Wholesome and Delicious: The Ultimate Healthy Diet Recipe!

Are you worried about the weight you gained this summer? So today, 'Gonggam' has brought you ingredients that are helpful for dieting and are full of nutritional value! Shall we learn about May’s seasonal foods and recipes for a healthy diet?

what if the moisture balance is broken? cucumber

Long, straight, radiant figure, crunchy texture, and cool, refreshing taste! If you're on a diet, this is probably a vegetable you see often. Cucumbers help quench thirst as 96% of their tissueThe cool nature of cucumbers has the effect of soothing heat in the body, and the silicon dioxide contained in cucumbers is known to promote hair growth. 

Additionally, cucumbers have an active diuretic effect that helps detoxify and relieve swelling. It is also helpful for skin care and diet, including whitening and moisturizing, and preventing skin damage. It keeps the intestines healthy by proliferating lactic acid bacteria and replenishing moisture, and is rich in vitamins, so it is good for treating spots, and freckles, activating metabolism, preventing colds, and relieving fatigue. 

It contains potassium, which helps expel waste accumulated in the body. We'll also teach you how to enjoy cucumbers more deliciously, as they help balance your body's moisture balance and improve your appetite with a crunchy texture.

Two ‘Cucumber’ recipes

- Ingredients: cucumber, salt, whole garlic, ginger, dried red pepper, brewing vinegar, sugar, red pepper paste, water, red pepper oil

① Divide the cucumber into 4 lengths, cut into triangles, and then cut into 0.8cm thick sticks.

② Prepare by lightly salting and squeezing.

③ Cut the whole garlic into 3 pieces lengthwise and cut the ginger into slices.

④ Cut the dried red pepper diagonally using scissors.

⑤ Mix vinegar, sugar, soybean paste, and water and pour enough to cover the cucumbers, then sprinkle red pepper oil on top.

⑥ Store cool in the refrigerator before eating.

Cucumber Roll Sushi

Source: Agricultural and Food Information Nuri

- Ingredients: cucumber, rice, black rice, walnuts, water

① Wash the rice and soak it for about 30 minutes, then pour in water and cook until soft.

② Make vinegar by dissolving sugar and salt in vinegar.

③ Toast the walnuts in a dry pan and then chop them coarsely.

④ Wash the cucumbers thoroughly and scrape them thinly with a peeler.

⑤ Add the vinegar and coarsely chopped walnuts to the rice, mix well, and then let cool.

⑥ Mash the rice into bite-sized balls, then place them on the cucumber and roll them up.

It has more nutrients than garlic, ‘Garlic species’

‘Garlic species’ with an attractive spicy taste! Garlic species refers to the flower stalks of garlic, i.e., the flower stalks of garlic. When made with pickled vegetables or stir-fried, it becomes the best nutritious side dish. 

Garlic species contain 70% of the efficacy of garlic and contain more beta-carotene, which acts as an antioxidant, than garlic. It helps the body's physiology and brain activation and is effective in improving physical strength. It helps smooth blood circulation and is good for improving high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. It lowers blood cholesterol and helps with high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis. It has the effect of preventing blood clots from accumulating and removing toxins from the human body. Let’s take a look at recipes using garlic species that are rich in nutrients and have a unique flavor, shall we?

Two ‘Garlic Bell’ recipes

- Ingredients: Garlic seeds, sesame seeds, soy sauce, red pepper paste, starch syrup, oligosaccharides, perilla oil

① Cut into bite-size pieces, blanch briefly in boiling water with salt, and drain.

② Put cooking oil in a pan and lightly fry the garlic seeds, then add soy sauce and stir-fry.

③ Add red pepper paste, starch syrup, oligosaccharide, and perilla oil to make seasoning sauce and simmer.

④ Add garlic seeds to the simmered seasoning sauce, mix well, and fry a little more to soak in the seasoning.

Dried shrimp stewed with garlic

- Ingredients: Garlic seeds, dried shrimp, sesame seeds, soy sauce, red pepper paste, starch syrup, oligosaccharides, perilla oil

① Fry the dried shrimp in a heated pan over low heat until crispy.

② Blanch lightly in salted boiling water, squeeze out the water, add cooking oil to a pan, add garlic seeds and soy sauce, and fry.

③ Mix red pepper paste, starch syrup, oligosaccharide, and perilla oil to make seasoning sauce.

④ Put dried shrimp on top of garlic seeds, stir-fry with seasoning sauce, and sprinkle with sesame seeds to finish.

Even if you peel it, it tastes new! 'onion'

Crunchy texture with a spicy and sweet taste! Onions, used in various dishes, are one of the representative seasonal ingredients in May. In particular, onions are considered one of the three most produced vegetables worldwide, along with tomatoes and watermelons, and in ancient Egypt, they were considered a food that energized workers. Onions are rich in chromium, a trace mineral that maintains homeostasis in glucose metabolism and helps regulate blood sugar. Additionally, allicin, which gives onions their spicy taste, has the effect of lowering blood pressure by releasing nitric oxide. 

In addition, onions prevent cardiovascular disease by breaking down cholesterol and neutral fat in the body and are a good ingredient for patients with high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis. Consuming onions also has the effect of activating metabolism, which helps with diet. It is also effective for diabetes because sulfur compounds promote insulin secretion in the body and lower blood sugar levels. 

It contains polyphenol, which is famous for its detoxifying properties, as well as glutathione, a liver detoxifying component, making it good for preventing adult diseases. Aryl emulsifier, a spicy flavor ingredient, helps the absorption of vitamin B1 and improves chronic fatigue, insomnia, and loss of appetite. It is essential for modern people who need to recover from fatigue! So, let’s find out a recipe using onions.

Two ‘Onion’ Recipe

- Ingredients: Pork loin, dried oregano, dried basil, olive oil, onion, apple, salt, crushed peppercorns

① Cut the pork loin into pieces about 4cm thick.

② Make an herb mix by mixing dried oregano, dried basil, salt, and ground pepper in a bowl and spread evenly on 1.

③ Heat the pan, add olive oil, and grill the sirloin until brown on both sides, then wrap it in aluminum foil and cook it completely in the oven.

④ Slice the onion, remove the skin and seeds, and slice the apple thinly.

⑤ Put oil in another pan and fry the onions and apples until light brown while the meat is fully cooked.

⑥ When the meat is fully cooked, take it out, slice it to an appropriate thickness, and add sautéed onions and apples.

Beet Onion Kimchi

- Ingredients: Water, roasted salt, vinegar, beet, pickled water, ginger syrup, vinegar, Cheongyang pepper

① Cut the onion four times.

② Make pickled water and pickle the cut onions in the pickling water for about a day (24 hours).

③ Do not throw away the pickled water, but make the soup by mixing the chopped ginger, vinegar, and Cheongyang pepper into half of the pickled water.

④ Soak the pickled onions in the prepared broth.

⑤ Eat after ripening for 24 hours.

So far, we have introduced seasonal ingredients and recipes for May that can help you maintain both diet and health. This weekend, how about practicing ‘making a healthy table’ with the recipe given by ‘Gonggam’? Have a happy May, boosting your stamina and improving your appetite with delicious seasonal food~