Breads in India are the ultimate breakfast option for all. It is easy to put together a quick snack with bread which is filling enough to keep your hunger at bay for a couple of hours. The humble bread is versatile enough to be used to make an appetizer, main dish, tea-time snacks and even desserts. The kind of bread used for these depends on the type – regular white, whole wheat, brown, atta, multi-grain, etc. Each bread in India type comes with its own set of benefits, from taste to nutrition.
In today’s time, where having good, tasty, nutritious food is a rarity, questions often pop up about how one can make their meals with breads tasty as well as nutritious. Most of the solutions lie in the additions you are making to your bread-based snack – the kind of veggies, condiments, meats, if any; they bring in their own value. Renowned bread brands like Modern always strive to add nutrition to its bread hence the breads are enriched with nutrients ensured by various ingredients such as oats, flax, milk etc. While pairing your bread snacks with leafy vegetables is one of the most common ways to make your bread meal healthy and tasty, let’s have a look at other ways to make your bread based foods loaded with nutrition and keeping the taste on point:
- Follow the right cooking practices:
Along with ingredients, cooking methods also have a role to play in preserving the nutrients and making the food more than what it is. Cooking with the pressure cooker, steamer, microwave oven and light stir-frying are best methods of cooking as they affect the nutrients the least. Avoid frying your food as much as possible. Use these methods to prep your sandwich filling to retain the food nutrients at its maximum.
- Make your own spreads at home:
Most of us love to pair our breads with different spreads and sauces to enhance the taste. Most of the store-brought condiments come with preservatives that are high in sodium – a mineral that can raise blood pressure. You can make your own sauces at home using tomatoes & garlic (for marinara or ketchup), eggs (for mayonnaise), cottage cheese (for cream cheese), basil (for pesto). Season it accordingly to give yourself delicious spreads that are absolutely fresh in taste and don’t have any of unnecessary ingredients. Whole wheat bread brands in India have an exciting range of products that will be a perfect match for your spreads.
- Large veggie slices are preferable:
With sandwiches, chopping vegetables into small pieces is a popular practice. But did you know they start losing their vitamins and minerals on exposure to air? The smaller you chop your veggies, the quicker you lose your nutrients. Keep the slices as large as possible before cooking them and serving them with bread.
- Serve fresh:
Whether you’re making a sandwich or following a bread upma recipe, buttered slices or even shahi tukda, food is best served as soon as it is made. This reduces the loss of nutrients as well as taste, as expected when food is stored to be eaten later. Even with the most vitamin-rich foods lose their value slowly with constant exposure to air. So eat your breads fresh!