There’s a recipe this week, for a delicious cooling summer salad with herbs, salmon cucumber and spelt.  But first a digression into the world of wholegrains and spelt, with a couple of labelling tricks for savvy shoppers to be on the look out for.

There is a surprising amount of nutrition hocus-pocus on the web and in magazines about spelt. Apparently it is “easier to digest” and “better for you than wheat”. The digestive claims could have some substance to them (for one group of the population) if spelt was gluten free.  In reality if you have coeliac disease with its accompanying immune response to gluten then spelt is not suitable for you; it is not gluten-free.

For those of us who don’t have coeliac disease, is spelt better for you?  So hard to say with any great conviction!  Every grain has its subtle distinguishing features (a little more protein here, a bit more of this mineral). While spelt bread “with bits in” has been shown to be low GI like most other similar breads, there still don’t seem to be any reliable results for spelt itself regarding glycaemic index.

The big selling point for spelt therefore (in addition to the lovely nutty taste) is all of that wholegrain goodness with its associated fibre and cardioprotective benefits.  Something to be found in all wholegrain products, even those made from spelt’s much maligned cousin, wheat.  But as is so often the case with food, you need to look carefully at the label to be sure that you are getting what you think you you are.

Is your wholegrain still whole?
Certain ingredients just have an aura of healthy goodness surrounding them don’t they?  Spelt is one of those; nobody says nasty things about spelt in the same way they do wheat.  Spelt is a whole grain, right?  Well kind of.  Spelt is a wholegrain if it is a left as a wholegrain, but can be milled and processed until it is no longer “whole” just like any other grain can.  I put my hand up to falling for this one; upon closer inspection at home my newly purchased spelt wholegrains were actually not whole at all but semi-pearled; somewhere between wholegrain and refined.

It pays to read the label closely on “wholegrain” products.  Look out for terminology such as pearled, polished, multi-grain; these products are generally not wholegrain.  Flaked, cracked and ground may or may not be made using the whole grain.

How much of a wholegrain serving will you get from your bread?
Shopping for wholegrain bread is incredibly complicated these days. There are many products that look brown and good for you and bursting with wholegrains but that in reality contain very little that is wholegrain or good for you.  Marion Nestle succinctly summarises all of her careful research into the state of modern breadmaking with these simple tips for label reading:

Look for “100 percent on the label, whole wheat flour as the first ingredient, 2 grams of fiber per ounce” (Marion Nestle, What to Eat).  An ounce is about 30 grams to metric types – about the weight of a slice of bread.

All grain processing isn’t necessarily bad; without any processing at all the majority of grains would be too irritating to the gut to be digestible and would contain such large quantities of a group of compounds called phytates that our bodies would be able to absorb little or no minerals from the grains.  As with everything, there’s a balance to be had. I was very happy with my semi-pearled spelt but will remember to check more carefully for a wholegrain product next time.

This herb, salmon and spelt salad recipe is just as at home as an offering for a summer party as for a cooling packed lunch during the summer.  There are easy modifications for vegans and those who do not eat fish (much of the chopping and cooking remains the same so I suspect it wouldn’t be too much work to make two different versions for barbecue or potluck):

• Vegans can substitute silken soy for the dairy in the dressing (between this and the spelt there would be a reasonable serving of protein in the dish).
• For a non-fish option use chopped hard boiled eggs in place of the salmon
• Consider boosting the vegetable content and reduce the grain content a
  little if you are making this for a packed lunch and won’t be having
  any other vegetables at your mealtime.  Try blanced asparagus or peas
  (frozen peas would be just fine).

This salad is a regular fixture in our house for workday lunches. It tastes fabulous and provides a neat package of heart healthy ingredients: omega 3 rich oily fish, fresh vegetables and a wholegrain in the form of bulgur wheat.

There is just one area of contention in this recipe – it contains a green pepper! Personally I think green peppers are much maligned and love them in certain dishes (especially in this recipe and in a stir fry) but I know some people aren’t keen on them so feel free to substitute with a different colour (yellow looks good). Bulgur wheat is a low GI carbohydrate and so ideal for a lunchtime recipe – its slow energy release is tailored to prevent you from nodding off or reaching for the cookies mid-afternoon (my extensive desk-based trials show that this works approximately 95% of the time!). If you haven’t tried it yet bulgur wheat is super simple to cook, a bit like a sturdier cousin to cous cous; much less temperamental and with a bit more about it. In this recipe the bulgur wheat is made extra delicious by soaking the grains in stock – I’d definitely suggest trying this way of cooking it just once, even if you don’t fancy trying the whole recipe.

Oily fish and heart health
Back to the main ingredient, the mackerel. Did you know that we still don’t know exactly why the omega 3 fatty acids in oily fish are good for your heart? Some of the benefit is thought to be due to its effect in lowering triglyceride levels but increasingly it seems that one of the main ways that oily fish works is by correcting arrhythmias, abnormalities in the natural rhythm of your heart.
Different places recommend different amounts of oily fish and for different people. The Food Standards Agency in the UK recommends that most people have at least two portions of fish per week, at least one of which should be oily and the American Heart Association simply recommends fish twice a week. For people who have already suffered a myocardial infarction (a heart attack), the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in the UK, quaintly known as NICE, have recently published a recommendation (in May 2007) for doctors to advise these particular patients to have two to four portions of oily fish per week. While this may all sound like a big list of numbers and recommendations I think the important conclusion is that despite a little bit of adverse publicity a couple of years ago about oily fish and its impact on heart health, most groups are now recommending eating oily fish more than ever.

Other “oily” lunch ideas
A couple of other suggestions for oily fish lunches are tinned sardines in tomato sauce on hot toasted granary bread (with lots of black pepper) or a sandwich filled with tinned salmon that has been mixed with low-fat creme fraiche and horseradish sauce (watercress or rocket with this one). If you are really not a fan of the usual suspect oily fishies (the Food Standard Agency provide a good list of oily and non-oily fish), I recently wrote about certain types of tinned tuna which contain a little bit of omega 3 fat. Tinned ventresca tuna in oil is nowhere near as rich a source of omega 3 as, for example, Mackerel, but is a definite improvement on the staple skipjack tuna in brine.

With all that good stuff in it this recipe seems a perfect contribution for Ilva and Joanna’s Heart of the Matter round-up of heart healthy waterlife recipes.

About 10 years ago, all you could get in the supermarket was tinned tuna, and fresh tuna was luxury, something that you might have out at restaurant. Fast forward a few years and apparently our obsession with fresh tuna has gone too far and tuna is the latest fish to be added to the list of those in danger of over-fishing. This is least in part due to it’s popularity in Japan, but hey, they aren’t the only country that eats sushi these days.

Happily, the humble but versatile tinned tuna has had time to regroup and reinvent itself. Our local supermarket now sells tinned premium tuna fillets – beautiful firm slices of fish, glossy with olive oil and with a somehow Mediteranean air to them. These have been a revelation to me; it’s a bit like comparing beautiful, thick sliced traditionally cured ham with that wafer thin stuff that is about 90% water. But are they good for you and is it ethical to buy them?

Some notes on ethical tuna buying
The big issue originally associated with tuna (and still around) was the use of fishing methods that involve using nets that catch and kill dolphins (apparently tuna and dolphins tend to form mixed schools). Most tuna in the shops now has a little dolphin-friendly logo on it, so it is the tuna itself that requires a bit of label pondering. Bluefin tuna is now critically endangered -if you want to avoid it, bluefin tends to crop up where you buy fresh tuna, including sushi and sashimi, so ask or have a look at the label. The WWF has a good page on how to avoid buying bluefin tuna. Canned tuna is a little more simple; most of it is skipjack tuna and if not probably yellowfin. If you want to find out more about who supplies what, many manufacturers now have this information on their web site, if it isn’t on the can itself. My photographs are of yellowfin ventresca fillets, velvet-textured slices from the belly of the fish (bizarrely you can buy these on amazon, the Ortiz brand). These seem to be a good premium canned tuna choice as the other one that tends to be available, albacore, is an endangered variety.

Tuna and nutrition
It turns out that some canned tuna (and not just fresh tuna) has useful amounts of omega 3 fatty acids in it. Canned tuna in oil is a moderate source of omega 3, while canned tuna in water is a low source (fresh tuna is a good source of omega 3, but is sadly usually the endangered bluefin variety). We’re still talking relatively small amounts of essential fatty acids compared with the more commonly mentioned oily fish, but if you don’t enjoy eating any of those then every little helps, as they say (by the way, there’s a good acronym for remembering the really high in omega 3 oily fish which is SMASH: sardines, mackerel, anchovies, salmon, herring). It really depends what your personal priorities are too; tuna in spring water or brine is super low-fat which has great health benefits of its own (as long as you remember to hold the mayo!) However, these omega 3 thingies aren’t called essential fatty acids for nothing, so if you don’t tend to eat any other oily fish then it might be worth giving the tuna in oil a try.

Anyway, you’re probably more worried about which tastes best, to which I unequivocally say the tuna fillets in olive oil (I prefer them even to fresh tuna!). And if you can find the lightly smoked variety you’re in for even more of a treat. Because the canned fillets have so much more in the way of texture and taste than skipjack in brine, they lend themselves to a less is more approach, perhaps a salad, rather than mashing them up for a sandwich.

I use mine to make an impromptu sort of tuna nicoise. Probably not very authentic, just a quick way to make a healthy lunchbox, and to use up some leftover ingredients from the fridge (the beans and olives). My other favourite instant tuna lunch is a salad with leaves, red pepper and toasted seeds (the seeds neatly providing your other type of essential fatty acid, the omega 6 family!).

If you are taking this for lunch, place the parsley on the top but don’t stir it in until you are ready to eat, this will help to keep it tasting fresh. Ditto for the egg (probably just because I like to keep the yolk and white together!). These timings should give you an egg with a slight soft yolk but you can boil it for longer if you need to or prefer it like that (see Delia’s How To Boil An Egg if necessary!)

How do you sum up a Laksa for somebody who hasn’t tried it before? On the one hand it ticks lots of boxes that somehow bring to mind healthy thoughts: spicy; fresh-flavours; crunchy veg and soup. On the other hand it has that essential comfort-food ingredient carbohydrate (in the form of noodles), and is bathed in luscious, creamy coconut milk.

There is an interesting wikipedia page on laksa for those who like to know more about culinary traditions and history; apparently there are actually two types of laksa, curry laksa and assam laksa. I must admit that my recipe is a complete culinary hybrid with the coconut milk base of curry laksa and the sour notes of an assam laksa. The main inspiration for my recipe is in Jo Pratt’s lovely new (and surprisingly pink and girly) book, In the Mood for Food, with a few twists of my own inspired by health and storecupboard. It comes out just creamy enough to feel like a treat and has a great mix of textures. Sometimes I think it is just the small things that really make a difference, for example I’ve followed Jo’s tip to slice the prawns in half lengthways which means that you get a bit of prawn in nearly every mouthful.

Noodle soup dishes like Laksa and Miso soups are fantastic places to use up bits of leftover veg from the fridge (within reason, I suspect parsnip wouldn’t go well here). The original recipe had a couple of spring onions in it per person but given that all you have to do is chop them up and throw them in it’s a good opportunity to eat a bit more veg. You can put in as much or as little as you want but for this dish to count as one of your ‘five a day’ you want to include at least 80g of veg per person.

Something that this post made me think about that I’ve never really considered before is whether or not coconut counts towards your fruit and veg quota. The whole ‘what counts’ thing is essentially based on scientific consensus so there isn’t a definitive answer, but my hunch is that counting coconut flesh or coconut milk as a portion would be considered counter-productive because of its very high saturated fat content. There isn’t an official fruit and veg portions expert group to give a verdict on the matter but I did see that Sam, the Food Standards Agency’s nutritionist agrees with me on this (coconut apparently is considered more akin to a nut than a fruit). In this laksa the effects of the saturated fat in the coconut milk are tempered by diluting it with stock and adding some richness back in the form of peanut butter. The final result is not low-fat but the balance of fats in the dish are improved by these two adjustments. Nuts are full of monounsatured fats and replacing saturated fat with these monounsaturates can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.

This laksa is prawn-based but feel free to change this around, perhaps swopping for some tofu or cooked chicken. Shopping for seafood and prawns in particular seems to be an ethical minefield these days. The trawling method of catching prawns causes damage to the sea bed and causes a shocking amount of extra sea life to be trawled up with the prawns then discarded. Sadly the alternative, prawn farming (generally happening in developing countries such as Honduras, Indonesia and Guatemala), is causing the destruction of huge tracts of mangrove forest (a vital part of the earth’s ecosystem) and is generally reliant on pesticides and antibiotics. In reality the situation is even more complicated than this when you try to take into account all of the human, health and environmental concerns (it takes me ages to decide which prawns to buy in the supermarket!). In terms of sensible suggestions for what to buy in the UK Rose Prince in her Savvy Shopper column suggests looking out for North Atlantic prawns or for those produced as part of the Ethical Trade Initiative.

Enough of the serious stuff. For me this recipe is a perfect supper for staying in at the weekend and watching a movie. Beware though, for a TV dinner this is supremely messy to eat (if you are as inept with chopsticks as I am you’ll miss half the movie chasing the noodles). It’s not cheating to have a spoon to hand for the soupy bits at the end.