Come December, one looks forward to destress as well as celebrate with friends and family. However, with the increasing scare of the new variant of coronavirus i.e. Omicron in India; Christmas celebrations this year too will remain indoors. Hence, in order to help patients who are on a kidney diet or dialysis diet select a health friendly menu; we herewith have enlisted recipes that are simple, easy, delicious at the same time safe to brighten your Christmas eve:
Few tips for patients on kidney diet or dialysis diet:
- Food should be homemade, especially as the pandemic is still far from over
- Food should contain zero additives in terms of food colours and artificial flavours
- Few recipes herewith have be modified in terms of its cooking methods and ingredients to make it suitable for kidney patients, hence; food may need to be cooked separately
- Food should contain less salt and salt substitutes like low-sodium salts should be avoided
- It is ideally important to consult your Renal Dietitian before making any additions as she can guide you perfectly on the basis of your current lab parameters
1. Mini bhakhri bruschetta with onion, corn and olive toppings:
Homemade bhakhri made up of wheat flour can be used as a pizza base or bruschetta base. Kidney patients with complains of high potassium levels can sieve the wheat flour 2-3 times before kneading the dough. Mini bhakhri helps in controlling the portion size. One can make a topping of chopped onion, boiled corn with (non-spicy) green chilies and add it to the mini bhakhris and then allow it to get baked on a low flame in a non-stick pan. Olives can be added towards end.
This recipe can be used as a starter on Christmas eve. Patients on dialysis who need extra proteins can add grated paneer or tofu.
2. Stuffed cabbage rolls:
Kidney patients can use green or purple cabbage in moderation. Patients with thyroid issues should avoid using cabbage in raw form. Hence, this recipe is perfect for patients having both thyroid issues as well as kidney issues. For the stuffing, one can add boiled wheat noodles tossed in finely chopped veggies like onion, capsicum, carrots, baby corn and zucchini. This stuffing can be used for adding into fresh cabbage leaves to make a roll. These rolls can then be steamed in a steamer or a microwave. They can be served with homemade garlic and mint leaves chutney or onion-tomato chutney instead of tomato ketchup. These rolls too can be had as a starter or as a sider with the main course.
3. Quinoa and soya salad:
Quinoa is a proteinaceous cereal, however; when it come to CKD or dialysis diet; it falls down on the list of healthy foods as it contains relatively high amount of a mineral known as potassium. Hence, in order to make it kidney friendly, we advise using a combination of boiled quinoa and boiled corn. You may also leach quinoa before adding it to corn. Soya chunks are a perfect high biological value and low potassium protein source that can be preferred by both CKD as well as dialysis patients. Amongst vegetables, you can opt for a combination of low and medium potassium vegetables like cucumber, cabbage (green and purple), zucchini (yellow and green), capsicum, bell peppers and baby corn. It is advisable to skip addition of salt and instead add vinegar or amchur powder to this salad to make it healthy for kidneys. One may also choose to add oregano, mixed herbs, olives and fresh/ dry basil leaves.
A salad bowl containing 1 tsp boiled quinoa, 2-3 tsp boiled corn and 4-5 mini soya chunks with 75-100 grams of the above listed veggies can make a perfect appetizer for kidney/dialysis patients on the eve of Christmas.
4. Pasta in red sauce:
You may select pasta of any shape you like but it is important to avoid excessive sauces for kidney patients. As cheese is a rich source of food additives and phosphorus, we recommend avoiding white sauce. Also when we use red sauce; it is possible to leach tomatoes (rather than blanch them) before making a puree hence, we have herewith preferred red sauce instead of white sauce. It is advisable to add a low potassium vegetable i.e. bottle gourd (lauki/ dudhi) to red sauce in order to decrease the proportion of tomatoes in the puree. Therefore, it is ideally important to prefer homemade puree over packaged puree. Again low potassium veggies like zucchini (yellow and green) should be enough along with boiled pasta to make this sizzling recipe more kidney friendly. One can top it up with spices like oregano, mixed herbs, basil, olives, thyme, etc.
5. Burnt garlic rice with egg:
White rice is a low potassium, high calorie cereal which is a good combination needed for both pre-dialysis (CKD) as well as dialysis patients. A small portion when combined with 2 egg whites and when given a tempering (tadka) with finely chopped garlic and when garnished with finely chopped coriander, oregano and mixed herbs makes an excellent main meal for patients with kidney issues. This is an excellent main course option as it neither contains extra sauces nor any high potassium veggies and is also free of additives. This recipe can be preferred as the main course option.
Kidney patients with complains of high post-meal blood sugar can prefer brown rice instead of white rice.
6. No Bake brownie:
As the festival of Christmas is not over without cakes/ pastries; when it comes to kidney patients a NO BAKE cake is a huge thumbs up as it does not need baking soda/ baking powder. To begin, one can make a smooth slurry from equal amounts of corn flour, cocoa powder and chocolate powder (2 tsp each) and heat it on a non-stick pan. Then add 1/4th cup roasted oats and finely chopped 1-2 dates, 1-2 walnuts and 1-2 cashews. Mix this well on a low flame and allow the dates to melt completely. Once done set this mixture on a tray and allow it to cool down. Refrigerate it and then cut into small pieces while serving.
This recipe is a simple and hassle free kidney friendly dessert as it does not involve tedious procedures like baking or icing. Patients with high levels of potassium and / or phosphorus may prefer only 1 piece (of 2 inches) in order to avoid any complications after the celebrations.
Merry Christmas.
