Some Alternative Ideas for Cheese and Potatoes

Some convenient products to consider for easy and interesting Zoning

Say “Cheese” and smile

Most people love cheese and it is a versatile and convenient food that is high in protein with virtually no carbohydrate, unfortunately hard cheese is also high in unhealthy saturated fat and this is why we recommend limiting consumption. When buying cheese we have recommended choosing Edam cheese for its lower total, and therefore saturated, fat content compared to other varieties. Unfortunately Edam tends to be a bit bland and uninteresting. The good news is that Mainland have produced a tasty cheddar cheese they call NOBLE that is 25.8% fat making it similar in fat content to most Edam brands while tasting a lot better. It is freely available in supermarkets.

Another Zone favourable potato substitute

A vegetable well worth trying is celeriac. It has similar properties to many root vegetables but in contrast to most it is very low in starch content plus it is high in vitamins and minerals making it an ideal vegetable for the Zone. You can use it in any way that you would potatoes, e.g. boiled, baked, mashed by itself or in fish cakes or on shepherd’s pie, in soup etc. and also raw in salads. There are lots of great celeriac recipes on the internet. Unfortunately it can be ridiculously overpriced in some fruit and vegetable shops. I have seen it as high as $17 a kilo but recently bought some at the Lower Hutt market at a reasonable $2.99 a kilo. Note most stalls there don’t stock it so you have to search a bit to find it. 100g of celeriac is one favourable low glycaemic block of carbohydrate so experiment and enjoy.

 You can make a Zone friendly shepherd’s pie  using lean mince cooked with onions and tomato and baked with a cooked mashed celeriac and Noble cheese topping.

Contributed by Kevin Bateman