Recipe reproduced with permission from Glenda Bishop. Glenda is a Registered Nutritionist, wellness coach, neuroscientist and educator.

Green vegetables are one of the veggies that many people dislike and so don’t eat enough of. But there’s some simple ways to add flavour to greens, making them more enjoyable so you’ll want to eat them more often. And this is one of my favourite ways... Steamed Greens with Dukkah and Lemon.

This recipe is ridiculously easy to prepare, making it one of the simplest side dishes to cook. All you need to do is steam the green veggies until they’re just cooked, splash on a little olive oil, then sprinkle with dukkah and lemon. So much flavour with so little effort!

But, you may be wondering about a few of the veggies that I’ve used here, since some are moderateFODMAP choices. Let's look at them:

• Snow peas or mange tout. Snow peas are moderate in FODMAPs so you can’t have a lot of them, but they are low FODMAP at a serve of 17g or 5 small pods. In a dish like this with the snow peas tossed through it, I chop them into pieces so they’ll spread evenly amongst the other ingredients.

• Broccolini, which I’ve used whole. Whole broccolini is low FODMAP at a serve of 1/2 cup or 45g. You can either keep them whole or chop them into pieces.

• Green beans, rocket (arugula) and baby spinach. These are all low FODMAP at reasonable serves.

This side dish is excellent served with all sorts of meals, including simply cooked fish or meat. But it also makes an excellent dish to add to a celebratory table. I originally created this dish many years ago for a Christmas table, since its stunning colours can lift any table of food. But after I realised how easy it was to make, I knew it would be perfect on any day of the year.

So how about making Steamed Greens with Dukkah and Lemon. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them as much as I do and they’ll have you wanting to eat your greens more often.

Steamed Greens with Dukkah and Lemon

Makes: 4 serves

Serving size: 1/4 of the recipe

Special equipment: a steamer insert or basket for the saucepan

Ingredients

To make the dukkah mix (note: this makes approx. twice the amount you will need for the greens)

• 25g dry roasted almonds (with skin still on)

• 1 tbsp (12.5 g) black sesame seeds

• 1 1/2 tsp (5 g) ground cumin

• 1 1/2 tsp (5 g) ground coriander

• 2 tsp (11g) ground sumac

• 1/8 tsp iodised salt

For the greens:

• 230g green beans

• 65g snow peas (mange tout)

• 160g broccolini (1 bunch)

• Large handful of rocket (arugula)

• Large handful of baby spinach

• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

• 25g dry roasted almonds (with skin still on

• Lemon wedges

Instructions

1. Use a food processor to finely chop the almonds (or you can chop the nuts finely with a heavy knife if you don’t have a food processor). Tip the chopped nuts into a small bowl.

2. Add the sesame seeds and spices to the nuts and mix thoroughly.

3. Store in an airtight glass jar or plastic container. You will need 4 tsp of this mix to season the greens. See serving notes for ideas on how to use the remaining dukkah.

4. Wash and trim the green beans, snow peas and broccolini. Chop the snow peas into 1 inch (2.5 cm pieces). Steam the vegetables for about 5 minutes or until just softened.

5. Grab a big plate. Arrange the rocket and spinach on the plate, top with the steamed veggies. Then drizzle over the olive oil, sprinkle with 4 tsp of the dukkah, and squeeze a wedge of lemon over the veggies.

6. Just before serving, toss the veggies as you would a salad to make sure that it’s all mixed up.

Serving ideas for the dukkah:

• Use as a crust on meat by sprinkling 1 tsp over each serving of meat and pressing the dukkah into the surface of the meat so it sticks. Then pan-fry the meat or cook as desired.It goes really well with chicken or lamb.

• Dip low FODMAP bread into the dukkah after first dipping the bread into extra virgin olive oil.

• Experiment by sprinkling a teaspoon or so over any meal that looks a bit bland. It’s an excellent way to add a boost to soups or salads that seem a bit ordinary.

Ingredient notes:

• Based on the recommended portion sizes of individual ingredients in the Monash University Low FODMAP Diet app at the time of publication, this recipe should be low FODMAP provided that the recommended serving size for this recipe is not exceeded.

• Snow peas are low FODMAP at serves of 17g; broccolini is low FODMAP at serves of 45g.This recipe will meet these serving sizes of snow peas and broccolini, provided that you don’t eat more than 1/4 of the recipe (which should be more than enough anyway).

• Even though the dukkah contains almonds, the amount per serving in this recipe would equal about 1/2 tsp of almonds per serve.

• This recipe is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. However, if you have an allergy to any of these items, or have coeliac disease, please check the labels on any purchased ingredients to ensure they are safe for your requirements.

Rachel is a university qualified Clinical Nutritionist based in Balmain.  She is also the busy working mum of two teenagers, so is practical and realistic with her advice . Rachel offers private consultations to improve your family's health and well-being. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram for more healthy tips and tricks. 

If you'd like help implementing a low FODMAP diet I can help you.  Find out more about my services here. If you’re after more delicious low FODMAP recipes go here.

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