What do you eat instead of pasta / potatoes / rice

[LadyLooLaa]

A while ago I lost a load of weight, then with Covid, stress and general gluttony I have put most of it back on.

I am determined that 2024 is going to be the year of health. So along with being more active I am going to sort out my diet.

I know that I do best when I avoid obvious carbs like pasta, rice and potatoes. I will have these on occasion and in moderation, but need some inspiration for what to have instead of these as an accompaniment to the ‘main’ part of my meal.

I am a pretty good cook so don’t mind a bit of effort but am also a bit overwhelmed at the moment so can’t face anything too onerous.

Oh and I don’t really eat meat. Not sure if that makes a difference.

All and any ideas are gratefully received.

@LessonsLearnedInLife Butter bean mash you say?<goes to Google recipe>

Rice noodles, couscous, quinoa, mixed grains, beans (especially black beans), lentils?

Celeriac wedges/mash. Roast butternut squash.

So many good ideas… the only problem is that now I’m really hungry!

I love curries and the like, so I think I’m going to have to try the cauliflower price.

I'm another voting nothing. So if I'm having curry I'll usually do curry and a dhal which are enough, Thai curry - with pan fried tofu on top, lots of coconut milk, spinach etc make it really filling without needing rice. Big bowl of chili with cheese on top also doesn't need rice or jacket pot.
Essentially what you were having but just more off it to fill you up. Plenty of pulses and ditch the carb part.

Winter Salads - I like puy lentil (cooked as per River Cottage Veg book) with feta, halloumi with quinoa or pearl barley (appreciate this is probably a carb) and kale. Roasted peppers, artichokes from a jar, olives, sun dried tomatoes added to a salad always make them feel a bit more special.
I like the sound of butter bean mash though so I might try that!

We have cous cous every week, but it's no better than the other things you are eating. Sweet potatoes I'd better then white potatoes and weirdly low GI for something so sweet.
I also roast carrots - they can be subbed for chips!

I just don't bother with a carb side. I do the protein and then a big load of vegetables to fill up the plate. More because I'm too lazy to cook a carb as well as everything else (so if I do do a carb side I skip the vegetables...) than for weight reasons but bound to be better for weight loss than carby sides.

Avocado, salad, chickpeas, stir fried cauliflower, garlic lemon greens, lentils, marinaded cucumber or beetroot, sweet potato and sometimes I’ll have a random hard boiled egg instead of carbs.

Here’s the recipe I use for butterbean mash. It’s really nice with garlic added or sun dried tomato paste.

https://www.thevegspace.co.uk/butter-bean-mash/

I definitely found it easier when I was eating meat / fish. I could have the meat with loads of egg and I was happy. I’m finding it much harder to find delcious low cal veggie dishes that don’t involve loads of carbs.

I make a lot of curries and tomato sauce based things. So all of these suggestions are fantastic.

Sweet potatoes
Couscous
Bulgar wheat

The Mediterranean diet is not a low carb diet in the slightest! Pasta, rice, potatoes and bread are very much a key component.

I do a lot of packet cauli rice and a ton of cauli mash (add in a couple of big dollops of philli light and some white pepper) - delicious

Cauli rice works great with curry

I also like puy lentils - assure and refried beans

You could sub Rice with Cauliflower Rice
Spaghetti with Courgetti
and noodles with boodles(butternut squash)
I like the idea of mashing and pureeing veg to have as a side.

Courgettes and mushrooms are great with a lot of tomato / Italian type meals. Mushrooms also good with curries.

You can make a surprisingly ok chip out of courgettes / celeriac or swede.

Second cauli rice - blitz it then fry in coconut oil or yes florets roasted in chilli / cumin.

Sliced white cabbage can be pretty yummy - braised with fennel is rather nice and of course spiced red cabbage.

Savoy cabbage is yummy with bacon.

Finely shredded white cabbage, fried with a little butter, makes a great substitute for rice/pasta under bolognaise/curry etc. Roasted veggies are yummy with anything. Wholewheat couscous or even better bulgar wheat or quinoa are a little slower release. Barley also makes a very yummy risotto.
You can also get frozen cauliflower rice which I haven't tried but sounds plausible.

I hadn’t thought of using cabbage. That’s a great call.

Watching with interest.

Whatever you do, it has to be sustainable, that’s the key or the weight will go back on. Carbs are not your enemy in moderation.

Salad or vegetables.

Cauliflower rice to replace rice and green beans to replace pasta. Iceberg lettuce for sandwich wraps.

Lots of good ideas here! Also chickpea or lentil pasta. Use sliced aubergine or courgette instead of lasagne sheets.

We just tend to leave out the carb and increase the veg. or I do something with a small amount of a carb in it.

Mexican Baked rice is a good example - lots of veg, a little brown rice and stock in a tray then baked. BOSH have a recipe online.

Lots of our meals are roast veg with hummus, tahini sauce, or cashew sauce. First night I roast loads then the second night we put the leftovers in the airfryer (shelf type one) with some Stilton.

Are you trying to reduce your carbs/calories as if so replacing these things with lentils don’t help.

As PPs have said, replacing the carb with extra veg (especially green veg) is often the easiest way to do it and will reduce the calories/carbs.

With curries I think cauliflower rice is good because it’s pretty tasteless.
You can buy microwaveable packets too.

shredded cabbage (especially sweetheart cabbage) sauted in butter then add salt and pepper and sunflower seeds = amazing 😍