QUOTE (WhataJoke @ May 5, 2008 - 12:27 PM)
From Mark's Blog! I didn't even know he had one!
"An Entree for 4 people with a $10 budget--I actually asked if we could shop at a bodega as opposed to Wholefoods just to give us a fighting chance, but no luck. I suggest we rename Wholefoods- "Wholepaycheck"; simply because it's an expensive place to shop and unless I win the lottery, I will continue to shop at my local green market.
A vegetable curry is my go-to for a cheap and easy-to-make meal. I love that dish and stand by it. The judges commented on lack of protein, but the truth is the rice counteracts the lack of vegetable protein as it contains essential amino acids, and thereby creating a complete meal.
I tlooks to me like they deliberately left out the fact that Mark used rice to give formulate the protien argument.
I assume that you highlighted that for a reason. Well, here's a highlight:
But there’s a big problem with white rice. The majority of the nutrients in the rice kernel are in the layers that are removed. What’s left is mostly starch. As refined rice is 81%-83% carbohydrates, it’s considered a high energy food. But on the flip side of this, many of the nutrients needed for correct digestion of white rice were removed during the milling process which forces the body to 'steal' from it’s reserves to digest it. Compared to brown rice, white rice’s nutrients have been greatly reduced in fatty acids, fiber (which is already low in brown rice compared to some of the other grains), vitamin E, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folacin, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc and copper. The amino acids remain relatively unchanged.
http://waltonfeed.com/self/rice.htmlBecause of the importance of consuming proteins that provide all of the necessary amino acids, dietary proteins are considered to belong to two different groups, depending on the amino acids they provide. Complete proteins, which constitute the first group, contain ample amounts of all of the essential amino acids. These proteins are found in meat, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs, and milk. Incomplete proteins, which constitute the second group, contain only some of the essential amino acids. These proteins are found in a variety of foods, including grains, legumes, and leafy green vegetables.Although it is important to consume the full range of amino acids, both essential and nonessential, it is not necessary to get them from meat, fish, poultry, and other complete-protein foods. In fact, because of their high fat content-as well as the use of antibiotics and other chemicals in the raising of poultry and cattle-most of those foods should be eaten in moderation. Fortunately, the dietary strategy called mutual supplementation enables you to combine partial-protein foods to make complementary protein-proteins that supply adequate amounts of all the essential amino acids. For instance, although beans and brown rice are both quite rich in protein, each lacks one or more of the necessary amino acids. However, when you combine beans and brown rice with each other, or when you combine either one with any of a number of protein-rich foods, you form a complete protein that is a high-quality substitute for meat.
http://1stholistic.com/Nutrition/hol_nutr_protein.htm
So, once again, all he had to do was add a few beans and he would have been fine. He made up for some of the vitamins and minerals stripped from the rice by using sweet potatoes.
In fairness, I was able to find a producer of white rice that claims that rice has all 8 essential amino acids. Which is fine except that there are, for all practical purposes 10 (two have been added to the list of necessary amino acids, one of which is considered "essential" for children). And rice is seriously lacking in at least two of the "classical 8") amino acids. Remember that you have to not only have the amino acids present, but you have to have sufficient quantities to be useful.
That's why you add legumes or meat proteins to "round out" the protein in rice, and why you need a source of vitamins and minerals (like the sweet potato) to fill in what milling takes away in the case of white rice.
Finally, the percentage is protein vs. caloric content of white rice is far lower than for most beans. So, while there's protein present, it's not of the quantity that you'll find in other forms of protein. That's why you find in rice eating cultures that they combine rice with meat or bean proteins. They don't generally just eat rice with veggies. India is a good example. They have their share of vegetarians, and they don't put beans in their curries generally. But they serve their lentils and such as a side dish. And beans by themselves aren't "a complete meal" either, even when combined with something as "nutritious" as sweet potatoes or other veggies. It's only nutritious up to a point.
Just having all 8 "classically essential" amino acids doesn't make a food a complete meal either. Milk has all 8 of them as well (as does a nice thick ribeye steak). But no one says that a glass of milk is a "nutritious meal", even though it's chock-a-block full of vitamins and minerals as well. The key word is "balanced".
to win baby!!!
