Ghada Al Habib, manager of clinical nutrition services, and Dr. Basem Futa, nutritional advisor, from Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia share their thoughts on plant-forward menus and their recipe for baked vegetable samboosas.
Why is plant-forward a priority for your facility?
Our regional health care facility is working to promote plant-based dishes to reduce the risks of many non-communicable diseases mainly obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and hypertension. We aim to encourage the Saudi population to continue its journey towards consuming healthy foods that are available in all seasons, locally produced, and economical.
Why did you choose to make this recipe?
Baked vegetable samboosas are popular in the Gulf Region and is part of Middle Eastern Cuisine.
The puffy savory pastries are made with whole wheat flour dough and stuffed with sauteed green peppers, carrots, garlic, onion, and green peas seasoned with coriander, ginger, and cumin. They can be served with salad, low fat or nonfat yogurt or laban to complete the meal. The combination of the ingredients enhances the quality of the dish including its taste and flavor.
Vegetable samboosas are appropriate for vegetarians and can be consumed at lunch or dinner meals, or for a snack.
Samboosas are traditionally fried. It is healthier to bake it than fry it in order to reduce the calories and fat contents. Two fried samboosas have 400 calories while if baked, they have 140 calories.
There is a high prevalence of obesity and diabetes among the Kingdom’s population. This dish perfectly fits the diet plans for low-caloric regimens and diabetes and cardiac diet plans.
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In addition to this, baked vegetable samboosas are favored by children, students at schools, pregnant and lactating women, and older adults.
The ingredients are available locally in all seasons. They are sustainably grown and support our local economy. The local farmers are satisfied that the ingredients they produced are used for this dish.
This dish is appropriate for individual and family budgets, as it is very economical.
The dish is very inspiring to us and is part of our healthy beliefs. It reflects the strategic goals of JHAH in its promotion of healthy food items that contribute to the community’s well-being. The dish inspires us to continue promoting plant-based cuisine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Plant-Forward Future is here
Practice Greenhealth, Health Care Without Harm, and our partners curated resources that will help health care facilities set a plant-forward goal, create and market these dishes, and track their progress.