add some flax meal but it kinda tastes like dirt a little, especially if you put too much.) add whatever protein powder, pea protein is flavourless. Bam, tastes like chocolate pudding. Good fibre, good brain food (aka omega something something) I actually find I have more energy when I eat it. I make a jar of it and just have a couple of table / tea spoons a day. Good for a few days to a week. Oh, wait a few hours to overnight for it to solidify.
Also nice: Sago pudding
Was introduced to it during my vacation is Sri Lanka (lovely place).Basically starchy pearls in a milk (or substitute with coconut milk) that is spiced with cardamom, cinnamon and other optional spices like kithul syrup or jaggery
That sounds fantastic, will try soon!
Are things like Taro and Cassava readily available in Germany? If so then I’d recommend Sop Sop.
Yes you can get all of that at Asian grocery stores. Sounds interesting, never heard of it before.
My son has ARFID. He’s 15. It’s really hard. He’s seeing a therapist. But he’s still seriously underweight. I don’t have any food recommendations, but I do wish you the best with your progress.
I’m sorry to hear that. It often gets much better with age though! I’m 29 now and I can eat most stuff without feeling any aversion. It’s more that I prefer my safe foods but I can thoroughly enjoy other meals too. Cooking can still be tricky sometimes but I don’t let that ruin my diet. I hope your son can find a calorie-dense safe food. My go to in that regard are almonds, cashews, peanuts, pumpkin seeds and if all else fails gummy bears.
Nutritional yeast, aka flake yeast.
Intense flavor, goes with damm near anything parmesan goes with, and things it doesn’t. It’s fairly cheap, lasts ages when stored decently, and it packs a nutritional punch.
People like to talk about how umami’s spread as a specific flavor into awareness in the west was a massive shift. But a lot of people got locked into the soy and fish sauce focus that was the first thing that western tastes became familiar with as umami. Even when folks are aware of other things, they still tend to think in terms of sauces and complex recipes for pastes and fermented products. But good old yeast is right there, cranking out a deep and rich flavor.
So it gets slept on pretty hard. It doesn’t help that it isn’t marketed well. A lot of people that have heard of it think it’s more along the lines of a vitamin you take on its own, or lump it in with woowoo nutrition in places where it’s called nutritional yeast.
One of my favourite things that really focus on it as a major flavor component is roasted cauliflower. You mix it with the spice blend, and toss it in a bowl, and it opens up with that rich, heady scent that yeast has. I don’t measure for it, it’s just dumping a bit of garlic and onion powders, salt & pepper, then some paprika. Then maybe two to three tablespoons of the yeast. It’s mouth watering, just the smell. Fuck, my mouth is watering thinking of it.
You get that amazing caramelized flavor from the roasting, that delicate floral note that some cauliflower has, the slightly sulfuric tang too. Then the spices lift those, and the yeast ties it all together and becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
I’ve eaten roasted cauliflower with parmesan before and it was delicious so I’m gonna have to give that one a go!
Since you’re talking about Germany: Tofu has been unfairly demonized here (maybe because it can serve as a meat substitute).
It is a great source of nutrients and protein. It can be prepared in many different ways. It is environmentally friendly, can be conveniently stored and has a relatively long shelf life.
Tofu has been unfairly demonized here
Could you give me some more context on this? Is it the usual “phytoestrogen will make you a girl” or agricultural industry propaganda?
I feel like the EU in general has been quite pro-animal agriculture (for example plant-based milk can’t be sold as “milk”), but how is it in Germany specifically?
See, this is why I come to the comments: To pick up tiny little bits of interesting cultural knowledge.
A family member said they disliked it because of it being gummy.
Might also be a brand thing because silky tofu from the asian store was just silky but tasteless and would need some type of marinade.
I haven’t tried tofu many different ways, but I worked at a tex-mex restaurant in high school and I’ve enjoyed it the way they made it ever since. Squeeze the excess water out, dice it, marinade it in the same marinade you would use for tex-mex steak, saute it, and serve it in tacos or burritos or whatever.
Lately I have been a huge fan of Zartweizen, you can just use them in nearly any way you would use noodles or even sometimes rice. Also great in salads or soups.
Take vegetable. Saute with olive oil, a little salt, and some seasoning. Vegetables taste amazing and people just don’t eat enough of them, and I think it’s because they don’t cook them right.
Piggybacking this comment because similar:
Chop up some veggies (I like zucchini, yellow squash, onions, and maybe carrots), toss them in olive oil, salt, some seasoning, and an acid like lemon juice or wine (or a little balsamic vinegar if you want that vibe), then throw it into a lubed pan and into a preheated oven until roasted to your liking (probably like 15-20 minutes at 400°F).
I like this method because it’s largely passive, so this can happen while you deal with some other part of your meal. Sauce, meat, rice, whatever. Plus it’s pretty hard to fuck up unless you forget to use a timer lol.
My bed, normally, with a rare nap on the couch. Why would anyone sleep on food?
Personally I think it’d be nice to sleep on a giant, freshly baked loaf of sourdough bread.
You just had me look up the idiom to make sure I got it right 😅
Let me rephrase in accordance with the definition that came up: Which important or impressive food items are people not paying enough attention to?
Due to disability I practically live in my bed. I often sleep on nuts, noodles, peas and rice. Once I slept on a chicken nugget.
Various spices and dried herbs? Get a whole bunch of different ones, perhaps even some premixed from India (though unnecessary, but may be available even in places like Lidl every now and then IIRC)
I always fall back on chicken breast, what most people seem to find bland and dry. Well, you can mix up some spices together, figure out some combinations you like and put them on your protein/vegetable of choice (will work well with olive oil too as another person mentioned). Want it done quick? Chop it up into smaller pieces and throw in a frying pan. Don’t want it oily? Swap it out for butter (just use lower heat) although I prefer sunflower oil.
You’ll probably have few that you eventually always use in combination with others. E.g. my favorite to use are sweet paprika, coriander and turmeric. Turmeric seems kinda crap on its own, but works well with other spices. Coriander doesn’t need much added, if anything and smells good imo and paprika just goes well on lots of various stuff (note that smoked or plain paprika is also very different from sweet kind though)
Lidl
Curry (powder) is tricky because it can contain so many different things. The cheapest (and Lidl is always the cheapest, despite colorful packaging) usually sucks.
Wer nie im Bette aß weiß nicht wie Krümel piekenHard boiled eggs, super food, very portable, easy to throw in a backpack or lunch box. Available in most convenience stores
It’s good that you’re looking to expand your food repertoire
If you’re dealing with arfid though you should consider a desensitization protocol to help deal with sensory or phobic response driving the arfid. What this looks like varies because it depends on what drives your arfid: is it a fear of aversive reaction, is it sensory, disinterest, etc.
That said building on what you have can be helpful. Changing the burritos slightly - change the protein, add a new vegetable, add guacamole, etc. try a new flavor of protein bar, etc.
If you’re looking for something in the healthy/low prep side of things I tend to make one big meal on sundays for the week and portion it out. It takes about 30-60 minutes depending on what I make. Japanese curry, various pastas, salads, soups, etc. how healthy these are varies. I am vegan so they tend to be a little bit better than the typical recipe you’d see online but some are still not the most healthy (Japanese curry for example is fairly high in fat but portioned correctly with rice is still filling and a reasonable amount of calories)
Get a rice cooker with a timer. Aside from steaming rice to perfection it can also make perfect omelets, al dente pasta, soups(no raw chicken! Not hot enough) I replaced my old gas stove for this and a microwave to effectively reduce my energy bill. So slowcooker + microwave for sauces and garlic infused bread you can make very diverse combos of 15 minute meals. I am on a lean meat and vegetarian diet.
Also a cool hobby is fermenting and preserving. Like making your own jam from leftover fruits.
