What to do when your diet gets boring
When your food becomes so fun that you would appreciate a piece of cardboard for a change, you have to do something. And it is not relapse to the forbidden foods. That would bring back the gout. So here are a few tips about how you can make a vegetable diet more interesting, and taste differently than you probably had imagined vegetables could taste.
In nature, or at least during most of human history, our ancestors were hunter-gatherers. Most people think of hunters when they hear that phrase, and imagine burly men in animal skins dragging home mammoths for supper to their women (who, for some reason, are always much more scantily clad).
If you have ever hunted anything even as reasonably easy to kill as a deer, you know that most hunters, even with rifles and laserguided telescope sights, go without their prey most days. Imagine being on foot and armed with a stone-tipped spear. You quickly realize that to feed yourself and your family, you have to be a better gatherer than hunter.
If you have ever hunted anything even as reasonably easy to kill as a deer, you know that most hunters, even with rifles and laserguided telescope sights, go without their prey most days. Imagine being on foot and armed with a stone-tipped spear. You quickly realize that to feed yourself and your family, you have to be a better gatherer than hunter.
SPICING UP THE DIET
There is an infinite variation of vegetables that are good for you. With gout, there are a few vegetables you need to avoid. But most vegetables are safe. And if you get bored, you can always spice them up a bit. Literally.
HIT THE (SOY) SAUCE
Most supermarkets have some variety when it comes to seasoning - it is rare to find a place where the spice shelf contains only salt and pepper anymore. Superspicy sauces may not be to everyones taste, but there are alternatives.
Japanese soy sauce is a good source of "umami", that meaty flavor which you might be missing after a few weeks on a vegetable diet. You do not need much soy sauce to add the umami taste either. Just a few drops is enough.
On top of that, there are different kinds of soy sauce you can get. The flavor is quite different, there is even soy sauce made to eat with dessert. And if you want to add some additional sauce, there is Japanese soy salt.
In Japan there is a sauce that is en more popular than soy sauce though, and that is ponzu. It is soy sauce with the juice of the juzu fruit mixed in, giving it a subtle citrus flavor. If you can not find ponzu where you live, try soy sauce with a little lon and orange juice (about a fourth of the lemon). We are not talking a lot, a teaspoonful of lemon per half cup of soy sauce should be enough.
If you still think it is boring, try mixing it with mayonnaise. It is made from oil and egg yolks, and so should be perfectly safe for gout sufferers.
Japanese soy sauce is a good source of "umami", that meaty flavor which you might be missing after a few weeks on a vegetable diet. You do not need much soy sauce to add the umami taste either. Just a few drops is enough.
On top of that, there are different kinds of soy sauce you can get. The flavor is quite different, there is even soy sauce made to eat with dessert. And if you want to add some additional sauce, there is Japanese soy salt.
In Japan there is a sauce that is en more popular than soy sauce though, and that is ponzu. It is soy sauce with the juice of the juzu fruit mixed in, giving it a subtle citrus flavor. If you can not find ponzu where you live, try soy sauce with a little lon and orange juice (about a fourth of the lemon). We are not talking a lot, a teaspoonful of lemon per half cup of soy sauce should be enough.
If you still think it is boring, try mixing it with mayonnaise. It is made from oil and egg yolks, and so should be perfectly safe for gout sufferers.
THE COOL AND HOT SAUCES
My wife all too often accuses me of trying to hide failed cooking attempts by drowning them in chili sauce. While it is true that I may not be the greatest chef in the world, a chili sauce may literally spice up a meal.
Start with Thai chilli sauce, for instance. Try it on potatoes. It is completely different from the same potatoes with a little melted butter and soy sauce. And as a matter of fact, it goes even better with other, more firm vegetables. It is great with broccoli and carrots (they do not have to be boiled either). But Thai chili sauce is a bit sweet (to mask out the spiciness), so it may not be to everyones taste.
A genuine Mexican salsa is almost a salad in its own right. It goes great with other vegetables, even the canned varieties will lift the taste of a broccoli or vegetables mix. Sweet corn is very nice to add with a mexican salsa too.
Start with Thai chilli sauce, for instance. Try it on potatoes. It is completely different from the same potatoes with a little melted butter and soy sauce. And as a matter of fact, it goes even better with other, more firm vegetables. It is great with broccoli and carrots (they do not have to be boiled either). But Thai chili sauce is a bit sweet (to mask out the spiciness), so it may not be to everyones taste.
A genuine Mexican salsa is almost a salad in its own right. It goes great with other vegetables, even the canned varieties will lift the taste of a broccoli or vegetables mix. Sweet corn is very nice to add with a mexican salsa too.
HERBS AND SPICES
Before the Europeans discovered America and established trade routes to India and Indonesia (then known as the Spice Islands), there were herbs. Some herbs are perfect to steam together with vegetables and changes their flavor in many subtle ways, like lovage, a herb you may not have seen at the greengrocers but which is more popular than parsley and dill for flavoring soup in Romania. Add a few fresh leaves before you steam the vegetables. You can do the same with dill, Italian parsley, estragon, thyme, or marjoram. It works best with firm root vegetables. First harvest potatoes steamed with dill is a delicacy in Sweden, and the first potatoes to hit the market will be priced at several hundred dollar per kilo.
When it comes to spices, pepper is sthe old standby holding the fort,. Blanch a little butter and grind some pepper into it, and pour it over the vegetables - especially good with cauliflower or broccoli. But there are many other spices than pepper. Allspice often works well, as does nutmeg and cloves. If you are doubtful, use curry powder - although there are so many varieties of that too.
When it comes to spices, pepper is sthe old standby holding the fort,. Blanch a little butter and grind some pepper into it, and pour it over the vegetables - especially good with cauliflower or broccoli. But there are many other spices than pepper. Allspice often works well, as does nutmeg and cloves. If you are doubtful, use curry powder - although there are so many varieties of that too.
NOT EVERYONE LIKES ALL HERBS
Not everyone likes all herbs. There are people who can not get enough cilantro, and others who turn up their noses at coriander (a hint: It works equally well with celery). You have to know your own taste and what you consider spicy. And remember there are different kinds of spiciness. A Mexican dish full of chili peppers has a different type of spiciness than the wasabi you get with sushi, or the mustard served with a German sausage or bangers and mash.
Not only is the spiciness different, your palate is probably differently trained depending on which culture you come from. It is impossible for me to say what works for you, but I can give some hints on what works for me.
Not only is the spiciness different, your palate is probably differently trained depending on which culture you come from. It is impossible for me to say what works for you, but I can give some hints on what works for me.
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