4 Nutritious & Delicious Ways to Add Flavour to Your Meals
Low-FODMAP Pork Ramen Bowl
November 15, 2020
Low-FODMAP Spiced Chicken & Veggie Bowl
November 25, 2020Anyone else have a hard time bringing flavour to your meals without adding processed sauces or loading up on sugar?
Don’t get me wrong, using sugar in our meals from time to time is by no means the end of the world! It is great to have a variety of flavours in our diets to keep it interesting.
And let’s be honest with ourselves, sometimes you are just feeling that low-FODMAP BBQ sauce or some teriyaki chicken.
But we also know that the more we limit our intake of processed foods, sugars, and saturated fats, and the more we add whole foods, healthy fats, and unprocessed additives the more our bodies will thank us!
Life is a balancing act and we often have to find that with the foods we eat. Finding a balance between being satisfied with what we eat as well as fueling our body with nutritious food can be tough sometimes. I have battled with this myself for years. But through my journey, I have learned some really great hacks on how to nutritiously add flavour to my meals that leave me feeling totally satisfied.
So without further ado, here are some juicy tips on how to kill it when it comes to the flavour game.
1. Fresh Herbs
This one is my absolute favourite way to bring a ton of fresh flavour to any meal.
Dried spices are definitely easier and more accessible, but using one to two fresh herbs a week in your meal prep can be such a game-changer!
Often the fresh herbs come in big bunches and I used to have the hardest time using it all, so I would just avoid buying it altogether. But when I made the switch to meal prepping for the week I found I could really get full use out of all of the fresh herbs without throwing them away at the end of the week.
It’s a perfect way of habit bundling! In other words, attaching one healthy habit (use of fresh herbs> adding sauces) to a healthy habit you have already established (meal prepping) to increase the likelihood that you will commit to that new habit.
Another bonus is it is hard to find a fresh herb that is high-FODMAP. So you have your pick of flavours!
Here are a few of my favourite ways to incorporate fresh herbs into my cooking:
- Cilantro added to a light dressing for bowls and salads or as a garnish for my burrito bowls and chicken tinga tacos.
- Fresh dill to really bring out the flavour in my low-FODMAP tzaziki, or bring some awesome flavour to any plain chicken breast.
- Fresh parsley can honestly bring so much flavour to a loaded up salad with a ton of veggies, a hearty quinoa bowl, or even pasta.
2. Fresh Lemons & Limes (Don't forget the zest!)
I have used lemon and lime juice in a lot of my recipes for years now. I always found it to be a great way to bring flavour to my sauces or seasonings for my main proteins as an alternative to high sugar sauces. But it wasn’t until recently that I started buying lemon and limes with most of my shops instead of just using the bottled juices.
The 2 benefits to buying the real fruit are:
- The fresh flavour you get from using the lemon and lime juice without any added chemicals what-so-ever.
- ANNND you have to start adding zest to your recipes. I am telling you, the flavour punch you get with just a little bit of zest is incredible.
3.Load up that Bowl!
If you have been following for long enough now, you will know I am really into bowls…
From veggie-packed rice bowls to smoothie bowls, I could have a mixed-up bowl of just about anything for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
So if you are anything like me and like to mix up a bowl with all the ‘good stuff’ then this tip will be perfect for you!
Here are 3 ways I like to bring flavour to my bowls without loading up on processed sugar at the same time:
Add Fresh or Dried Fruit
- Now I know fruit can have it’s a fair share of sugar but hear me out. The sugar found in fruit is digested differently than that found in products with added sugar or just straight sugar alone.
- First off, the fiber that is found in fruit helps to fill us up so that we become fuller faster and generally eat less. Therefore, we often eat less sugar than if we were to add sugary dressings instead for flavour.
- Secondly, sugar enters our blood system slower when it is digested in fruit form. Our gut has to take time to break down the fruit to release the sugar and that allows us to avoid that quick spike in sugar and insulin in our blood.
- So a great way to gain some flavour in a more nutritious way is to add strawberries to your salad or my favourite is to add some dried cranberries to a fall-inspired rice bowl (low-fodmap portion size of course).
- Lastly, try to avoid the dried fruit that has any added sugar as well. Try to keep it au-naturel!
Add Texture
- Another way to keep things interesting when it comes to your bowls is to add different textures.
- I always like to have some sort of crunch to my bowls often by sprinkling some low-FODMAP seeds and/or nuts on top to add some nutritional value and texture to the bowl.
- Nuts and seeds have loads of health benefits from supporting good heart health to helping you get in your daily dose of protein and healthy fats. Keep in mind they can increase your calories quite a bit, but this way you are adding nutritious calories to your bowl that will leave you feeling full for longer!
Add High Protein Cheeses
- If there is one food I would never give up for good, it is cheese. Cheese has been getting a lot of bad wraths recently, but in moderation (and if your gut can tolerate it) it can be a great way to really bring your meal over the top.
- My go-to cheeses are feta, cheddar, and parmesan as they are low-lactose, low-FODMAP, relatively lower in calories, and high in nutrients! These are some of the higher protein cheeses again filling you up so you don’t feel the need to snack so much throughout the day.
4. Spicy > Sweet
For the longest time my go-to flavour pallet for my sauces and seasoning was either garlicky goodness or a sweet sauce to dip or cover all my main dishes in. And seeing as garlic and I am not on speaking terms (unless found in garlic-infused oil form), sweeter sauces started to be my first choice.
But slowly and surely I have started to add some real spice into my life and have ventured into the world of spicy food.
Now for those of you that love spicy food, you would probably laugh at the level of spice that I can handle, but starting to add ‘spicy’ meals to my repertoire has really allowed me to reduce my sugar intake.
Dried spices like chili powder, turmeric, and red pepper chili flakes are just some of the spices we have started to use a lot more often in our cooking and they definitely do NOT disappoint on flavour.
They are such a great way to kick it up a notch when it comes to your flavour profile. And it provides you with an alternative option to the sweet sauces and seasoning.
That way we can keep all those natural sugars for the dessert ;)
Food For Thought
Keep in mind that these strategies that I have developed over the years have worked well for me. We are all individuals and you will find that not all strategies, tricks, and tips will work for you. When it comes to nutrition, things can get confusing and it really is an endless journey of learning. My hope is just that I can make it a little bit less bumpy for you!
if you have any specific medical issues or questions please reach out to a local health professional for help. It is best not to use "Dr. Google" to find a diagnosis. And as always, what I share here at Making Lemonade is for information only, and should not be considered a substitute for medical advice.
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