Collaboration in healthcare is a wonderful thing! This past spring, one of my colleagues Diana Endicott attended a major nephrology conference and came back with some wonderful resources. Attending conferences is always a great way to stay on top of the latest research and practice guidelines as well as to learn about practice in other regions. Sometimes there are unique and practical sessions that inspire us! Diana attended a session by a chef who is also a CKD patient and she got the chance to taste a few kidney friendly, vegetarian recipes. She brought me back a copy of the recipes to post on this blog since they were simply too good not to share! I contacted Chef Duane Sunwold (www.dinnerwithduane.com) and he was very pleased to give me permission to share these recipes.
Thanks to both Diana and Duane!
Questions about vegetarianism and kidney disease are very common but rarely have a simple answer. Choosing a vegetarian lifestyle with kidney disease takes careful planning. If you need to limit your potassium or increase your protein levels a vegetarian diet is best done in consultation with your dietitian who can tailor the diet to your specific needs. But even if you have no desire to be a vegetarian these recipes are a delightful way to enjoy some of the fresh vegetables available right now. Diana tells me she enjoyed all of these recipes.
Here’s what she had to say:
“I tried all three recipes and I really enjoyed all of them, especially the soups.”
“The roasting of the veggies really brings a unique and delicious flavour to the stock.”
“French onion soup is one of my favourites, and this recipe did not let me down. I think using the red onions added a lovely sweetness and I swear I could taste the cognac??!!”
“Finally, the Roasted Onion Garlic Pizza carried the same theme of flavours and was a nice accompaniment to the soup.”
“I hope your readers enjoy these recipes.”
Bon Appetit! Click here to download the recipes (pdf)
Hello! I want to make renal friendly French onion soup with a no-sodium added beef broth, no alcohol ingredients and a topper of melted cheese (possibly Swiss for lower sodium content?). Can you tell me how modifying the collaboration recipe in this way would change its nutritional values? Thanks.
Thanks for your question! I’ll ask our dietitian team and get back to you!
From our dietitian team: French onion soup is very high is salt because of the broth, cheese, croutons and butter used to fry the onions in. Reducing the salt from the broth by using no sodium added will remove 850mg of sodium per 250ml serving. The remaining salt content depends on the recipe and the ingredients you choose. A soup would be considered low salt if the salt content is less than 200mg per serving. Sounds like you are off to a great start.