photo source: betches.com
It's undeniable that in the Philippines, and other Asian countries, rice is a main staple in most meals. The thing is though, that rice is really heavy with its carb content, which could be a problem when you're trying to cut back on calories and carbs.
A cup of cooked white rice is around 200+ calories, and around 45g of carbs. Most Filipinos I know love going to "unli-rice" restaurants, where they usually consume more than just one cup of rice, going to maybe even 10 cups in one sitting.
For rice lovers out there, this one's for you: a couple of healthy and filling alternatives to the usual staple. These are versatile vegetables that can be used in faux-fried-rice, just alter the recipes and flavour and they turn out spectacular!
Bonus, these are all available here in Manila.
1) Cauliflower
I recently found out that cauliflower turns out to be incredibly versatile when blitzed (minced/ground in the food processor) and can sub for a lot of different carb options aside from just in fried rice, such as in oatmeal and champorado.
1 cup of cooked & drained cauliflower is only around 30kcal and 5g of carbs.
They are also simple to prepare: steam and blitz, or blitz when raw, then use in recipes.
Stir fry with kimchi and it makes for a low-carb kimchi faux-fried-rice.
2) Bean Sprouts
A common side dish in korean restaurants, mung bean sprouts also make for a good carb alternative in faux-fried-rice, and pair well especially with beef.
1 cup of raw bean sprouts has 31kcal and 6g carb.
Like cauliflower, they are also easy to cook: steam or boil, no need to blitz.
A good recipe would be to have it as the bed, or stir fried into pinoy bistek, beef tenderloin, or beef and broccoli.
3) Quinoa
Part of the "ancient grain" trend that emerged recently include the likes of quinoa, amaranth, bulgur, etc. Of the few mentioned, I find that quinoa is the easiest to find, cheapest (in bulk + there are options on where to buy like Healthy Options, SnR, Landers, etc.), and tastiest. Make sure to pre-wash them before cooking, as it might end up with a weird corn taste.
There are different quinoa options available, such as Tri-color, Golden (the "basic" one), and red quinoa.
1 cup cooked quinoa is 222kcal and 39g carbs, but has 8g of protein.
Since their calories and macros are similar to that of rice, if you can't stomach the taste/consistency, just mix half quinoa and half rice.
These are also very versatile and can work as a rice substitute in Asian stir fry, or even plain boiled/cooked quinoa will suffice.
4) Lettuce
Honestly, I was hesitant to add lettuce to the list as it's one of the more "boring" choices.
But volume-wise, you would end up with a whopping ton of lettuce if you were to match it to its caloric equivalent in rice. And, lettuce isn't just the vegetable found in salad, if you top it with ground meat, tomatoes, salsa, and some cheese, you have a light taco/nacho/Mexican bowl.
Aside from just being low in calories and carbs, consuming lettuce will also help you reach your micronutrient goals as it contains a lot of vitamins.
1 cup plain shredded lettuce yields only 8 calories and 2g of carbs (almost totally negligible!)
Usually, I eat lettuce shredded and raw, and I remove the hard stems in the middle.
Since I'm not THAT big a fan of dark greens myself, I usually use this as the bed for taco salads, poke bowls, and other more flavourful dishes, to mask the earthy/bitter taste. This way, it's not even really a "salad."
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I know that in the end, none of these are exactly the same as rice. As a Filipino, substituting other food options, what more, vegetables, in place of rice would never have the same effect but if you're trying to be healthier (not that rice isn't healthy), or if you're trying to cut down your calorie/carb intake, these options make the process less boring.
An example would be if you usually ate 1 cup of plain rice with each meal but you're trying to lose weight by eating less. This would mean that you would probably end up eating just half rice, which is less volume/less filling than if you were to replace your carb staple with 2 cups of cauliflower faux-fried-rice for even less calories, which is more volume/more filling.
In the end, just know that there are always choices and options available, it's simply up to you which strategy you'll choose. Personally, I prefer going for the high volume option to trick my mind into thinking that I'm not even on a diet!
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