Contents
- 1 Benefits of omelette with onions and potatoes
- 1.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF A SPANISH OMELETTE
- 1.2 What is a Spanish omelette and what are its benefits?
- 1.3 Spanish omelette or potato omelette…
- 1.4 Does the Spanish omelette have a lot of calories?
- 1.5 Whom is a Spanish omelette suitable for?
- 1.6 Nutritional value of Spanish omelette
- 1.7 Better with onions, or without onions?
Benefits of omelette with onions and potatoes
CHARACTERISTICS OF A SPANISH OMELETTE
What is a Spanish omelette and what are its benefits?
A Spanish omelette (= omelet) or “tortilla” is a traditional recipe that consists of a potato base, sometimes also an onion, which is curdled with beaten eggs. It is cooked with virgin olive oil, salt is added and sometimes spices and aromatic herbs.
It is a very healthy preparation, because all the ingredients it contains have a good nutritional value. Few dishes are so universal, simple, nutritious and as rich as a potato omelette.
See below what nutrients it contributes, if it has really many calories, how it is better to cook it and what are its health benefits.
Spanish omelette or potato omelette…
Spanish omelette with potatoes and onion
As a curiosity, in many countries tortillas are a kind of round cakes that are prepared with flour. On the other hand, what is called tortilla in Spain is called omelette in other Spanish-speaking countries.
Does the Spanish omelette have a lot of calories?
In this recipe, the nutritional value varies enormously depending on the cook, especially since some fry the potatoes, and others cook them on a slower fire and with less oil.
The most advisable thing would be to avoid making the tortilla by frying the potatoes, without bathing them in oil, which takes a little longer, but it is much better in many aspects. The tortilla made with a lot of oil is usually quite indigestible. Instead, cooked more smoothly, with less oil and aromatic herbs, it is equally rich and is more digestive and nutritious. Healthy is not incompatible with tasty!
Whom is a Spanish omelette suitable for?
After the study of various types of diet therapy, it is found that this simple recipe is actually one of the best tolerated for everyone, for example in protocols for autoimmune diets, people who can not eat gluten, etc.
It is also suitable for children, adults and the elderly, in vegetarian diet, …, it is a good option to take a picnic in nature, etc.
Many studies have proven how people who eat eggs every day do not have their cholesterol levels elevated. It is a myth that the egg is bad for cardiovascular health.
Nutritional value of Spanish omelette
In general, a potato omelet is a very complete recipe because it provides:
- Energy of good quality, from healthy foods, such as carbohydrates (starches) from potatoes, and healthy fats from the oil.
- Proteins, so they are those proteins the egg contributes. At this point it is always worth mentioning that the belief that the egg is bad for people with cholesterol is false.
- Fiber: The potato starch is very good for the intestinal flora, due to its high fermentative capacity (powerful prebiotic effect), especially if it is cooled and consumed the next day (more information of how to make potatoes more prebiotic).
- Vitamins: We must highlight its content in group B vitamins (including B12) and that it contains a lot of choline (the egg is the richest food) and a lot of vitamin A.
- Minerals: It contributes a lot of sodium (mainly because sometimes too much salt is added), but at the same time it is slightly compensated by the high potassium content of potatoes (therefore it has a good sodium-potassium balance). It also contains a lot of magnesium, mainly from potatoes, and a little iron, from the egg (Did you know that eggs have more iron than chicken? (See tables).
Better with onions, or without onions?
Onion adds more creaminess and sweetness to the tortilla, but adding it or not depends, above all, on individual tastes. At the level of nutrients, onion has virtually no calories and provides a large amount of quercetin, which is a powerful antioxidant.
In addition, cooking the onion with oil is a culinary method of perfect extraction, since the quercetin is impregnated in the oil and thus it is possible to increase its absorption. This is also one of the reasons why stir-frying or “sofrito” is so healthy. ( See sofrito properties and benefits)
*See more: Recipe of omelette with onions and potatoes
More information on onions recipes, their nutritional values and medicinal properties.
