insideKENT Magazine Issue 31 - October 2014 | Page 57

FOOD+DRINK

Popular Junk Food
(and its alternatives…)
BY LISAMARIE LAMB

There’s nothing quite like junk food, is there? All that flavour, all that convenience, all that
pleasure – as well as all those calories, all that fat, and all the unhealthiness, of course. It’s a
shame that the best tasting food, and the stuff that we crave more than anything, is the kind
that is the worst for us. From pizza to burgers to kebabs to good old fish and chips, it’s a sad
fact that these delicious foods are high in fat, high in cholesterol, and high in the dreaded
calories. They make us feel great when we’re anticipating them, and when we’re eating them,
but afterwards all of that junk makes our bodies sluggish and heavy – sometimes literally so.
And yet…they taste so good! It’s
just not fair. But what if there was
a healthy alternative to your favourite
junk food that not only tasted great,
but managed to do so without all
of the additives and calories? The
good news is that these foods exist.
The better news is that they are
easy to find and can even be made
quickly at home.
Take crisps, for example. It’s a
staple in many homes, an easy to
reach snack when hunger strikes.
But all of that grease and badness
is not great. Instead of potato crisps,
why not try parsnip or sweet potato
versions? Just slice the vegetable
thinly, pop it onto a baking sheet,
and sprinkle with olive oil and a little
seasoning. Bake for 20 minutes
and you’ve got a delicious, healthy
snack on hand. A 40g serving of
Kettle Chips, for example, contains

201 calories and 11.5g of fat. The
same serving of parsnip crisps
contains just 114 calories and only
5.4g of fat.

suffering. To make pizza healthier, use flatbreads as the base. You can still
enjoy a variety of toppings (vegetables included!), but with a flatbread you
are ridding your meal of around 9g of fat and 100 calories per serving. Plus,
by making the pizza yourself, you can involve the whole family, and pizza
night suddenly takes on a whole new, much more fun, meaning.

On a potato theme, chips are great,
aren’t they? When they are done
right they are crispy on the outside,
soft in the middle, and just melt in
the mouth. What’s not so great is
the unhealthy aspect of the things
– all that deep frying is not good
for you. So instead of deep frying
them, you could make your own
oven-baked wedges. Healthy and
simple, they still have that lovely
fluffy inside and loads of taste.
Compared to standard chips, these
beauties have 40% fewer calories )