Crunchy Couscous Salad, NE NephCure Meeting

Here is a light summer salad I made for the kidney-friendly pot luck buffet we had during a recent NephCure New England Chapter support meeting.  Several parents and families came together for conversation, support, and to hear valuable information from an experienced renal dietitian from Children's Hospital. While my daughter is still in remission* and isn't on a special diet anymore (she was on a reduced sodium diet for two years, although we still watch her sodium intake), there's always something helpful to learn and I like to stay connected with NephCure and the families I have met over the past few years.

When we have these pot luck dinners I love to make a recipe from the DaVita website, a great resource for kidney patients and their families with kidney-friendly recipes and nutritional information.

Crunchy Couscous Salad
Recipe by Carol, a DaVita dietitian. Click here for their printable version.

1/2 cup dry couscous
3/4 cup water

Mixture
1 cup cucumbers, thinly sliced and quartered (I used the English variety)
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup sweet onion, chopped
2 tablespoon black olives, chopped (I used pitted Kalamata olives)
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Dressing
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine or unseasoned rice vinegar (I used unseasoned rice vinegar)
2 tablespoons feta cheese crumbles (I looked for the lowest-sodium)
1-1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt (I omitted due to the sodium in the feta cheese and olives)
1/4 teaspoon pepper (I used a few turns of the pepper mill)
Juice of half a lemon (my addition to the recipe)

I started with the couscous because it needs time to cool before adding the other ingredients.  In a medium sauce pan, bring water up to a boil. Remove from heat and add couscous. After about 5 minutes and all the water is absorbed, turn couscous into a large bowl and fluff with a fork. Let cool.

Next, I made the dressing so flavors would start building while I made the mixture. Simply combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

Prepare ingredients for mixture and to the cooled couscous (fluff up some more and if not cool wait a few more minutes). Mix in dressing. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving. I thought it needed a little lemon so I squeezed juice of half a lemon over the salad.

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Nutrients per serving (my version might be a little different since I used Kalamata olives and lemon and omitted salt): Calories 121, protein, 3 g, carbohydrate 14 g, fat 6 g, cholesterol 4 mg, sodium 167 mg, potassium 105 mg, phosphorus 51 mg, calcium 47 mg, fiber 1.4 g

Renal and renal diabetic food choices: 1 vegetable, low potassium, 1/2 starch, 1 fat

Diet Types: CKD non-dialysis, dialysis, diabetes

Patients: Always check with your dietitian or nephrologist.

For more nutritional and helpful links for renal patients and families that the dietitian provided at our meeting click here.

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*Yes! My daughter is still in remission (she was diagnosed with FSGS Syndrome in February 2008 and has been in remission since February 2010). We received the good news yesterday from her nephrologist. Given her continued remarkable lab results, we are again reducing her Prograf, an immunosuppressant, by another 1 milligram. It's great news but any changes in her medication, even this tiny amount, could cause relapse so we'll be closely monitoring her protein level.

Chicken, Bean, Vegetable Soup And National Kidney Awareness Month

March is National Kidney Awareness Month.  So why did I tie this soup to National Kidney Awareness Month? Because I made it for my daughter the other day when she didn't feel well. Several hours after getting a fever, she was in excruciating pain with an earache and it wasn't long before we were driving her to urgent care. She has FSGS, a chronic severe kidney disease. Thankfully, she is in clinical remission (with medication). But whenever she gets this sick I worry about relapse.

Ear infections worry me the most because she was diagnosed with FSGS three years ago shortly after she had a horrible, resistant ear infection. Doctors don't know what causes FSGS and don't know if the ear infection had anything to do with it. When there isn't an underlying disease, they believe FSGS is auto-immune based. Naturally, when she was first diagnosed I was searching for answers. I remember thinking, maybe, that infection derailed her immune system.

It also happens to be World Kidney Day. So before I forget about this basic but healthy soup I made the other day, I thought I'd share it today. After all, her kidney disease is mostly the reason for starting my blog. It changed the way we think about food. Food was the only way I could help her other than making sure she took her medicine. We always ate well - I love to cook. But I admit we had some processed foods around. Now, we try darn hard to eat mostly organic fresh food every day. It isn't easy. The food I make doesn't always look fancy. But we are surely nourished.

To make this chicken soup, I broiled chicken thighs in the oven until done.  I broiled it because if I boiled it, the stock would have been fatty (needing refrigerating and skimming) and I wanted to serve the soup right away. Dark meat is good but it's supposedly more nutritious than white meat (plus it's what I had at the time).  I added water for moisture and seasoned the chicken with Mrs. Dash Onion & Herb seasoning.  I learned about Mrs. Dash seasonings when she was placed on a low-sodium diet three years ago.  I use it sometimes for quick flavor. Dried Italian seasoning or herbs de Provence would work well instead.

I cut the chicken into bite size pieces and shredded a little with a fork.

I added what I thought looked like a good amount of chicken to one quart of low-sodium chicken stock, with some frozen peas, frozen corn, and a can of drained no-salt cannellini beans, her favorite (things I usually keep for on hand).  Other vegetables would work, like: broccoli, cauliflower, chopped string beans or asparagus. I cooked the vegetables until just tender and while they still had their color.  I added about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon and, just before serving, some chopped fresh parsley.

I served the soup on a tray with fresh fruit and lots of love!

Here is a link I like to superfoods for healthy kidneys:  http://www.yourkidneys.com/kidney-education/Diet-and-nutrition/15-super-foods-for-kidney-health/2924

www.nephcure.org