3 Clever Carb Swaps To Up Your Healthy Eating Game

If you’re trying to keep your meals a little lighter during the summer months, there’s no need to compromise on taste with these brilliant vegetable?carb swaps.

Noodles

Courghetti?is a well-known pasta substitute but lately, we’ve been using spiralised?carrots in our stir fries for a really brilliant noodle substitute. For anyone who has had their fill of?courghetti, the carrot noodles (carrodles?!) are really tasty and the texture perfectly emulates that of egg noodles.

For one portion of noodles:

Spiralise?two carrots and add to stir fries such as this quick broccoli and salmon?noodle dish for a super healthy alternative to egg noodles for approximately one-third of the calories.

Teriyaki salmon stir fry made with carrot noodles and kale! . . . #lunchtime #teriyakisalmon #stirfry #carrotnoodles #veggienoodles #asianinspired #jerf #glutenfree #sugarfree #dairyfree #hormonehealth #hormonebalance #pcos #pcosfood #foodforpcos #eatforhealth #healthyplate #paleo #eatwellfeelwell #thisismylife #thejoyofcooking

A post shared by Joy Ren?e (@joys.journey.to.wellness) on Jun 16, 2017 at 9:18am PDT

Cauliflower Mash

Of late, the humble cauliflower has masqueraded as everything from pizza bases to couscous’salad but our favourite?incarnation of this renaissance vegetable has got to be cauli mash. If cauliflower mash sounds like a virtuous step too far, hear us out, adding indulgent elements like parmesan, butter or chorizo elevates the veggie imposter to delicious heights while also being reasonably low cal and low carb, perfect for those midweek good intentions. Plus, if your mash is made of cauliflower then you can definitely?throw an extra banger on top as cauli’mash is about one-quarter of the calories of mashed potato.

For one portion of cauli mash:

Steam (don’t boil as you don’t want the florets to take on too much moisture) half a head of cauliflower cut into florets. Once tender place in a food processor with a knob of butter, a little salt and whatever else you might be adding (grated Parmesan is a good shout). Blitz until completely smooth with a slightly creamy texture (it might look slightly bitty at first but keep the faith and keep blending). Serve with bangers and mash or steak. Or stir in some kale and chorizo and top with an egg for a hearty supper.

This morning I was making #caulimash on @irelandamtv3 here’s a really nice take on it (serves 1): -120g cauli florets, steamed and blended with 10g Parmesan grated – 30g peeled chopped chorizo fried with a generous handful of kale – mix together and stick an egg on top #lowcarb #tastyaf #lunch #stilllearninghashtags

A post shared by Sophie White (@s0phie_white) on Jan 26, 2017 at 1:45am PST

Wedges

Sweet potato wedges are a delicious favourite side, but for nearly half the calories try swapping in butternut squash cut into wedges.

For one portion of squash wedges:

Cut a butternut squash in half and slice into chunky wedges, toss in a little oil with sea salt flakes, cracked black pepper and chilli flakes then roast for about 35 minutes at 200?C, tossing halfway through until tender and crispy.