Amplify Your Food Guide
Crunchy or creamy? Salty or sweet? One huge step toward making dietary changes stick is incorporating flavors and textures you love. This sounds intuitive, but it can be easy to forget when you’re focused on making other changes. This is your guide to helping you remember (and discover) all the good stuff.
Ways to add texture
Easy toss-ins to give your meal some crunch include nuts and seeds (great sources of minerals; sesame seeds, for example, are packed with calcium), popcorn (the one yellow food in this bunch), toasted quinoa or chickpeas (protein powerhouses), celery, water chestnuts, or apples (full of fiber). You don’t have to limit any of these to salads—mix them into stir fries and vegetable sides, or sprinkle them on top of your protein. While less intuitive than the above, popcorn can be a great add-in to salads, as can dried veggies (we love Just Veggies for this).
For a quick hit of creaminess, reach for cheese, unflavored dairy or non-dairy yogurt or sour cream, hummus, tahini, mashed avocado/guacamole, or unpressed tofu (all of these also pack a great protein punch). Hard cheeses (like Cheddar and Parmesan) also do creamy/firmness double duty in salads and with fruits (especially apples and pears, for crunch) and vegetables.
Again, you can get creative about how you work any of these in. For example, try coating a banana with yogurt and freezing it to make a banana pop (coat with nuts or cocoa nibs for crunch). Or, if you want to go more savory, hummus and yogurt actually blend together well for an extra-creamy dressing or vegetable dip.
Finally, you may have tried hemp hearts in some of the recipes we’ve shared so far (there are plenty of great brands; one we like is Manitoba). But if you haven’t and are feeling adventurous, we love the way they add a nutty taste with a blast of protein, fiber, amino acids, and omega-3 and omega-6 fats. Sprinkle them on salads, avocados, oatmeal, hummus, and yogurt.
A few words on salt
Many of us were raised with the dogma that salt is always bad for us, but over the past decade, research commissioned by the CDC has called that into question. If you have high blood pressure, you have good reason to lower your salt intake, as sodium does seem to drive up those numbers. But if you don’t, you can probably rest a little easier (though everything in moderation, obviously).
Your body uses salt for electrolyte balance and overall cellular function, and real sea salt (like Celtic, Maine, or Himalayan salt) is especially good for this. Here’s why: Table salt is pure sodium chloride (sometimes with iodine), which is an electrolyte. But sea salt contains four electrolytes: sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. For brands, we like Redmond Life and (if you prefer salt flakes) Maldon Sea Salt. A very light drizzle of soy sauce or (for soy/gluten-free) coconut aminos (Braggs is a great brand) is another way to make a little saltiness go a long way. Add either of these to stir fries, marinades, or cooked vegetables.
Lastly, it’s worth noting that by shifting away from processed foods, you’ll be dramatically reducing your sodium intake. Make sure to use other spices liberally in cooking, so things are delicious and flavorful without having to rely on salt alone.
What to do if you’re jonesing for some sweet
One of the (many) reasons that fresh and frozen fruit are always green foods on the Calibrate Food Triangle is that while fruit contains sugar, that sugar is buffered by fiber and a host of other natural components that slow its absorption. This means it doesn’t affect your insulin in the same way it would if it were in a processed food. It also means that if you’re a “sweet” person, you can always reach for a piece of fruit. (Frozen fruit can also be a great treat. Just freeze 10-15 cherries or grapes in single serving bags for a grab-and-go snack.)
To make fresh fruit feel more like dessert, try it sliced and plated with a sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger and a dollop of yogurt or cream. (It might seem funny at first, but balsamic vinegar is also a great add-on. The acid brings out the sweetness of the fruit.)
If you have a bit more prep time, baked fruit is easy to pull off. Simply slice fruit, place on a greased pan, and cook at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (if you want a glaze, switch to broil for the last 5 minutes).
Dried whole dates can be an especially good choice because they adopt a sweet and almost creamy flavor when dried. Eating a date with walnuts is a great treat, and the nuts add fat to help slow the digestion. (For an on-the-go dried fruit treat, we recommend That’s It fruit bars and Rx Bars, which are made with dates and nuts.)
Beyond fruit (or served alongside it), nut butters are an excellent choice (never underestimate the power of almond butter and bananas; and for on-the-go, we like Justin’s single serving packets). You can also never go wrong with a serving of any kind of 70% dark chocolate (we like Hu bars, which include a wide range of flavors and use more than 70% cacao in their entire line). We also love fiber-and-iron-rich cacao nibs (they’re like tiny chocolate chips) in smoothies (cacao powder is great here, too), yogurt, and even oatmeal.
Lastly, warm beverages can be surprisingly effective in giving you a sweet fix. Any type of spice-heavy tea can do the trick, as can heating up unsweetened almond milk with ginger or cinnamon. (Here’s a refresher on some good tea brands: Yogi, Traditional Medicinals, Tulsi, and Good Earth.)
Why savory is “a thing”
Umami is loosely defined as that savory, or meaty taste you get from some cheeses (like parmesan), bullion (especially chicken stock), soy sauce, mushrooms, tomatoes, green tea, and all kinds of meats. In recent years, umami foods have been heavily researched, and scientists have repeatedly found these tend to promote feelings of fullness and satiety. In addition to the foods we just mentioned, nutritional yeast (we like Braggs), which tastes a lot like parmesan cheese, can be a quick and easy way to add umami to any meal. It’s also packed with protein, energizing B vitamins, and minerals.
Condiments to keep on hand
You’ll probably recognize a lot of the condiments we’re about to mention from the Calibrate Shopping List. Here’s a little more about why we love them, how to choose them, and which brands make good starting points.
Fresh herbs and spices can make a huge difference in how flavorful your meal is. If you can just pick one, basil is a great refrigerator staple. Add it to tomato or marinara sauce, stir fries, and salads—as well as to infused water and even fruit. Bonus: Basil is a great source of vitamin K, which supports healthy bones and skin. Dill (great with seafood, cucumbers, tomatoes, and chickpeas), parsley, thyme (try with chicken, vegetables, and soups/stews), and ginger are also excellent to have on-hand.
High-quality olive oil and vinegar can really pack a punch—be it drizzling on produce or working into cooking. We love California Olive Ranch for olive oil and Louianna for a good balsamic.
Mustard plant seeds are loaded with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds, plus essential minerals like selenium. More to the point for this lesson, mustard itself gives food a nice, smoky kick (try adding it to salad dressings or as a coating for chicken and fish). Look for ingredient lists limited to mustard seeds, mustard powder, cider vinegar, sea salt, and water.
While regular ketchup is loaded with sugar (just 1 tablespoon contains 4 grams of sugar), you can compromise by limiting yourself to a teaspoon. Or better yet, try an unsweetened variety like Primal Kitchen or swap in a good tomato sauce or unsweetened marinara, which will give you the natural sweet, salt, and umami taste profile of ketchup, but with much less sugar.
To keep things spicy, sriracha adds a punch to any dish, from eggs to potatoes to stir fries. As for hot sauce—which is an excellent flavor-enhancer for meats, fish, vegetables, or salads (in other words, everything)—as long as there’s no added sugar, you really can’t go wrong.
Mayo tends to get a bad rap, but it’s not totally deserved. Most commercial brands are loaded with genetically modified soybean oil and high-fructose corn syrup. Look for short ingredient lists that contain just the basics (olive oil, egg yolks, vinegar or lemon juice, mustard, and a little salt). You can also get a mayo-like texture and taste by blending Greek yogurt, avocado, or hummus. Or by mashing avocado with eggs for an amazing egg salad. As for brands, we really love avocado oil-based Primal Kitchen or Sir Kensington.
Don’t forget dips. Hummus, guacamole, tzatziki, and tahini don’t have to be relegated to just crackers and raw veggies. Tahini is delicious drizzled on apples, for example, and hummus can jazz up pretty much any style of egg (though we prefer it with hard boiled).
Lastly, pesto—which is packed with healthy fats and minerals—can brighten any dish. It’s quite easy to make yourself by mixing together olive oil, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and basil (this recipe is an easy go-to). You can also make pesto with other greens and nuts, like parsley and almonds, or go vegan and soy-free with chickpea miso. Use it to brighten up spaghetti squash, sandwiches, zoodles, seafood, eggs, raw vegetables, or meat.