Personal Best Get Cooking!

What is your PB kitchen? It is my attempt to get you interested in quick and easy cooking. "Fit" cooking should be more than pasta with ragu sauce or tuna pasta bake. What kind of recipes are there? I've started with a few unconvential ones. They are still quick and easy to do, but include a few ingredients that you may not have thought of using before e.g. chickpeas, liver and nuts.

Why? Because I want to get people eating and enjoying a whole range of foods. Yes, many athletes need to eat a high carbohydrate diet, but there are other important nutrients that your body needs to keep it in good working order. Also, you don't have to be a vegetarian to include beans. pulses and nuts (and seeds) into your personal best diet. So why beans, liver and nuts? Beans and pulses are cheap and a great way of adding many nutrients to a meal, including protein and iron. Liver is cheap and very quick to cook and before you turn your nose up, do have a go, and then you can e-mail me with your comments. Liver should not be eating during pregnancy, but is a superb source of iron, folate, Vitamins A and D to name just a few. I get really fed up when people say they do not eat nuts because they are high in fat ­ so is chocolate and crisps and yet still eat them whilst chastising yourself don't you? Most nuts are rich in unsaturated fat (rather than the saturated type), Vitamin E and are loaded with minerals such as copper, selenium, zinc, potassium and magnesium. Peanuts are also contain various phytochemicals (beneficial "plant chemicals") like those found in red wine which scientists are interested in because of their positive effects on heart disease. There is certainly more to life than scoffing a packet of dry roasted nuts in front of the TV. In the words of Professor Hugh Tunstall-Pedoe, BMJ editorial, November 1998,

"Like food grains, nuts are concentrated sources of food energy and micronutrientsbut their dietary image has been mixed. Nuts may (now) be rehabilitated as a likely constituent of a prudent diet."

Some of the recipes are low in Carbohydrate ­ what can I do? Some of the recipes are low in carbohydrate because it presumes that you will serve them with potatoes, rice, pasta, bread etc. Many of the recipes also recommend that you add vegetables (fresh or frozen) or salad to complete the meal and to make it more balanced. How do I calculate approximate carbohydrate portions? Click here for a table. Look at the following table for average portions of carbohydrate sources and use them to boost your meals. Try to go for the wholegrain varieties e.g. wholegrain rice, wholemeal bread and pitta for extra B vitamins, chromium and magnesium.