Get MÆT with Autumn's Most Beautiful Vegetables

At PremindBiotics, we take pride in primarily sharing and developing plant-based recipes. Our products are based on nature. Therefore, our recipes and recommendations do the same - of course with a focus on following current, official dietary advice at the same time. Therefore, you will also be able to find recipes with meat, fish or eggs, but as a rule always supplemented with lots of fruit and vegetables. In our universe you will not find raised index fingers or strict requirements for diet and lifestyle. We would like to offer easy and delicious recipes that contain ingredients that can be found in most supermarkets and at the same time encourage eating locally and according to season. While summer is rich in the fine vegetables for the salad bowl (tomato, cucumber, radish), autumn offers the fantastic, coarse vegetables such as cabbage, onion plants and root vegetables. In short, a treasure trove of good dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients. There are so many things to indulge in this fall's ingredients, but here we've selected three of our own favorites and hope to inspire you to try the ones you may not eat as often and eat even more of the ones you already know.

 

Jerusalem artichoke

The tuberous Jerusalem artichoke may deter many because it takes some time to clean. The best result is to clean with a good brush rather than peeling it, as it easily turns brown when peeled. The taste is a bit nutty and it is sweeter and tastes of more than, for example, a potato. In terms of energy, it is reminiscent of the potato with roughly the same number of calories per serving. 100 g, but it has significantly more dietary fiber (2.6 g per 100 g) and is therefore classified as a coarse vegetable (1).

How to cook it

Jerusalem artichokes are good in soups, in mashed potatoes or baked in a dish, but they can also be eaten raw in salads or raw foods. Because the Jerusalem artichoke is a little sweet, it goes really well with a little strong, sour or salty taste. For example, try serving with lemon juice or vinegar in the dressing for artichoke salads or with parmesan on top when artichokes are fried, boiled or baked.

What does the Jerusalem artichoke contribute?

The Jerusalem artichoke is full of good nutrients. It is blue. a good source of vitamin C and inulin.

Vitamin C has many functions in the body, but especially important is that vitamin C helps to improve the absorption of iron (non-heme iron) from food and is an antioxidant. Our daily need for vitamin C is 75 mg / day (2), so with its 26 mg per. 100 g, the Jerusalem artichoke can be a nice contribution to the vitamin account (1). Be aware, however, that vitamin C is not very heat stable, so it is best preserved in the raw material when it is eaten raw or baked rather than boiled, where a large part of the vitamin can be smoked out with the boiling water.

Inulin is a carbohydrate found naturally in thousands of plants. Inulin is indigestible to the human gut and therefore acts as a nutrient for our gut bacteria. Inulin is therefore a prebiotic substance that is beneficial for your intestinal health.

 

Kale

Kale, which is actually also found in a red version (called red kale), does not look like other types of cabbage as it is not a cabbage head but forms long stalks. It is good to know when cooking, because the cabbage should be ribbed, ie. remove the leaves from the stems, which can be hard and stringy. The kale becomes intensely green, less crispy and less bitter if you put the ribbed cabbage in a colander and pour over it with boiling water. Kale has a long shelf life and can easily be frozen.

How to cook it

Kale can be used for everything from salads with apple or pomegranate to kale or content in a good pasta dish. A rye bread dish with kale tartare (finely chopped cabbage stirred with a little good oil and salt and pepper) on top of cottage cheese or smoked cheese is also a fresh addition to the lunch table. The cabbage tastes extra wonderful if the fresh leaves are just squeezed in the hands with a little salt and sugar. Also try kale chips which are cabbage leaves turned with good oil and baked 10-15 min in the oven at 175 degrees. Chips are good snacks or as a crispy sprinkle on a soup.

What does kale contribute?

Like the Jerusalem artichoke, kale contributes vitamin C (actually 6.5 times more vitamin C than the Jerusalem artichoke!) And as much as 6.2 g of dietary fiber per day. 100 g as well as a reasonable amount of calcium and vitamin A. (3).

Dietary fiber contributes to good digestion, a stable blood sugar and a good feeling of satiety. In addition, dietary fiber prevents a number of lifestyle diseases. The recommended intake per. day is 3g per. MJ (megajoule), but that means in practice 25-35 g daily for most of us (4). It may sound like a large amount, but 100 g of kale covers approx. 25% of the minimum recommendation and if you eat whole grains in the form of oatmeal, rye bread or brown rice at the same time and supplement with additional fruit and vegetables during the day, it is achievable for the majority of Danes.

Vitamin A has many functions and contributes i.a. for good night vision, growth and healthy skin, but vitamin A is also important for the immune system. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means that it can be deposited in the liver and adipose tissue. We therefore do not need supplementation daily as with the water-soluble vitamins (B vitamins and vitamin C), which are excreted with i.a. the urine. The daily requirement for vitamin A is 700 retinol equivalents (RE) for women and 900 RE for men. Men 421 RE pr. 100 g therefore helps kale well on its way to meeting your vitamin A needs (5). 

 

Onion

Almost all good dishes start with an onion! Onions are found in a sea of ​​varieties, but most are derived from the plant species kepal onion (Allium cepa). Raw onions have a strong taste and odor due to the content of sulfur-containing substances. When the onion is crushed or cut through and the cells are destroyed, the enzyme alliinase ensures that amino acids in the onion are broken down and converted into a substance that i.a. is irritating to the skin and mucous membranes and gives the familiar tears in the eyes (6).

This is how it can be prepared

Onions can be used in a sea of ​​dishes from the classic bolognese and French onion soup to soft onions on the ground beef, raw onions in a tomato salad or pickled red onions as a topping on everything from a salad to a classic hot dog. Raw onions contribute a very sharp taste, while the sharp taste is replaced by a sweet umami taste when heated. Quick-pickled red onions are some of the easiest to make. Take equal parts good vinegar and sugar (eg 1 dl of each) and heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour over finely chopped slices of onion and let it steep for a total of 10 min to several hours. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use it in the coming days as a sour-sweet accessory for your food. Should it be extra delicious, add bay leaves or star anise to the vinegar as an extra flavoring.

What do onions contribute?

Onions are one of the coarse vegetables and have approx. 1.9 g of dietary fiber per 100 g. Like the other vegetables in this blog, onions are a good source of vitamin C, but also of vitamin B6 as well as the minerals selenium, potassium and manganese. (7). Onions also contain a sugar, oligofructose, which is really good nutrition for your intestinal bacteria.

Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin, which means it should be taken daily. Vitamin B6 is important for our immune system and the formation of antibodies. The vitamin is sensitive to light and cooking, but fortunately it is found in many foods such as meat, fish, poultry, vegetables in whole grains, so it is not a vitamin you lack in our food in general (8).

Oligofructose is roughly simplified a type of dietary fiber with sweet taste. Therefore, oligofructose is used as a sweetener or alternative to sugar because it contains half as many calories per gram as sugar. Oligofructose is found naturally in onions, but also in wheat and bananas, among others. Although oligofructose is a sugar, it is not digested in the small intestine and therefore it is undigested to the large intestine, where it contributes, among other things, to the growth of beneficial bifidobacteria (9). This is good for gut health, but a "side effect" is stomach air, which many probably experience after a large intake of onions.

These were three of our absolute favorites from the fall. If you want to use them in your own kitchen, you can see our recipes for inspiration. You can start with this:Shakshuka in dish

References:

1. DTU food database: https://frida.fooddata.dk/food/
2. Vitamin C: https://netdoktor.dk/vitaminer/vitaminc.htm
3. DTU food database: https://frida.fooddata.dk/food/23
4. Recommendation dietary fiber: https://www.sundhed.dk/borger/patienthaandbogen/sundhedsoplysning/kost/fiber-i-kosten/
5. Vitamin A: https://netdoktor.dk/vitaminer/vitamina.htm
6. Jones et al. (2004): Biosynthesis of the flavour precursors of onion and garlic. Journal of Experimental Botany, 55: 404, P 1903-1918.
7. DTU food database: https://frida.fooddata.dk/food/716
8. Vitamin B6: https://netdoktor.dk/vitaminer/vitaminb6.htm
9. Kathy R. Niness (1999) Inulin and Oligofructose: What Are They? J Nutr Jul;129(7 Suppl):1402S-6S