In the GI News Kitchen

Family Baking.
Anneka Manning, founder of Sydney’s BakeClub, shares her delicious ‘better-for-you’ recipes for snacks, desserts and treats the whole family will love. Through both her writing and cooking school, Anneka teaches home cooks to bake in practical and approachable yet inspiring ways that assure success in the kitchen. In 2015 she is offering a wide range of classes including healthy Kids Lunchboxes, Savoury Baking and Gluten-free Baking. You can find out more about them HERE.

 
 
Macadamia, Date and Goji Berry Bars.
This dense bar is halfway between a fruit cake and a slice. Studded with macadamias, dates, goji berries and cranberries it has a real festive feel and makes a wonderful gift cut into four bars, wrapped in cellophane and tied with ribbon.

• Makes 24 pieces
• Preparation time: 10 minutes
• Baking time: 30 minutes

Macadamia oil or sunflower oil, to grease
200g (7oz) macadamia halves, toasted
150g (5oz) dried dates, coarsely chopped
100g (3½oz) dried cranberries
50g (nearly 2oz) goji berries
⅓ cup plain wholemeal or spelt flour
90g (3oz) LoGiCane sugar (see tip)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛  tsp baking powder
⅛ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg
1 tsp natural vanilla extract or essence

Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Lightly grease a square 18cm/7in (base measurement) cake tin and line the base and two sides with one piece of non-stick baking paper.
Combine the macadamias, dates, cranberries, goji berries, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a medium bowl. Whisk together the egg and vanilla. Add to the macadamia mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until evenly combined.
Press the mixture evenly into the prepared tin with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until golden and aromatic. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin.
Cut into small pieces to serve.

Tip: Substitute raw sugar or Demerara for LoGiCane™ – a low GI sugar (GI54) developed in Australia by Horizon Science. The low GI value is due to the polyphenols that occur naturally in molasses, which are recovered by a membrane filtration process and incorporated back into the washed raw sugar crystals.

Per piece 
 510kJ/ 120 calories; 1.5g protein; 7g fat (includes 1g saturated fat; saturated:unsaturated fat ratio 0.2); 13.5g available carbs (includes 12g sugars and 1.5g starch); 2 g fibre; sodium:potassium ratio 0.13 

Joanna McMillan: What’s for dinner? 
Joanna McMillan PhD is a qualified dietitian and nutritionist. She is director of nutrition consultancy company Dr Joanna, and founder of Get Lean – the online healthy lifestyle system. She is a popular media spokesperson in Australia with regular TV and radio appearances, writes for several magazines and blogs, and has authored several books including The Low GI Diet (with Prof Jennie Brand-Miller). Joanna is a proud ambassador for Diabetes Australia and The Skin and Cancer Foundation. She is also a former fitness instructor and continuing exercise enthusiast which she juggles with being mum to two very energetic boys. Find out more at www2.drjoanna.com.au

Soto Ayam (Balinese Chicken Soup).
Street vendors in Bali sell this chicken soup in the hot humid climate, not only to fill local bellies with goodness, but to keep them hydrated. It’s refreshing, tasty and satisfying. If all your ingredients are ready, you can prepare this soup in about 10 minutes, but even if you are cooking from scratch (assuming you have your stock) it only takes about 20 minutes. I prefer to use soba (buckwheat) noodles when making this recipe, as we did in our photo shoot. These are low GI, wholegrain and gluten free.  Serves 4

3 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
¼ cup coriander, leaves picked
dried shallots, garnish (or you could use fresh finely sliced green onion)
2 tomatoes, cut into small dice
1 chicken fillet, cooked and shredded (160g/5oz cooked weight)
4 hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters
1 sweet potato, boiled to tender, chopped into small dice
200g/7oz soba or rice vermicelli noodles, cooked to packet instructions and drained
4 cups good quality chicken stock (preferably homemade)

Prepare all your ingredients. Bring the chicken stock to the boil. Portion the noodles, sweet potato and shredded chicken into 4 bowls.
Pour over the hot stock and then top with Kaffir lime leaves, coriander, tomato, boiled eggs and dried shallots. Serve immediately.

Per serve
1330kJ/ 316 calories; 23g protein; 7g fat (includes 2g saturated fat; saturated:unsaturated fat ratio 0.4); 38g available carbs; 3g fibre

Johanna’s Italian Kitchen
American dietitian and author of Good Carbs, Bad Carbs, Johanna Burani, shares her favourite recipes with a low or moderate GI. For more information, check out Johanna’s website. The photographs are by Sergio Burani. His food, travel and wine photography website is photosbysergio.com.

 

Macadamia-Fig Granola. 
It’s been years since I’ve convinced my relatives and close friends living in Italy that a hearty breakfast with whole grains, fruit and lean protein is a much better idea than a small hard roll and marmalade. In fact, some are even baking double batches of their own granola. Here’s a recipe those new diehards can add to their collection. I can see them maybe replacing the macadamia nuts with walnuts or almonds but they’ll love the figs! Makes 14 ½-cup servings.

Cooking spray
6 cups old fashioned oats
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
3 tbsp chia seeds
½ cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup lavender honey
3 dried figs, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C). Coat a large lasagna pan with cooking spray. Set aside. In a large bowl add the oats, cinnamon, chia seeds and macadamia nuts. Mix well. Pour the oil and honey into a microwavable cup. Heat on HIGH for 15 seconds. Pour over the dry oat mixture. Mix thoroughly to coat evenly.
Pour granola mixture into the prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes, stirring 4-5 times. When done, allow to cool.
Add the figs, mix well. Store in an airtight container.

Per ½ cup serve
967kJ/ 230 calories; 5g protein; 11g fat (includes 1g saturated fat; saturated:unsaturated fat ratio 0.1); 26g available carbs; 5g fibre; sodium:potassium ratio 0.04