Georgian Food with a GI Twist

In the Timothy Ferriss GI diet there are 3 groups of foods you're allowed to eat. They are:

• Protein (meat, fish, eggs and nuts)
• Legumes (beans and lentils)
• Vegetables (all non root vegetables, but no fruit)

As I've said before I figured out that Georgian or Armenian food should be the best match to GI-adapt since it contains lots of beans, veggies and nuts in itself.

Now, I haven't ever been to Georgia or Armenia but my source of Georgian/Armenian food is the book "Please to the Table - The Russian Cookbook" by Anya Bremzen. It has recipes for food from all over the former Soviet Union Territory and it's a must if you're into home based culinary travel. At least I haven't come across i.e. Uzbek and Thadjik recipes anywhere else.

The first recipes I tried out were Beef Shishkebabs, Green Bean and Walnut Salad and Garlicky Cheese Spread.

The shishkebabs were marinated in red wine with grated onion and garlic.
A close up:

The green beans were bathing in a dressing made with ground walnuts, lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, chopped onions and cilantro.

And, finally, the cheese spread. This one was really good. It's supposed to be based on a mix of farmers cheese (whatever that is) and yoghurt, but since cottage cheese is the only dairy product allowed in my diet, cottage cheese it what I used. I'm including my recipe of this one.

Garlicy Cheese Spread

1 cup cottage cheese
3 tablespoons walnuts
1 tablespoon parsley
1 clove of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste.

Run everything in a blender until smooth.