We asked a nutritionist how to turn rice salad into a lighter dish that is also suitable for sportsmen.
Eugenio Spagnuolo
– Milano
Also known as cold rice, rice salad is the typical dish of the Italian summer. There are countless ways to prepare it: the limit is your imagination, the ingredients available and… the calories. Because the rice salad with all the surplus of dressing that comes with it, alas, is not always a friendly dish of the line. “But with some care we can transform it into a fitness and healthy dish, without sacrificing taste”, explains the nutritionist Roberto Cannataro.
Rice salad: because it is good for you
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Meanwhile, the good news is that the rice salad starts with one advantage: cold rice. “When a starch, such as rice, is cooled, it activates the retrogradation, that is, some starch bonds change and cannot be attacked by our digestive enzymes. This causes us to assimilate them more slowly, keeping the glycemic index low. Not only that: a part of these starches is not really processed, the caloric intake is reduced and the starch reaches our intestine where it acts like a fiber, with the benefit of the bacterial flora “.
Rice salad: how to turn it into a fitness dish
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“If once the rice is cooked, it is we quickly cool under water, we will further increase the retrogradation level, with all the above benefits ”, suugerici the nutritionist. But that’s not the only ploy to make salad rice a healthier dish.
The second trick is the balance nutrients: carbohydrates (rice), proteins and fats. “Cold rice has the advantage of getting along well with almost all protein sources”, Comments Dr. Cannataro. Tuna, eggs, chicken breast, turkey, cheese. And also legumes such as beans, peas, chickpeas. “In this case, however, it is good to keep in mind that legumes also contain carbohydrates, so you have to reduce the amount of rice a little to balance the nutrients”. Of course, proteins can also be mixed together to play with flavors. And the vegetables? “The advice is to prefer green vegetables, such as green beans, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms. And avoid corn and carrots which would represent another share of carbohydrates ”, replies the expert.
Fitness rice salad: which rice to use?
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“Il basmati rice it has a low glycemic index and cooks well ”, concludes Dr. Cannataro. But the brown rice or various colored rices, which contain a higher amount of fiber and have a lower glycemic index than traditional white rice. Alternatively, you can also mix rice with other grains such as quinoa and spelled, as long as you don’t consider them protein sources: they are always carbohydrates. The right mix in this case could be 30 g of rice and 40 g of quinoa for a 70-gram portion ”.
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