HJBR May/Jun 2021

Q&A 22 MAY / JUN 2021 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE   from scratch, adding in some vegetables and whole grains, and reducing the meat, you can improve the nutrition but still produce an easy, comforting, one-pot meal that the whole family will enjoy. For snacks, I really like our roasted chickpeas. We have a few different versions with various flavor pro- files like creole spiced and cinnamon, which means that you can satisfy both sweet and savory snack cravings. It’s also a really easy way to incorporate more legumes into your diet, and we are all about legumes at the Goldring Center! In keeping with that theme, my favorite dessert is definitely our black bean brownies. I’ll admit that I have a huge sweet tooth and these brownies really hit the spot. Many people are skep- tical about them, but once they try them, they are shocked by how delicious and fudgy they are knowing they contain a can of beans! And if you have someone try them who doesn’t know, they won’t believe you. I love seeing people’s faces of amazement and delight after trying that recipe. I see that they are inspired to think a little outside the box and really open up to incorporating the things we are teaching, which is truly the most rewarding feeling. Is there anything else you would like to add? I’d like to share that we have a lot of great recipes, videos and handouts on our web- site, goldringcenter.tulane.edu. It’s a great, free resource for anyone looking to incor- porate a little bit of culinary medicine into their own lives or their medical practice! n “I think if we can have more opportunities for people to come to something like our cooking classes, we can demystify a lot of the noise out there surrounding eating well. We help break it down into more digestible bits of information.” Oat Pancakes with Fruit Sauce