The Tour de France begins next month, or as I call it, “Christmas in July.” It’s by far my favorite sporting event of the year. I love the Tour with a passion.
I’m also endlessly fascinated by what the cyclists eat; Tour riders consume between 6,000-10,000 calories a day (insane), with about 70% of calories from carbs, 15% from protein, and 15% from fat. Carbs are a cyclist’s friend — no Atkins Diet for these guys.
So I was pretty surprised to read a recent article about Christian Vande Velde (fifth-place in last year’s Tour), and his switch to a low-gluten diet, cutting out bread, pastas and flours. Lucky for Vande Velde, his wife is a chef; in the article, she shares a few of her low-gluten recipes, including Christian’s favorite rice pudding.
I tried it out and it’s really easy to make — kind of like risotto in that it requires a good deal of stirring. Here’s what you need:
3 cups nonfat milk
1/2 cup Arborio rice
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup sugar
2-3 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
cinnamon (optional)
Combine the milk, rice, raisins and sugar in a bowl and bring to a boil, stirring.
Reduce the heat to low and, stirring frequently, simmer uncovered until the rice is soft and creamy. The recipe said about 20-25 minutes, but for me it took more like 35 minutes.
Add in the lemon zest, vanilla extract and salt, and take off the heat. The pudding can be served either warm or cold.
I like it warm, and gave it a dusting of cinnamon.
Mmm, so creamy, and the raisins get all nice and soft. Next time I’ll use less sugar — I prefer my desserts to be under-sweetened — and a little less lemon zest.
Look for Christian Vande Velde and his rice pudding in July. We may never ride like Tour de France cyclists, but we can eat like them. Well, sort of. I don’t know that I’m up for 10,000 calories.
Rice Pudding Fit for a Tour de France Cyclist
The Tour de France begins next month, or as I call it, “Christmas in July.” It’s by far my favorite sporting event of the year. I love the Tour with a passion.
I’m also endlessly fascinated by what the cyclists eat; Tour riders consume between 6,000-10,000 calories a day (insane), with about 70% of calories from carbs, 15% from protein, and 15% from fat. Carbs are a cyclist’s friend — no Atkins Diet for these guys.
So I was pretty surprised to read a recent article about Christian Vande Velde (fifth-place in last year’s Tour), and his switch to a low-gluten diet, cutting out bread, pastas and flours. Lucky for Vande Velde, his wife is a chef; in the article, she shares a few of her low-gluten recipes, including Christian’s favorite rice pudding.
I tried it out and it’s really easy to make — kind of like risotto in that it requires a good deal of stirring. Here’s what you need:
3 cups nonfat milk
1/2 cup Arborio rice
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup sugar
2-3 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
cinnamon (optional)
Combine the milk, rice, raisins and sugar in a bowl and bring to a boil, stirring.
Reduce the heat to low and, stirring frequently, simmer uncovered until the rice is soft and creamy. The recipe said about 20-25 minutes, but for me it took more like 35 minutes.
Add in the lemon zest, vanilla extract and salt, and take off the heat. The pudding can be served either warm or cold.
I like it warm, and gave it a dusting of cinnamon.
Mmm, so creamy, and the raisins get all nice and soft. Next time I’ll use less sugar — I prefer my desserts to be under-sweetened — and a little less lemon zest.
Look for Christian Vande Velde and his rice pudding in July. We may never ride like Tour de France cyclists, but we can eat like them. Well, sort of. I don’t know that I’m up for 10,000 calories.