Methionine & Other Things

February

            A long time ago, I had two copies of a very useful book entitled "Diet for a Small Planet" by Frances Moore Lappe and I often referred to it because it had some informative tables showing the various food combinations which made up a "complete protein" in a diet excluding meat. I gave these books away, one version to someone who wanted to omit meat from their diet and the other to someone who was a sceptic about the whys and wherefores of it and this book puts an excellent case for it being a good thing all round. I think I'll have to order another one because I find myself wanting to refer to it more and more these days.

Another nutritional "bible" for me is Adelle Davis's "Let's get well". I must have read this book hundreds of times over, considering how often I have referred to it, though never cover to cover. Davis's proposals can sometimes seem extreme and scary, but I have found it an invaluable and trustworthy source. I only ever use it as a reference and a pointer, adapting her advice with a large dose of common sense and practicality.

Recently, I bought her other book "Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit". I tend to forget to refer to this first as I'm so familiar with the other, but today I remember I have it and that I wanted to look up methionine, prompted by my pancake day encounter with eggs.

I am led to a chapter entitled " One Trick in Staying Young" which sounds hopeful. However, I am soon depressed by two things she says:  1. That if you eat an inadequate amount of good quality protein, you will quickly age and  2. That "If milk, cheese or eggs are unobtainable, getting adequate protein becomes a serious matter indeed.  Since I am the only member of our family (excepting the dog) who will willingly eat egg in recognisable form, the egg may as well be unobtainable to us. My son will only drink soy milk and my daughter has hated milk with a vengeance since toddler-hood. My husband thinks any dish with a discernible abount of cheese in is sure to give him a migraine so my repertoire is basically vegan. I begin to worry about protein again.

On reading the whole chapter, I am reminded that although there are 22 amino acids essential to health, only 8 are considered to be "essential" in that they cannot be synthesised by the body and so have to be provided in the correct amounts by our daily diet. Since Davis also declares that " Some of the World's leading scholars and athletes have been vegetarians " I become more hopeful and read on to see which foods she recommends.  Here's what I find (I have omitted meat sources).

SUPERIOR SOURCES                          FAIR SOURCES

(Furnishing complete proteins i.e.            (Deficient in one or more of the 8 essential amino acids)
all 8 amino acids)

Eggs                                                          Nuts

Milk                                                           Beans

Yoghurt                                                     Peas

Cheese                                                      Grains

Soybeans

Powdered Yeast


Frustratingly, Adelle Davis states that some nuts contain all the essential amino acids, but fails to say which ones. She highly recommends soybean flour, along with wheatgerm, but I am mindful that in every chapter I have ever read, she always makes the proviso that your diet has to be adequate in all other respects in order that your body can utilise any one nutrient. So, balance is key.

I remember from "Diet for a Small Planet that combining wholegrain rice with nuts makes a complete protein, but decide to investigate the protein content of nuts further.

Tonight I am making pasta with tomato sauce, topped with a couple of Tesco's meatless burgers (let's hope they're not horse), and broccoli. Tesco's burgers are apparently soya protein and also contain pea protein, so they sound positively perfect, apart from being processed and, naturally, I don't really think they will be high-quality ingredients. However, they're yummy from what I remember and they seem to make up for the amino-acid deficiencies of the pasta and broccoli, so I'll go ahead and do it. We all enjoy my tomato sauce and although it's simple, I'll describe it:

SIMPLE TOMATO SAUCE

Ingredients

Good cooking oil e.g. Sunflower or Corn  (or a bit of both)

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 tin of plum or chopped tomatoes

 1 Tablespoonful of tomato puree

1 Teaspoon of dried basil

1/2 a small fresh chilli or 1/4 large one

1/2 teaspoon of dried paprika


Method

1.  Peel and chop the onion into fine bits

2. Peel and crush the garlic cloves ( I do this by chopping them finely and sprinkling with sea salt
    then crushing with a fork )

3.  If using fresh chilli, I always discard the seeds and sometimes I don't chop it very finely, but
     use quite large chunks so you don't have to eat them.

4. I usually squish the tomatoes with a potato masher and remove any really hard chunks. If I'm
    going for a really smooth sauce, I put them in the liquidizer but I avoid this because of all
    that clearing up ..

5.  Put enough oil in the pan to cover the bottom of it generously but not so the onion will be
     swimming in it.

6.  Heat it up for a couple of minutes - don't forget about it ! until it's hot enough for the onion to
     sizzle as it goes in. I sometimes throw a tiny piece of bread in oil to see if it's hot enough.....

7.  Carefully put the onions in, let them sizzle for a bit then turn the heat down very low to cook
     them until the ones at the edge of the pan are just beginning to turn brown, stirring them
     now and then.

8.  Put the garlic in and cook, still stirring now and then, until the garlic is just beginning to go
     golden.

9. You can put the finely chopped red chilli in now if you're using it. Cook a tiny bit then slowly
     add the tomatoes .This will lower the temperature so you can turn it up again to get
     them bubbling. Stir in the tomato puree and mix well.

10.  When they've been bubbling a bit for a few minutes, you can turn the heat down to very low,
       stir in the paprika if using, and dried basil, pop the lid on and leave to simmer, stirring
       occasionally, until you're ready to use it. If you're being energy-conscious, you only need
       cook it for about 10 mins.

If I don't use all this sauce, I find it keeps well in the fridge, in a bowl, covered with a plate for
about 2 to 3 days. I sometimes use this for pizzas, fleshing it out with another tin or half a
tin of tomatoes and sometimes about half a tube of best tomato puree. I usually liquidise this
mixture when cooled. The puree apparently has iron in it and although it's not alot, every
little helps!

I know everyone likes this meal,  but I think for next time, I'll consider using tofu or chick peas in lieu of the burgers ...................

Meanwhile, the dog wonders when I'll remember to give her a tripe-treat.....................