Tag Archives: tv nutritionist

Family Meals, Gluten Free, Media, Recipes, Special Diets, Wheat Free

Quick, Tasty Beef Stir Fry – Eat Well for Less

Leave a comment

Stir Fry is one of those meals we make a lot at home. It is fast food, easy to make and satisying. This one, made on Eat Well for Less uses frying steak which is quick to cook due to it’s thinness and cheaper than other cuts.  Top tip – you don’t want to overcook this so having all your ingredients pre chopped and ready for action is a good idea.

This is one of those recipes you can make your own. Adding bamboo shoots and beansprouts would give it a nice Chinese style touch, or add any other veggies you have.

Use gluten free soy sauce  and stock cube to make this a gluten free meal.

Red meat is important for iron and zinc intake, something that we know is an issue for teenage girls and young women. This can then be exacerbated if you become pregnant. So whilst red meat is sometimes frowned upon, this recipe provides a great way to include it in your weeks meal plan.

I’ve modified it from the version on the show, scaling it down to serve 4 people rather than 6. 

Print

Easy Beef Stir Fry

Servings 4 adults

Ingredients

  • 300 g basmati rice
  • 1/2 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 400 g frying steak
  • 1/2 tsp cornflour
  • 40 g cashew nuts
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • thumb sized piece ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1 head broccoli
  • 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
  • 1/2 vegetable stock cube
  • 1 small bunch coriander
  • pepper

Instructions

  1. Rinse and drain the rice. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add the  basmati, stir well then cook according to the packet instructions.


  2. Heat a wok over a high heat until hot, add half the oil and when it’s just smoking, add the beef. Sprinkle with cornflour and stir-fry until browned all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.


  3. Stir-fry the cashews until just golden-brown then set aside with the beef.


  4. Carefully wipe the wok until clean using kitchen roll. Bring to a high heat and add the remaining oil. Once hot, add the red onion and fry for 1–2 minutes, or until just soft. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a minute


  5. Half fill the kettle and bring to the boil. Add the broccoli, soy and oyster sauce to the wok and mix well. Add the vegetable stock cube with 400ml/14fl oz boiling water and bring to the boil, stirring well. Cover with a lid (use kitchen foil if you don't have a suitable pan lid) and cook for 2 minutes or until the broccoli is just tender (you don’t want to lose the bright green colour).


  6. Add in beansprouts, bamboo shoots if wanted at this stage.



  7. Stir the cooked beef and cashews through the sauce and heat for a minute. Scatter over the coriander and serve immediately with the cooked, drained rice.

Gluten Free, Media, Nutrition Education, Special Diets

Is eating gluten free healthier?

Leave a comment

Gluten free eating has been bang on trend recently. Why? There is a thought that gluten affects weight, causes bloating and is commonly poorly digested. However, often it is not actually gluten that is the issue. There can be several other explanations, for example: large portions of carbohydrate foods can cause bloating, just because of the amount of food in one sitting. In those suffering from IBS, the issue is unlikely to be gluten, but that of FODMAPS, which include wheat, lactose, beans, pulses, plus certain fruits and vegetables. Another key reason can be the overall diet. Eating a diet that is high in packaged, processed foods can cause symptoms that then disappear when you remove gluten. Why? Because why gluten is removed, your whole diet changes. It is not gluten that is always the culprit, take a look at this clip from Food Truth or Scare for more.

Gluten free foods can be: 👉 lower in fibre. 👉 higher in fat. 👉higher in sugars 👉higher in calories. 👉lower in B vitamins. 👉lower in iron 👉often they are not wholegrain.

Therefore gluten free foods are not healthier!  Of course if you are gluten free for medical reasons you may need to have these foods but you can also use grains such as buckwheat and quinoa to provide your wholegrains. So it also doesn’t mean you can’t have a great healthy diet and be gluten free, it just require more planning and thought. Top advice: only go gluten-free if you absolutely need to.

 

SaveSave