This recipe shows that you can eat lentils as more than just a stew. This dish is particularly suitable for the warmer months of the year, as it is served lukewarm. I found it here:
Source recipe: https://www.strunz.com/rezepte/linsensalat.html
Ingredients
- 200 g mountain lentils (50 g KH, 25 g EW/100 g)
- 8 apricots (ripe, soft fruit)
- 1 organic lemon
- 1 tbsp coconut oil with ginger-lemongrass curry flavor
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Ginger
- 1 tsp curry
- Pepper
- Salt
- Herbs: parsley, fresh or frozen, or frozen herb mix
Preparation
- Cooking lentils
- Quarter the apricots, cut into slices and mix into the lentils
- Grate the lemon zest and squeeze the lemon.
- Grate the ginger.
- Mix the zest and juice of the lemon with the coconut oil, olive oil, pepper, salt, curry, grated ginger and herbs and pour over the warm lentils, stir, leave to infuse and serve
Why is bone broth brain food?
Pulses such as lentils, peas and beans or lupins contain a relatively high amount of protein, but also a relatively high amount of carbohydrates. Depending on the legume, the ingredients can differ considerably (see table, in comparison to oatmeal, tuna and pork liver). Unlike animal sources, plants do not usually contain all the essential amino acids, so it is beneficial to combine both sources. I found a nice overview here: https://ecodemy.de/magazin/pflanzliche-proteine-kombinieren-essentielle-aminosaeuren/
That’s why we like to eat chicken breast fillet with it.
100 g of food contain:
| Contains 100g | Tryptophan | Phenylalanine | Carbohydrates |
| Lenses | 250 mg | 1,400 mg | 49,3 g |
| Peas | 100 mg | 1,400 mg | 10,4 g |
| Beans | 230 mg | 1,400 mg | 11 g |
| Oat flakes | 190 mg | 780 mg | 58,7 g |
| Chicken breast | 280 mg | 1.000 mg | 0,0 g |
| Tuna | 300 mg | 1,050 mg | 0,0 g |
| Pork liver | 300 mg | 1,130 mg | 0,5 g |
Sources: vitalstoff-lexikon.de, www.fddb.info and Heseker “Nährstoffe in Lebensmitteln” p.83
As can be seen from the table, lentils have almost 50 g of carbohydrates per 100 g, but also 25 g of protein and a relatively high content of tryptophan and phenylalanine, the starting materials for the two neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. Their proportion is even comparable to that of tuna and liver, but these animal protein sources have virtually no carbohydrates.
Lentils also contain:
- Dietary fiber 17 g
- Magnesium 130 mg,
- Potassium 840 mg,
- Phosphate 410 mg
- Iron 8 mg
- Zinc 3.4 mg
- Beta-carotene 100 µg
- Folate (vitamin B9) 170 µg
- Vitamin C 5 mg
To reduce the lectin content of the lentils, soak the lentils overnight, pour away the soaking water and rinse the lentils with fresh water before serving. Lectins are plant substances with which the plant protects itself from predators. The toxic effect of lectins in the diet is that they cause red blood cells to clump together, which is why legumes should not be eaten raw. Soaking and cooking usually renders the lectin harmless. However, there are people who react very sensitively to it, usually with stomach and intestinal complaints.
If you want to eat a low-carb diet, you should only eat as much lentils as your daily carbohydrate intake allows.
Enjoy your meal!
