The 'not best practice, but better' bagel
Aspire to even healthier things. This might get you in the door, though.
As “Newbtrition” goes on, I’ll try to throw in “recipes” and “swaps.” The reasoning is pretty simple.
While you’d be eating some of the healthiest things in the world with a big ‘ol Elaine Benes-approved salad, and you’d control how elaborate it would be …
… Maybe you hear “big ol salad” and think either “big ol pain” (oof, we’ve got a lot of work to do) or “not enough big taste!” (but spices!).
With time, I’m guessing (OK, hoping) that your tastes will change, and you will join me on Team Salad. For those who keep crossing their arms and shaking their heads “No” but maybe still want to not feel as awful, perhaps you’ll settle for half-measures.
Here and there, I’ll play ball — maybe after sermonizing about how much better you’d feel if you actually took bigger steps.
(Another elevator pitch while I have you here: maybe you’d impress yourself with not just how much better you feel, but how many bad foods you could quickly remove from your rotation?*)
Consider this the first pitch from the rotation of stuff that’s not perfect, yet is a lot better — and might make you treat a healthy item as one of your main pitches (perhaps hummus won’t be your fastball, but maybe something of a sinker?**).
At first I thought this would be a quick-and-easy post, but I blathered as I often do in the article below. So, here’s the quicker version, then you can expand:
Start with a breadstuff like a bagel, or two pieces of bread. Allow me to recommend being really stingy with sodium, other bad stuff.
Find a hummus you enjoy; sticklers may want to make their own, but store-bought is an option — measure it out, though. A little goes a long way, especially with something delicious like red pepper hummus or a saltier flavor such as dill pickle.
Chop up a tomato, get it in that bagel mix. Laugh as some of the tomato inevitably falls out.
That’s OK, some of the greens (such as spring mix?) will fall out, too. “Accidental” side salad action!
Throw as many spices as you can muster/stand on there, and on the “accidental” side salad. To review: avoid any mixes with salt added.
I think you’ll make a better and better sandwich if you dive into the nitty-gritty, though. So let’s get annoying about it.
Newb Bite: A slightly better bagel
Going back to all of that sodium talk, I’d wager the average person simply doesn’t realize how quickly and sneakily salt can stack up.
Most probably are aware of particularly salty food (hate to pick on soy sauce, but sheesh). But there are seemingly innocuous items that can really start to add up once you consider the sum of the sodium.
You probably don’t think much about sauces and dressings, but you should start. Measure out dressing if you’re making a salad at home (and aren’t being a boss with vinegar instead). One good thing about larger restaurants/chains is that they often disclose nutrition facts on their website. I’ll pick on those heels at Chik-Fil-A as just one example: click on dipping sauces and you’ll see that you can easily pack on 100+ calories and 200+ mg of sodium as just a small part of what is already probably a really salty meal. As bad as all of that is, if you’re not going to change, you can at least limit the damage. Get the sauce on the side. Don’t use all of that packet.
My bagel concoction aims to essentially “Trojan Horse” a good meal with a few bad things. Think of it as wrapping your dog’s medicine in cheese or peanut butter, only you’re the puppy with the owie this time.
First, the bagel.
Here’s a strange observation: at least in my supermarket anecdotal travels, I’ve found that multiple bagel brands’ “everything” bagels tend to contain less sodium than the plain ones. You’d think the bagel with everything on it would have more than the plain one … right?
It’s absolutely crucial that you check the nutrition facts before you buy anything, really, but maybe the strange lesson here is that it’s unsafe to assume anything about the food supply.
Check later in this post for closer-to-best-practice bagels, but my general advice is to find the best compromise between flavor, calories, sodium, and other stuff.
While they’re not long for my pantry, I settled on a store brand (“Compliments,” may just be a Canadian thing) everything bagel. It packs: 210 calories, 260 mg of sodium, two grams of fiber. Note that such a profile compares well to most of the not-actually-good-for-you, mass-produced bread available. I say, if the stats are similar, and one gets you to the door, then go with that.
So, this could be a bagel, some responsible bread, or some really responsible bread that might be a bit much from a price/etc. standpoint.
Either way, you start with the bread, in this case a bagel. New Yawkers should shield their eyes, because I toast it. (Although, I imagine that hyper-specific level of snobbery is probably just for bagels that are fresh and renowned, not mass-produced and slightly sad.)
Second, the hummus
In an ideal world, I’ll eventually start making my own sauces, such as hummus. The short of it is: I’d rather either not add salt and/or oil to the delicious mixture of chickpeas, tahini, and herbs/spices that make a hummus … or I’d at least like to add a lot less.
Those quibbles aside, even common brands of hummus bring nutritional value, and beat the hell out of something that’s actually bad for you like mayo, ranch, or butter.
This Eat This Not That listing makes me a bit envious of the array of options out there, but includes a brand I see in my travels: Sabra.
Their original hummus includes 70 calories and 130mg of sodium, but that’s in a pretty generous serving of 28g (or about two tablespoons). I would imagine you could enjoy a delicious plop of hummus on your bagel that’s quite a bit smaller. If not, though? You at least really contain the sodium, and get the many benefits of hummus.
(Again, I find red pepper hummus to be outstanding, as in great leaps tastier than mayo, ranch, and other common dressings — that it’s way healthier makes it almost as lopsided as a Packers - Bears rivalry.)
For what it’s worth, you could probably swap out hummus for a sauce if you measure it. You’d just be making a far less healthy and, imo, probably less delicious meal. YOU’D ALSO BE DEFYING ME.
The other stuff: tomato, greens, spices
Back around 2007, I remember a friend complaining about vegetables at Subway. Now, if that friend was complaining about the squalid state of some of the world’s saddest tomatoes and the multiverse’s most generally unnerving produce, I would’ve nodded.
Instead, he seemed to complain about loading up. “Why would you want a salad on a bun?”
Folks, you want a salad on that damn bun (bagel).
If you’re trying to get healthy, find ways to make that process fun. Having a tasty base like a bagel, and a healthy-and-delicious sauce like hummus worked for me in my early days.
Consider this bagel (or a big salad, or even better, both) a way to load up on healthy stuff that you enjoy. It’s a great way to jam turmeric, oregano, cumin, and other shockingly healthy spices into the mix.
I also think the humble tomato — if you can find ones that are palatable at this time of year, certainly no guarantee — is an integral part of this sandwich, and my big salads.
If you’re like me, you also underestimated the power of the tomato. It’s probably a bit much to say a tomato a day keeps the dentist away, but it may help you … earn your dentist’s sway?
Ideally, this meal gets you a vegetable or fruit serving (depending upon how you feel about tomatoes) and a serving of greens. Hummus also carries a bunch of benefits.
The bread? Probably a negative, but at least you can limit the damage.
As long as you stay away from salt-added spices, the herbs and spices would only add marginal sodium to the bagel + hummus (which I’d guess would be about 400-500 mg of sodium, if you’re careful).
Is it a perfect meal? No, but it’s likely to replace something much worse.
Consider, say, a spicy chicken combo from Chik-Fil-A.
Spicy chicken sandwich***: 460 calories, basically your entire day’s recommended maximum of sodium (1,670 mg), and other scary stuff like heart-clogging cholesterol (65mg, not even their worse entree there).
You’re “being good” when you merely order the small waffle fries: 320 calories, 190 mg of sodium, and a sneaky 35g of carbs.
Maybe you get diet soda, which is in the world’s worst tug-o-war with regular soda in the Disastrous For Your Health Games (sponsored by the Standard American Diet).
Lawd help you, you add some sort of sauce — most likely if you go with nuggets or strips.
Back in my less aware days, I would’ve seen some bright side in the spicy chicken sandwich “only” being 460 calories, or gone with the grilled. Maybe I’d even pair it with a dismayingly bad side salad (470 calories, 690 mg of sodium, oh no!). I’d likely go on with my day thinking I did well, maybe great.
Instead, it’s the sort of meal that could derail your day, or at least include your biggest mistakes.
Remember that suggestion from the sodium post? Try to keep your mg of sodium below the number of calories you consume in a day. Ideally, you’re shooting for 2,000 calories or less. I’d personally aim for even lower than that (with calories, especially sodium), but if you went with that rule, you’d still be about 1,400mg behind the deeply troubling average for an American.
Maybe this bagel idea could be one of your weapons? It’s really easy to make, lacks the heart-clogging cholesterol of just about any fast food meal, and would likely be less sodium than a sandwich.
Those might be Cold Gives. Here’s the hot take: I think it actually tastes better, especially since fast food grilled chicken often is really gross and … veiny? Is that the right word? Did I gross you out a bit, hopefully?
Optional side mission: be a bagel/grain stickler
OK, here’s where I clue you in on my own journey.
I’ve been switching to stuff like “Ezekiel bread” when I eat bread at all (I’m trying to get my grains from oatmeal, quinoa, etc. instead). There’s a bagel version of that. Not sure how widespread the brand is, but it’s “Carbonaut” and it packs a ridiculous 34g of fiber.
That can be beyond or near your recommended fiber intake for the entire day, so I actually tend to only use half that and (booo) half that everything bagel.
Thus, there’s more value in every part of the sandwich. You don’t have to strive that far. Hopefully, this bagel will merely drive you to eat more salads, greens, fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs, and other good stuff — all while enjoying taste sensations strong enough that you might tell Col. Sanders to go hide those secret herbs & spices up h—[censors start bleeping me]
* - Even if you stumble, you really just lose a few bucks, as most of the entry-level healthy stuff is extremely cheap.
** - Just no sliders. Those are an extremely bad idea even if you never slow down eating hamburgers, the parent of sliders.
Also, wtf Food Network? And really, how is this so prominent in this Google search? Begins wondering about the grand conspiracies of Big Slider. (Tempted to research which chain restaurant sells the most sliders.)
*** - Yes, grilled sandwiches and other forms of chicken can be a lesser evil than fried. But I’m not sure I’d say many of them are “healthy.” Grilled counterparts can still have about half your day’s sodium allotment, and sneaky-frightening cholesterol.
More Newbtrition.
Intro: kinda feel like healthy food could use better marketing, maybe even cinematic marketing?
Tea (with coffee and sparkling water/seltzer) has been a big key for me to drop soda. I still can’t believe how painless the transition has been.