There is a lot of sugar at Easter – all those chocolate eggs, chocolate easter bunnies, all the cakes and buns for dessert. So, let’s have a look at some diabetes Easter recipes for avoiding sugar rushes.
Of course, with diabetes you can often eat whatever you want. And who doesn’t want a sweet chocolate egg for Easter?
At the same time, high-carb foods can sometimes send blood sugar levels all over the place. So, if you happen to be looking for something to eat at Easter that is kinder to blood sugar levels and general health, we’ve got a couple of recipes.
We already have a recipe for an Easter dessert here. So, here come the savoury diabetes Easter recipes: devilled eggs and vegan asparagus tartlets.
Devilled eggs
Having used a British traditional food in our last diabetes Easter recipe post, we’re now looking to Denmark (which is where we’re based).
In Scandinavia, most holiday meals are celebrated with a kind of buffet, with smaller pieces of food to collect on your plate. These will include various slices of smoked fish and ham – these are helpful for blood sugar control since they likely will contain negligible carbs.
However, if you want something slightly more personalised than slices of meat, you could try a common Danish Easter fare: devilled eggs.
In the answer to “can a person with diabetes eat eggs?”, we pointed out that eggs also have negligible carbs. So, the only part of this recipe that might otherwise raise blood sugar is the stuffing.
The stuffing in devilled eggs often contains mayonnaise. As detailed in “What foods to Avoid with Diabetes”, mayonnaise’s (usually) saturated fats may not be the best for a person’s diet – for the sake of avoiding cardiovascular issues.
In place of mayonnaise, we’re using Greek yoghurt. Can a person with diabetes eat yoghurt? Yes, of course! Indeed, natural Greek-style yoghurt usually doesn’t have too many carbs, while also being gut-healthy.
The mustard, too, does not need to have carbs. It all depends on the type of mustard – check if the mustard has added sugar. We’re going for Dijon mustard – which doesn’t usually have carbs – but other types of mustard without carbs can be found, such as stoneground/wholegrain mustard.
So, let’s get started with our alternative devilled eggs!
Ingredients:
Eggs – as many as you want!
Greek yoghurt – medium-sized pot
Dijon mustard – one jar/container (any leftover mustard can be used for other food)
Lemon juice – a few drops
Smoked paprika – to taste
Cayenne pepper – to taste
Chopped chives
Directions:
1. Boil the eggs. You can find instructions on this in our Diabetes Recipes post.
2. Let the eggs cool and peel them. Cut the boiled eggs in half and spoon the egg yolks into a bowl.
3. Mash the egg yolks with a fork.
4. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl, adding enough as you see fit for the number of eggs you’ll be serving. If you make too little, you can always add more. Mix the ingredients together.
5. Spoon the mixture into the hollowed-out egg halves. If you want to make this extra pretty, you can use a piping bag to place the mixture into the eggs, but this isn’t necessary.
6. Sprinkle the chopped chives over the eggs.
There you have some devilishly healthy devilled eggs!
Danish tip: Want eggier eggs? Try adding lumpfish roe (a kind of alternative to caviar) to the mixture, since these will be in season during Easter in Denmark!
Do you like this recipe and think you might eat it again? You can add your own food items to Hedia’s food database to make your future carb and insulin calculations easier! Try it at the App Store or Google Play!
Vegan Asparagus Tartlets
For the second diabetes easter recipe: tartlets or mini-tarts (tarteletter). They are also a common sight at the Danish Easter buffet, and provide a relief from all the egg-based foods.
If you want meat in this, you can add it to the recipe – chicken is the traditional addition. We’re going for the vegan option of asparagus (asparagus is also traditional in tarteletter).
This recipe uses almond flour, which has significantly fewer carbs than wheat flour. Of course, wheat flour works too – in which case, you might want a more wholegrain wheat flour, since it will probably be more nutritious whilst slowing down the blood sugar rise with its high fibre.
We’re swapping the dairy products for plant-based ones, since the fat in plant-based milk and butter (i.e. margarine) will, usually, provide you with more polyunsaturated fats, reducing the number of saturated fats, as suggested by Heart Foundation.
Meanwhile, the carb content of dairy milk can be reduced by swapping it for a lower carb alternative like soy milk or almond milk. In this case, we’re going for almond milk to match the almond flour.
Here goes the vegan asparagus tartlet recipe!
Serves: 6
Ingredients for the tartlet crust:
Almond flour – 240g
Margarine/vegan butter – 120g, and some more for greasing
Mustard powder – ¼ teaspoon
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Cold water – 5 tablespoons
(You’ll also need tart tins)
Ingredients for the tartlet filling:
Almond flour – 7 tablespoons
Margarine/vegan butter – 60g
Almond milk – 3 dl
Water – 3 dl
Asparagus – 220g
Parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Mix the tartlet crust ingredients together, ideally in a food processor. This can also be done by mixing together by using hands.
2. Form the mixed ingredients into one ball and refrigerate for 30 mins.
3. Grease the tart tins with margarine/vegan butter (or oil, if you prefer).
4. Use a rolling pin to roll out the refrigerated dough to a thickness of about 3mm. Cut the dough into circles to press into the tart tins.
5. Prick the dough in several places with a fork and refrigerate for 30 mins. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
6. Bake for about 15 mins.
7. Boil the asparagus and cut into smaller pieces (small enough to fit in the tartlets).
8. In a saucepan, melt the margarine/vegan butter on a medium heat.
9. Add the flour to the saucepan and whisk together. Then add the remaining filling ingredients, mixing it all together.
10. Let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes, making sure you stir it from time to time.
11. Pour the filling into the tartlets.
12. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the tartlets.
Now the tartlets are ready for your Easter buffet!
An Easter that Works for you
Have the carbs you want during the holidays, but these healthy diabetes Easter recipes will hopefully make it somewhat easier to be in control of how food affects you.
With homemade food, you at least know exactly what you’re eating. You’ll also have an idea of how many carbs are in the food. How do you count carbs in homemade food? Find out here!
Find other ways to stay in control of your diabetes by letting Hedia assist you in your calculations, along with insulin and carb recommendations, a food database, a logbook, and more!
Use Hedia for free by downloading it from the App Store or Google Play!
