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A warming winter meal
Smart Eating
A warming winter meal
 Roasted pumpkin tofu curry
By naturopath Sandra Villella This is a delicious way to incorporate these foods into your diet, especially tofu, which is an excellent source of phytoestrogens and a good source of vegetable protein.
I like to cook this on a cold Sunday afternoon, pottering around the house, enjoying the warmth and delicious smell coming from the oven while the pumpkin and tofu are roasting. Cook it for one or two serves. Or make extra and eat the leftovers for lunch.
Nutritional value Pumpkin is one of the best dietary sources of carotenoid, the pigment responsible for the yellow, orange and red colours in plants. Spinach is also a rich source of Beta-carotene, although the green pigment, chlorophyll, hides the yellow-orange pigment.
Carotenoids are important antioxidants and those found in pumpkin can be converted to vitamin A, important for growth and development, immune system function and vision.
The absorption of carotenoids in the intestines requires some fat in the meal. Roasting pumpkin with olive oil not only makes it tastier but also enhances the nutritional absorption of the carotenoids. The total fat content of the meal can be reduced by using low-fat coconut milk, as the pumpkin added creates a lovely thick curry.
Ingredients
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Per person:
150-200g firm tofu
200g pumpkin
Olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves,
peel and squash with
flat of knife
Salt and pepper
1-2 tins of light
coconut milk |
Handful baby spinach
Red or green curry paste
Small handful
raw cashews
½-1 cup cooked
brown rice
Fresh roughly chopped
coriander to serve |
Method
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Chop pumpkin and tofu into 2-3 cm cubes (larger pieces will take longer to cook). Add garlic and toss gently in a large bowl with olive oil so as not to break up the tofu. Season with salt and pepper. Bake in a preheated hot oven at 180-200˚C, shaking two to three times, for one hour. Toss the cashews in the oil from the tofu and pumpkin remaining in the bowl. Add cashews to the pumpkin and tofu after 40 minutes.
In a wok, warm curry paste and coconut milk. Add baked ingredients and stir occasionally until the pumpkin ‘mashes’ into a sauce with the coconut milk. Taste and add more curry paste if needed. Wilt baby spinach in wok and serve on brown rice topped with coriander.
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Smart Eating
Nutritionist Catherine Saxelby answers your questions on nutrition.
How much caffeine is safe to drink?
Caffeine is a natural stimulant that is present not only in coffee, but also in energy drinks, tea, cocoa, cola soft drinks and chocolate. Most adults can handle 300 milligrams of caffeine a day without ill effects (equal to four cups of instant coffee, five to six cups of tea or three cups of percolated coffee).
Caffeine acts on the nervous system, speeding up the heartbeat and rate of breathing, dilating blood vessels and overcoming fatigue. It also increases stomach acid secretions and is a mild diuretic. Too much caffeine may result in insomnia, stomach upsets, jitteriness, palpitations, anxiety and headache.
However, many coffee addicts develop a tolerance to caffeine and can drink large amounts without noticing any problems; but if they give it up, they soon experience caffeine withdrawal – headache, drowsiness and lack of energy. These symptoms subside after four to seven days.
Does wine lose its alcohol content when cooked?
This depends on how long you cook the alcohol for. During cooking, alcohol evaporates – the longer you cook it and the higher the temperature, the greater the evaporation and the less alcohol is retained in the final dish. If you add wine or liqueur towards the end of your cooking, the dish will have a much higher alcohol content (in some cases as much as 85 per cent of the alcohol can remain) than one where the alcohol was added at the beginning and heated for an hour or so.
How is alcohol fattening when it doesn’t have any fat content?
Any food or drink – no matter how much fat it contains – can cause weight gain if you eat/drink too much of it. This is because it is the total kilojoules (kJ), not the total fat in your diet, that really counts toward excess weight.
Reducing the fat in your diet will help cut kilojoules. This is because fat is kilojoule-dense (37 kJ per gram). But so too is alcohol (29kJ per gram). Weight for weight, alcohol and fat are roughly twice as fattening as carbohydrate or protein.
Research shows that alcohol has an appetiteenhancing effect, which is why it’s traditionally served as an aperitif before dinner. Alcohol is often consumed as well as food and so increases total overall kilojoules.
If you are watching your weight, keep fat and alcohol intake in check.
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Kilojoules (calories) per gram |
| Fat |
37 (9 calories) |
| Alcohol |
29 (7 calories) |
| Protein |
17 (4 calories) |
| Carbohydrate (incl. sugar) |
16 (4 calories) |
For more questions and answers on nutrition log on to www.jeanhailes.org.au
© 2008 The Jean Hailes Foundation for Women's Health
Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under copyright legislation, no part may be reproduced or reused for any commercial purposes.
Content Updated May 31, 2008
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