On Being Prepared

This summer, between sailing around the Baltic and eating my way around Calgary (and surrounding area) I tried to finance my endeavours by holding down a job as a nutrition consultant at a gym. One of the things I learned from this experience (besides the fact that I suck at sales) was that a lot of people know how to eat well; it's just a matter of doing it; so instead of doling out info on cholesterol, trans fats, and whole grains, I made a few handouts on quick and easy ideas, healthy eating while travelling, and tips to get more veggies in your diet.

Now that I'm back in school (and doing my internship, no less), it can get harder to eat healthy.

The excuse that I heard most often was that people "didn't have enough time," making fast food, vending machine snacks, and frozen dinners look all the more tempting. It's really not hard to have home-cooked food for all three meals (and snacks!), but it does require a little bit of effort. A few of my favourite tips include setting time aside right after you do your groceries to prep some food before throwing it all in the fridge, and engaging in "weekend projects" where you invest a bit of time into making something that you can have for the rest of the week.

After one of my shopping trips at the beginning of the school year, I managed to cut up some raw veggies for snacks, whip up a bowl of pasta salad, and put together a little salmon salad (canned salmon WITH bones for extra calcium, Miracle Whip—although low-fat yogurt works too—, chopped fresh dill, and loads of pepper) for sandwiches in no time.

One thing that I learned the hard way is that cut-up vegetables spoil a lot more easily; aim to cut enough just for 3-4 days, and then cut some more up mid-week. I also ended up being a little overprepared, as my dinner leftovers started adding up too, and vegetarian red curry is a little more attractive to me than a salmon salad sandwich, so by about a week and a bit those started getting a little *too* fishy as well.

Something that did *not* spoil, was the pasta salad. The pickle juice and lime juice gave enough acidity to keep it going and tasty for a while longer than the other dishes.

I got the recipe from Mylène, who was my roommate two years ago. The ingredients may seem a little odd, but it's all very tasty.

Mylène's Pasta Salad
Makes 4 servings

• 170 g (½ package) whole grain rotini (or other short pasta)
• 1 398 mL (14 oz) can of hearts of palm, sliced
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• ½ 500 mL (17 oz) jar of sweet gherkins, chopped
• 30 mL (2 tbsp) olive oil
  
• 30 mL (2 tbsp) brine from sweet gherkin jar


• Juice of ½ a lemon or lime

1. Bring a medium pot of water to boil and cook pasta until al dente.
2. Drain pasta and immediately rinse with cold water to cool pasta and to wash off the starch (so it doesn't stick together.)
3. Toss pasta together with hearts of palm, red pepper and gherkins.
4. Mix olive oil, brine, and juice together in a small bowl and pour over salad. Toss again.
5. Season with pepper (and salt, maybe) to taste.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 227 calories, 7 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 38 g carbohydrate (5 g fibre, 13 g sugar), 6 g protein, 282 mg sodium. An excellent source of vitamin C, magnesium and manganese. A good source of folate (vitamin B₄), zinc.