Tag: winter

On a diet in winter: tips for not giving up – Italian Cuisine

The end of the year old revelries seem now far away, but summer is not so close: i first months of the year I am a limbo, which lends itself perfectly to make a commitment and lose the extra pounds. From the Tao diet that comes from the East to that of supermetabolism, suitable for the cold season because it allows to eat in quantity, there is certainly no lack of proposals and alternatives to try to dispose of excess weight.

The problem is another. For those who choose to wear on a diet in the middle of winter there is no good news: the "good intentions" diet at the beginning of the year risks skyrocketing. The results of some research are far from encouraging: only 8% of those who start a diet in winter successfully completes it, and even those who laboriously will get some results will quickly recover the few pounds lost.

As often happens, science comes to the aid to explain the reasons of the failure of "winter" diets, breaking a spear in favor of those who, armed with the best intentions, always see their efforts frustrated: the guilt would be of an "ancestral" instinct, the same that pushed our ancestors to eat more in the cold months, the period when food was harder to find, and that still today makes us feel a greater desire for food during the winter, pushing us to accumulate weight.

Many nutritionists argue that during winter should increase calories introduced to better withstand lowering temperatures. But then how to set up if you want to start a diet in winter and you intend to bring it to a successful conclusion?

Here are some tips from dott.ssa Carla Lertola, nutritionist: "If it is true that during the winter we are led to eat more calories, it is equally true that now we live in preheated environments and we move little, and therefore we risk not being able to dispose of them. To achieve a diet is fundamental the mental approach. Starting a weight loss diet in January or February can offer the double advantage of having a long period of time during which you gradually reduce the caloric quota, without upsetting our habits ".

To sum up, apart from good will, here are some tips to get fit in the winter months:

Start the diet on time, in order to have a right amount of time to get used to the new diet, which must however be well balanced and varied

Learn to shop, avoiding buying temptations and choosing instead the ingredianti with which we can prepare some flight comfort food healthy

Buy seasonal products and learn how to cook them in the most correct way to preserve their nutritive principles

Enrich the raw materials with the spices reducing the amount of salt and fat

Finally, let us not forget – we add – that in order to stand firm we can offer ourselves a non-food prize: it has been demonstrated that the "Happy Meal effect" helps us to eat less.

article of Silvia Tatozzi
3 February 2016
updated by Stella Rita
January 2019

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Artichoke velouté: the dish to pamper yourself with in winter – Italian Cuisine

They are difficult to clean and complicated to cook … how many people say about them artichokes? And yet they are vegetables, a gift fromwinter, with important nutritional qualities. Perhaps you do not know, for example, that i artichokes I'm detoxifying and therefore particularly indicated after the holidays or a challenging weekend, for clean up the liver and organism e encourage diuresis. But they are also important for the amount of fibers that contain, which helps to promote it intestinal regularity.

How to choose and clean the artichokes

The first thing to do before buying artichokes is verify its freshness. Such as? Just grab the head of the artichoke, pressing it between the index and the thumb. If the leaves flatten and do not resist, it means that the artichoke is not fresh. The same applies to the stains on the leaves, avoid buying them if they are present. We then move on to artichoke cleaning, which is a very important step for any recipe you want to prepare: it will seem to you to waste a lot, but it is essential eliminate the outer leaves harder to get one velvety creamy and avoid annoying strands or pieces of the vegetable under your teeth. Now let's proceed, ready to prepare one delicious and warm velvety artichoke for tonight's dinner?

Artichokes: what to do with waste

The recipe of the artichoke velvety

Ingredients
3 medium artichokes
1 big potato
1 leek
1 liter of vegetable stock
extra virgin olive oil as needed
Salt and Pepper To Taste

Method

Clean the artichokes well. Remove the hardest outer leaves, cut the upper part (where the thorns are) and peel the stem in order to eliminate the most stringy pieces. Cut the artichokes in half and with the help of a paring knife cut the beard and throw it. Then cut the rest, both head and stem, into wedges, and put them to rest in cold water with squeezed lemon, so that they do not become black. Attention, even the hands in the cleaning of the artichokes darken, so if you want to protect them you can wear gloves, or rub with lemon juice.

In a saucepan with high sides, brown the finely chopped leek with extra-virgin olive oil, then add the artichokes and the potato, peeled and cut into cubes. You do fry the vegetables for a few minutes, stirring to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot, e add then the vegetable broth. Season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat for at least 20-30 minutes. To check that the vegetables are ready, just stick them with a fork and see if they are soft. Then adjust to salt and pepper.

When artichokes and potatoes have softened, pass them with a immersion blender, directly in the pot. If the cream is too liquid, let it cook for a few minutes without a lid.

Serve warm, with gods toasted croutons, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and grated Parmesan cheese. If you wish, you can also add some pepper or a quenelle of fresh cheese.

The greedy touch? A few slices of artichoke kept aside e fried: crispy and irresistible!

Madeleines for winter snacks: how to prepare them – Italian Cuisine

A French recipe to warm up the coldest afternoons. Simple, but delicious: prepare them like this!

In winter there is often an extra dose of pampering. And when it comes to cuddling, everyone has their own heart. A pause, free time, for friends, love, family. A Saturday in pajamas in front of a TV series, a massage in SPA after having dreamed all year, something good to eat that comes out of the routine. For some they are savory and greedy cuddles, for other sweets and wraps. Sometimes it's the comfort of a cup of boiling milk with honey and cinnamon, others the simplicity of a square of dark chocolate before sleep. Often, just turn on the oven and let the kitchen be invaded by the magic of scent of cinnamon madeleines, there perfect snack for the winter.

When to prepare the madeleines?

The ideal is to prepare the madeleines in the morning: the dough must rest at least two hours in the refrigerator before you can go to the oven. A cup of coffee to warm you up, a few simple ingredients, and you're ready to go.

The recipe of madeleines

Ingredients
2 eggs
150 g of sugar
150 g of 00 flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoons of milk or vegetable milk
125 g of butter
Lemon peel
cinnamon q.b.

Method
Beat the eggs with the sugar, until you get a frothy mixture to add the sifted 00 flour, baking powder, milk (if you prefer also vegetable), and softened butter. Add cinnamon and grated orange peel to taste, stir and ready to transfer your dough into the refrigerator. After about two hours, place one spoon at a time in the special alveolus mold, bake at 220 ° for the first 4 minutes and continue for another 6 minutes at 180 °, keeping your madeleines under control. Can you no longer resist the scent that is released from the oven? It's time to churn out the madeleines and set the table for your winter snack.

The alternatives to cinnamon

If you do not like cinnamon, or you prefer high flavors, you can substitute it with vanilla or nutmeg or let the citrus fruits (instead of the orange peel you can use lemon juice) do their aromatic work yourself, without adding other spices.