Advice and Tips

Healthy Bread Alternative, Inspired By The Dukan Diet?

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Caroline

Yes, you heard me right, I have been reading the infamous ‘Dukan Diet’ this weekend out of curiosity and there are a few things in it that do make sense and have made me think of a few new strategies to implement, one of which being this fab recipe (tweaked slightly from the original!)

One of the key aspects of the Dukan Diet is to have an ‘Oatbran Galette’ (pancake in French, fat one as opposed to a ‘crepe’ I guess) every day.  There is a lot in the diet that makes no sense to me, this is kind of one of them – you are not allowed any green veg on protein days but you can have unlimited low fat dairy which is high in carbs and you can have these that contain more carbs than a bit of lettuce, but that’s not what this post is about… Ignoring the contradictory details of the Dukan Diet, this is a recipe you can implement to support your goals while still eating salad and vegetables!

The oatbran is designed to boost the daily fibre content, we all need 25g minimum each day, while this is possible with generous servings of veg (which I recommend), boosting fibre is great for detoxification, if you have problems with hip and thigh fat it is linked to excess oestrogens and adding extra fibre is a real help there.  I personally use pysllium husks mostly for adding fibre (it is good to rotate fibre sources every couple of weeks as your body may adapt to one source, so I do alternate with ground flax, hemp and apple fibre / FOS, you can get all from MyProtein, I would stick to psyllium / oatbran in this recipe, could try hemp flour / protein though too).  This is a super tasty and also quite ‘bread-like’ way of boosting fibre intake and is very filling and will help with any cravings you might face…

So having tweaked the recipe by adding the psyllium I actually think it was better, lighter and held together better.

I tried this over the weekend with a couple of eggs fried in a little coconut oil and was fab, yesterday had as a kind of tuna open sandwich with cucumber & tomato, mixing mustard and a little 0% Total Greek Yoghurt with the tuna to make it like tuna mayo (could also use a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a bit of mustard I just had Greek Yoghurt to use and hadn’t done that in a while!).  Can also have sweet with berries.  Whatever!  Let me know your ideas!

I am on the fence with dairy, I don’t recommend unlimited amounts and don’t recommend milk for various reasons I will expand upon in a future article, but live yoghurt is something I have on occasion and recommend as a great breakfast alternative to cereal and milk, having 0% Total Greek Yoghurt with berries and a few nuts is a great, high protein and high nutrient start to the day.  Generally I prefer people go for Total Greek Yoghurt as it is higher in protein and you can have the 0% version but the carbs / sugars stay low and the protein actually gets higher – most yoghurt goes low fat and ends up higher in sugars.  You can add good fats from a few nuts and seeds to balance the meal, or stir in some orange flavoured omega 3 fish oil (not fishy, just orangey!).

This recipe calls for yoghurt which is what I tried it with but thinking about it I will probably use coconut milk instead – I love one from Goodness Direct that is super creamy: What on Earth Organic Coconut Milk or you can use Kara coconut based milk alternative but that will be thinner, you may need an extra egg if you do that…

If you have kefir that would be even better – you can make it from coconut milk or milk and it transforms a regular food into a healthy bacteria filled superfood!

Psilly Oatbran Galette

1 dessertspoon oatbran (this is not oatmeal or regular oats, it is the bran, so higher in fibre which is the goal_
1 dessertspoon psyllium husks (can get these from health food stores or online from MyProtein)
1 dessertspoon Total 0% Greek Yoghurt or coconut milk (see link above for my fave!)
1 large egg
1 tsp coconut oil (again, you can get small tubs from health food stores but I recommend you order in bulk from Coconoil as works out loads cheaper!)

Toppings as you wish!

• Stir the ingredients together, and heat a frying pan on the hob, use some greaseproof paper to grease the pan with coconut oil.
• Dollop the mixture (should be quite gloopy and dollopable) into the pan, pat it down a bit but if its too thin it will break when you try to flip it) into the hot pan.  Leave it to cook a few minutes (if you flip it too soon it will collapse!) the edges should be coming away from the pan a bit.
• Flip and cook a few minutes on the other side, preparing the topping.

This is a super high fibre, high protein bread alternative, great for those times you are missing your old frenemy (have you ever wondered why the French call bread ‘pain’?!).  Better than making a loaf with similar ingredients (although you can) because you make one at a time, and they are super filling too.

Adding the Psyllium was my tweak, I have it in my smoothies and it is a great fibre boost, I might actually try it in an omelette, which will make it more like a pancake, we shall see!  Psyllium, kara and a bit of Sunwarrior protein powder, mixed so it is thick, with a few frozen berries, is another great snack or dessert, fills you up and beats any craving!

Would love to hear your topping ideas – comment below!

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