Carbohydrate Substitutions

[Ellyn]

So, lately I've been reading that the carbs we so enjoy--pasta, white rice, white bread, even potatoes I think--turn into sugar after being digested, as in, give us sugar crashes and basically aren't as healthy as they are filling.

I'm not giving up on them, but when I tried to take a break then it led to some interesting new dishes that I could prepare.

Most recently, raw white radish slices in carbonara sauce. I couldn't cook the carbonara eggs in the heat of the thing it's going to be in, of course, I had to cook it in a pot at low heat--but it tasted great!

I've heard of substituting eggplant for lasagne.

And, while I was so interested in wraps earlier, like tortilla wraps and spring roll wraps...I'm thinking of what to put in cabbage leaves now.

That's all for bread and pasta, but what can substitute rice? Does oatmeal count as a carbohydrate? Savory oatmeal in with Chinese congee/gotou ingredients--actually wasn't all that bad!

Or any other suggestions for substitutes that can still turn out interesting and great?

 

[Food4thought]

I really should try substituting some of my daily carbs. Vegetable substitutes are a very good idea.

Oatmeal is carbohydrate so there is no benefit in using that in place of rice. Beans, lentils and other pulses contain complex carbohydrates, but also protein, vitamins and minerals. They are much more nutritious than simple carbohydrate foods such as rice, so they can be used as a healthier replacement.

 

[Ellyn]

I can't believe that I forgot about beans! It's right there in the subforum title, hah... Well, I do like butterbeans and chickpeas. I think they'll go well with a lot of meals that I usually have with rice. For me at least they don't result in terrible gas pain, either.

I'm also considering tofu... soy is a bean!

And also yams...

 

[Jade]

I usually just substitute vegetables for carbs whenever I'm cutting down. Cauliflower is a favorite of mine because it has a more muted flavor which doesn't interfere with the rest of my meal. Squash is also good when incorporated into pasta, but I've never done it myself so I don't know how complicated of a process it is.

 

[Verity Darkwaters]

I eat a lot of beans instead of most carbs. When I say a lot I mean 1/3 cup with my dinner. If you soak them, get rid of the water and rinse them off and boil them in new water and you should not have as much gas. Beans are a great source of protein. When I cut back on carbs I insert vegetables in their spots. Like I make cauliflower "mashed potatoes". I use squash and zucchini for my "pasta" noodles. Celery for my "bread" I stuff it with tuna or egg salad. I do the same with cucumbers, I make little cups with them and put tuna or egg salad in it.

 

[Ellyn]

I found a brand of rice that's really corn that's milled and shaped like rice. And I saw a pack of risoni shaped like rice, and heard that Greek pasta (Orzo) is shaped like that by default. All of those are carbs, but I was curious about the corn one.

(It doesn't taste like corn, though...it tastes like rice... Or maybe corn would taste like rice if rice were shaped like corn kernels and I could recognize it better somehow?)

I like the cucumber cups idea!