Spice Up Your High-Protein Diet With Seasonings

Are you one of those people who wonder “what can I do to add variety to my own chicken and fish?” If so, you are not alone! Weight loss surgery patients on a high protein diet quickly get bored with routine protein dishes, but the fear of taking too many culinary liberties will divert them from weight loss and weight maintenance. As a general rule, people undergoing gastric bypass, gastric band, and gastric sleeve procedures are told that the first rule of thumb for weight loss surgery is to eat “protein first.” But nothing in the rule says it has to be boring.

I remember spending my first three years after gastric bypass eating chicken breast, canned tuna, shrimp, and hard-boiled eggs every day. Straw! A good friend put me in his secret weapon that kept his taste buds pleased and honored his nutritional needs. Your weapon? Seasonings! And I don’t mean your ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise every day. I mean sauce and balsamic vinegar and sauce and fruit compote. Everything is alright. Great ready-made seasonings are easy to find today and are also a winner in the budget lottery. At first it may seem expensive to pay $ 5 for a jar of Bruschetta sauce, but considering that the jar spans 20 servings, you are well worth your money with only about a quarter per serving.

Here are some of the best tips for adding a little pop to your protein:

Sauce: Use it on eggs, cooked chicken, fish, and beans. Add soups and stews to add flavor without the cost of expensive out-of-season tomatoes and peppers. Mix with plain yogurt for a delicious vegetable sauce (not chips).

Balsamic vinegar: Sprinkle over pan-fried chicken or fish as it cooks to add deep acidity to the protein. Remove the proteins from the pan, add a little more balsamic vinegar to the fat, scrape and serve on top of the chicken for an easy and elegant sauce. Lightly drizzle fresh strawberries with balsamic vinegar and marinate for 30 minutes. Serve at room temperature for a delicious delicacy. Mix balsamic vinegar and olive oil together for a quick and healthy salad or vegetable dressing.

Savor: Don’t save this just for hot dogs. Use sweet or regular pickle seasonings to flavor tuna salad, chicken salad, or egg salad. Stir a tablespoon of seasoning with yogurt or light mayo for a quick and inexpensive tartar sauce for fish.

Fruit compote: Fruit compotes are generally a mix of sweet and sour ingredients that enhance the flavor of proteins while adding moisture to the dish. They are sometimes called a fruit sauce. Look for specialty mixes at the farmers market or whole food stores. Serve grilled or roasted protein compote simply by adding a small amount when serving. Or glaze the meat with the compote in the last five minutes of grilling.