Category: Recipes

Categories
Recipes

Chicken & Chorizo Paella

Rice is a staple food for the low fodmap diet. Naturally gluten free, and incredibly versatile. Before starting this diet, I used to make this paella all the time, and you know what? I still do! The only real change I made was to remove the fresh onion.

For a long time, I omitted the chorizo as well. I couldn’t find a garlic free version anywhere. Then a few months ago I found this in Marks & Spencer…

All the other options had garlic in, but for some reason, this one doesn’t. I’m not complaining! And it’s all cut up for you already so what’s not to love!

If you don’t live near an M&S then something else to bear in mind is that Monash recently tested chorizo and stated that while some brands tested contained small amounts of garlic/onion, most people should be ok sticking to a green serving of 60g. I never eat that much in one sitting, but am very sensitive to garlic, so prefer to stick with the M&S chorizo, but everyone is different, and it’s ultimately up to you to figure out what you can tolerate.

One last thing before I get to the recipe. Be patient. No matter what I do, rice seems to take longer to cook, and requires more water than stated on recipes, so if your rice is still a bit firm after all the stock has been sucked up, chuck in a bit of water and let it reduce down again. Other than that, this is a really easy dinner to make as you can just wander off and let the rice do its thing.

Eating out and going on holiday with IBS can be a bit of a nightmare, but this paella tastes as nice as any I’ve ever tried in Spain (if I do say so myself), so I never feel like I’m missing out.

Ingredients

  • 200g paella rice*
  • 1 chicken stock cube, made up to 600ml stock
  • 500g diced chicken
  • 100g diced chorizo
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 orange bell pepper
  • 100g green beans**
  • 2tsp smoked paprika
  • 2tsp turmeric
  • 1tbsp tomato puree
  • A small pinch of asafoetida***
  • 1tbsp garlic infused olive oil
  • Chives (as many as you like!)
  • Fresh tomatoes, for garnish (optional)
  • Lemon (or lime) wedges, to serve

Method

  1. Fry the chicken in the garlic infused oil. Throw in your turmeric and paprika at this point as it will stick to the chicken nicely.
  2. Once the edges of the chicken are cooked, add the peppers and beans. Fry for a couple of minutes to soften slightly. Don’t waste time here trying to fully cook the chicken and veggies because they will cook through whilst simmering in the stock later.
  3. Add the paella rice and stir everything so that the rice gets coated in the spices. The rice may get slightly stuck to the pan so keep it moving. Don’t skip this bit as you want the spices to cling to the rice as much as possible.
  4. After about two minutes, add in all the stock, the tomato puree, and the asafoetida. Make sure nothing is stuck to the pan, get the liquid under it, and then leave the whole thing to simmer on a medium heat for 10 minutes. No need to stir, just leave it alone.
  5. While the pan is simmering, fry your chorizo in a separate pan. No oil needed as chorizo releases a ton of it. You don’t have to cook the chorizo separately, and if you don’t want to, then you can add it to the main pan when you add the vegetables. For me, fat is a huge trigger so by cooking the chorizo separately, and then draining off as much of the oil as I can with some kitchen towel, I’m saving my gut and my waistline. I find adding the chorizo to the main pan results in A LOT of oil in the finished paella which tastes extremely rich and fatty, but if you prefer that, then cook it in the main pan. Entirely up to you.
  6. If this is your first time cooking rice in this way on your hob, I’d recommend keeping an eye on it. All hobs (and pans) are different so if the pan starts to boil too quickly, reduce the heat slightly as you don’t want the liquid to evaporate before the rice is cooked. If it’s not bubbling at all, turn it up a bit, because you’ll be waiting all night for your rice to cook. What you want for the paella is that after ten minutes, about two thirds of the liquid has been sucked up by the rice. The rice will probably still be hard at this point, but it’s a chance to check in and see if anything is getting stuck to the pan, or if the rice is still rock hard. Add extra water if required to get the rice soft (I have to do this almost every time) and give it about another five minutes.
  7. When the rice is soft, turn up the heat to evaporate any excess liquid (if it’s there). You’re looking for a texture similar to risotto for the finished product.
  8. Garnish with fresh tomatoes, chives, and squeeze over some fresh lemon if you like.

*If you don’t have paella rice, risotto rice is a good substitute. It’s definitely not the same, but will still taste delicious.

**I’ve swapped the beans for diced courgette before, and also green pepper when I’ve had nothing else. It’s to add colour really so play around with your favourite vegetables.

***Asafoetida is a low fodmap alternative to onion powder. It’s incredibly strong in smell and taste, so I don’t think you need to use very much. While it is low fodmap, it can leave you very gassy. I’m a prime example here, which is why I use it sparingly. If you can tolerate it well then go ahead and put in half a teaspoon or even a whole teaspoon, but just something to bear in mind if you’ve not tried it before.

Categories
Recipes

Aubergine Burgers

I don’t know about you, but I can’t find a single veggie burger in the supermarkets which is fodmap friendly! They’re all full of onion and garlic, or high quantities of lentils, or chickpeas. That sentence is basically just a condensed version of my trigger foods so I decided to make my own!

The first step was to choose a low fodmap vegetable that I could have in high enough quantities. The second was to find a protein and a way of adding some bulk and texture to the burger to avoid it being too mushy.

Oats are an excellent source of protein on the low fodmap diet. The Monash app states that 60g is a safe portion, and that you have to eat 100g before you hit the danger zone for fructans and GOS. 100g of oats is a lot. I struggle with 40g for a bowl of porridge because they’re so filling! You don’t need anywhere near 100g per serving for this recipe so it’s the perfect ingredient.

Aubergines get the green light up to 75g on Monash, and don’t hit the yellow light until 182g so whatever size aubergines you use, you should be ok. If you can’t tolerate sorbitol then reduce the quantity of aubergine and make it up with some sweet potato which also works well here, or swap out aubergine altogether.

These burgers are so versatile, and I’ve made the mixture into meatballs before as well. Just go with whatever you fancy. They freeze really well and, actually have a better texture after being frozen as the oats have had time to soak up the moisture from the aubergine and the flavours of the herbs.

It’s easy to make more than you need so you’ve got some for a quick dinner another night. Right now I have forty two aubergine meatballs in my freezer, and seven aubergine burgers. Whenever I do a batch, I double or triple it dependent on how many aubergines I have in the fridge.

Makes 6 burgers

Ingredients

  • 2 large aubergines
  • 200g porridge oats
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
  • Onion or garlic infused oil, to fry the aubergine in

Method

  1. Finely chop the aubergines. The smaller you chop, the quicker they’ll cook.
  2. Throw a good glug of your chosen infused oil into the pan and start to gently fry the aubergines. I find aubergines suck up oil like a sponge so either add more oil when this happens, or you can add a little water (as needed, don’t flood them, or they go quite mushy)
  3. Fry the aubergines gently for ten minutes, or until very soft. Set aside to cool.
  4. Weigh out your oats and as many fresh herbs as you’d like to use (above quantities are just a guideline based on my preference but you can chuck anything you want in here), and chuck it all into the food processor.
  5. Tip in the cooled aubergine and then pulse the mixture until the aubergines have lost their shape, and combined well with the oats and herbs. This usually takes a couple of minutes, and you need to stop and scrape the mixture down the sides dependent on the size of your food processor. The mixture will be thick and should be a little sticky as well.
  6. Wet your hands (the mixture will stick to you less if you do this), and begin to shape into meatballs or burgers. I use a burger press because I have one, to get perfectly round burgers, but it really doesn’t matter.
  7. When you’re done shaping, let the mixture rest for as long as you can. I often freeze it raw and come back to it another day, but you can cook it straight after you make it if you like, I just find the texture is better when the oats have had time to soften up.
  8. That’s pretty much it! Dependent on the size and shape of your burgers, I usually put them in the oven on about 180 degrees, for about twenty minutes. If it’s meatballs, they’ll be quicker, and you can fry them if you’d prefer. I find baking is easier as the mixture is soft and may fall apart easily if you’re moving it around a frying pan. But what you’re looking for is to seal the burgers with crispy edges on all sides, so no need to cook for ages, as the aubergine is already cooked.

Categories
Recipes

Spanish Tortilla

This is one of my favourite dinners to make, we probably have it nearly every week! It’s just really easy to make and add different flavour combinations and it makes me feel like I’m on holiday somewhere by the beach.

In my recipe, I use spiralised potatoes instead of slices. They cook much faster and are easier to spread around so that you get potato in every bite. It’s also very fun to use a spiraliser and it looks pretty at the end! If you don’t have a spiraliser and want to use traditional slices of potato, I’d recommed boiling them first until tender and then just sticking them straight in the frying pan.

Monash reckon chorizo is ok in small doses as the onion or garlic content is low enough not to worry about, but if, like me, you’re very sensitive to onion and garlic then I’d recommend Marks & Spencer diced chorizo (picture below) as it contains neither. It’s the only chorizo I’ve found that is completely safe. And if you’re vegetarian, then you don’t need to worry about adding it at all!

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 2 medium potatoes
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 65g chorizo, diced (optional, remove if vegetarian)
  • 2tsp smoked paprika
  • 1tsp dried oregano
  • Fresh chives
  • Padron peppers, to serve

Method

  1. Spiralise the potatoes, and finely chop the cores and ends.
  2. Fry the chorizo if using in a wide and deep frying pan until it releases its oil
  3. Transfer the chorizo onto a plate, and throw the potato into the pan coating it in the chorizo oil. If vegetarian, just add a good glug of your preferred oil. Add the pepper now too.
  4. Add the paprika and oregano, and stir the potatoes to coat them.
  5. Cook the potatoes on a medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the volume has reduced slightly and the potatoes are soft enough to eat.
  6. While you’re waiting for the potatoes, crack your eggs and beat them until combined.
  7. Add the chorizo back into the pan. Stir everything so that there is an even distribution of pepper and chorizo across the pan. Flatten down the potatoes and then pour the eggs over the top. Sprinkle over the chopped chives now
  8. Cook for a few minutes until the bottom of the egg mixture has set, and you can separate the tortilla from the edge or bottom of the pan slightly
  9. Before the bottom of the tortilla gets too brown, transfer the pan to the grill so that you can get the top nice and crispy.
  10. While the tortilla is crisping up under the grill, cook the padron peppers according to packet instructions (basically just cook in hot oil on a high heat until they start to blacken and blister).
  11. When the peppers are ready, sprinkle over some chunky sea salt. Rescue the tortilla from the grill before it burns, cut into wedges and enjoy!
Categories
Recipes

Moroccan Tagine

I went to Morocco with my dad back in 2013 and fell in love with the food. I love hot and spicy dishes, but tagines focus more on flavour than on heat, which makes them a great choice for anyone whose IBS is triggered by chilli and spice. It also means that you can take out the onion and garlic, and you don’t miss it at all, because there’s so much going on already.

Another benefit is that Moroccan cuisine often contains turmeric, ginger, or mint, all of which are fantastic for your gut health. I’ve used all three in this recipe. It was in Morocco that I tried mint tea for the first time, not knowing then how heavily I would come to rely on it in years to come.

A tagine is actually a conical shaped cooking pot used in Morocco to prepare the dish, so in actual fact, I can’t really call this a tagine as I made it in the frying pan! I’ve no idea what else I’d call it though, so we’ll stick with tagine for now.

This recipe is also great in the slow cooker, I’ve made it countless times over the winter, but it’s a little hot right for having a cooker going for eight hours! If you want to adapt this for the slow cooker (which I’d highly recommend as it makes the meat incredibly tender), then reduce the stock to 150ml as you get a lot of condensation from the slow cooker lid dripping back into the pot. You will still end up with a lot of liquid and I usually pour this into a bowl to have for lunch as a soup the next day.

Moroccan dishes usually use dried fruit, soaked in the cooking liquid while everything simmers, which hydrates the fruit and adds a lovely sweet flavour to the meal. Unfortunately I can’t tolerate dried fruit, so I’ve left it out, but feel free to chuck in a few handfuls of dried apricots, or raisins if you can eat them. If you’d like the sweetness of the fruit, but like me can’t have it dried, I’ve given a few suggestions below.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 500g chicken (or beef, or lamb, or vegetarian substitute)*
  • 2 bell peppers
  • 2 large carrots
  • 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 300ml of chicken stock (or beef, lamb, vegetable)
  • 1 tbsp ginger puree (or about 15g fresh ginger if you have it)
  • 1-2 tsp ground cumin**
  • 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1-2 tsp paprika
  • 1-2 tsp turmeric
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • Lots of fresh chives, chopped
  • 2 tbsp honey***
  • Chopped fresh fruit**** (optional)
  • Fresh chopped mint, to garnish
  • Olive oil, to fry
  • Wholegrain or basmati rice, to serve (or cous cous if you’re ok with wheat)

Method

  1. Chop up your chicken and veggies. Grate the ginger (if using fresh)
  2. Fry the chicken until white on the edges, then add the veg.
  3. Add all the spices, and stir until everything is evenly coated.
  4. Add in your stock, chopped tomatoes, and ginger (puree or fresh).
  5. Bring to the boil, then allow to simmer for about fifteen to twenty minutes (until everything is soft and tender)
  6. Add the fresh chives, lemon juice and zest, and honey. If you decided to add any fresh fruit, throw it in now.
  7. Simmer for another five minutes, then plate up, top with the fresh mint, and serve with wholegrain rice

*Chickpeas are very common in Moroccan cooking. Stick to a 42g serving per person and replace the chicken to make this recipe vegan.

**Either one heaped teaspoon, or two level ones. Everyone measures differently so I thought it was a good idea to clarify this. I used one heaped teaspoon of each spice, but two heaped would probably be too much.

***Honey has a green light on servings of 7g on the Monash FODMAP app, and becomes yellow at 14g. Two tablespoons works out as 30g in weight so should be fine for anyone on the elimination phase. If you’re sensitive to fructose however, I’d either skip the honey, or reduce the amount. Use sugar or fresh fruit instead to get that sweetness.

****Fresh chopped orange is the best fit for this dish, and oranges contain no fodmaps. If you’ve successfully reintroduced fructose and sorbitol, try canned peaches. If you’ve managed to pass the fructan challenge, then dried apricots and raisins work really well.

Categories
Recipes

Chilli con Carne

Mexican food is my favourite and before going low fodmap I loved going out to the likes of Smith and Western and Chiquitos. Finding out you’re intolerant to onions, garlic, and beans soon put an end to that unfortunately.

The great thing about Mexican food is you can recreate it at home and, with the right recipe, you can create something that tastes as good as restaurant quality. I find curry never tastes the same as when you get it from an authentic Indian restaurant, but I’m now at the point where I don’t miss going out to dinner at Mexican restaurants because I’ve got my flavours spot on.

I hope you enjoy this chilli as much as I do and remember, chillies and spicy food aren’t high fodmap, but are still an IBS trigger for many. If spicy food gives you a flare up, consider leaving out anything stated below as optional and just keep it mild. It’s still a lovely rich, meaty tasting chilli all the same.

I also use turkey mince for my chilli to lower the fat content as fatty foods are another common IBS trigger but feel free to substitute lean beef mince or any vegetarian mince you can eat. I have made this with Quorn mince and it tasted a little different, but I still hoovered up the contents of the pan in no time at all!

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 500g turkey mince (or beef, or vegetarian alternative)
  • 2 bell peppers, chopped*
  • 1 small courgette, chopped**
  • 500ml tomato passata
  • 300ml beef stock (I use Massel 7’s which are vegan as well)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil
  • 20ml lime juice
  • 30g jalapenos from a jar (optional – don’t overdo it if spice is a trigger for you!)
  • A dash of salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar, dependent on taste
  • Plenty of fresh chopped chives for stirring in and for garnish
  • Brown or white rice, to serve with it

Method

  1. Brown mince in a large frying pan, add in a little garlic infused oil if needed. Vegetarian mince will need oil, meat tends to cook in the fat it releases so I don’t add extra fat to the dish if I don’t have to.
  2. Once the mince is cooked, and the fat either evaporated or mostly drained off, add the vegetables and fry for about five minutes on a medium-high heat. Add in the jalapenos now.
  3. Add all the spices and stir until everything is well coated and the spices get stick to everything. Cook for two more minutes, add in a little stock if everything is getting dry and stuck to the pan.
  4. Add the rest of the stock and stir.
  5. Add in the passata, lime juice, and garlic infused oil. Stir well, and simmer on a medium-low heat for five to ten minutes
  6. Taste the chilli and if it’s a little acidic for your tastes, add in a teaspoon of sugar and stir well.
  7. Plate up with rice, and enjoy!

*I usually use red and yellow for colour but whatever you have will be fine. If you’re using a green pepper, weigh it first and make sure that a quarter of the pepper is no more than 52g , so 208g in total

**Make sure the courgette is no heavier than 260g as 65g is a low fodmap portion

Categories
Recipes

FAJITAS

Fajitas are one of my all time favourite meals! It’s the first meal my partner ever cooked for me, although at the time he was using the Old El Paso kit which is sadly off limits to anyone following the low fodmap diet as there’s wheat in the wraps, and onion and garlic in the spice mix and the salsa.

It took a lot of trial and error, and a good deal of research to get to a point where we had created something which tasted similar to a store bought version. I’m pretty proud of how delicious this tastes so for me, it’s actually better than any brand I’ve ever tried. Hope you enjoy these!

Fajita Spice Mix

  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt

I actually use a bit more cayenne pepper than this because I like my food really spicy, but most people I’ve made this for prefer me to tone it down a little! You don’t have to use sugar and salt if you’re trying to be a bit healthier but I find it takes away the harsh, earthy taste of the spices. Most packet mixes include salt and sugar for this very reason.

The quantities above make more than enough for one meal. Again, it really depends on personal taste, but I’d use around half of the above mixture and save the rest for next time. Low fodmap cooking can be very time consuming so if there’s any way I can cut down that time for another day, then I do it.

Tomato Salsa

  • 400g tin of chopped tomatoes, drained
  • 1 tbsp garlic infused oil
  • Fresh chives, finely chopped
  • 25g red jalapenos, finely chopped
  • Zest of 1 lime, juice of half
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika

Try and get decent chopped tomatoes or you might find yourself adding more sugar to make them taste better. I always drain as much of the tomato liquid with a sieve as I can otherwise it turns out a bit watery once you’ve added lime juice and oil. I use red jalapenos instead of green because they’re sweeter and they taste much nicer, but I have made this with the green ones when I couldn’t get red and it still tasted really good. Just a personal preference.

To keep the salsa suitable for the elimination phase of the low fodmap diet, you’ll need to eat just under a quarter of the bowl (92g tinned tomatoes is low fodmap), so try not to pig out too much! If like me, you’re eating this as a couple, then it gives you some leftovers for dipping tortilla chips in the next day!

Method

  1. Put all the ingredients for the spice mix into an empty, clean jar and shake about until it’s well mixed
  2. For the salsa, drain the tinned tomatoes using a sieve, squeezing out as much of the watery juice as possible. This will ensure a chunkier, thicker salsa. Reserve the tomato liquid, you can use this in the frying pan.
  3. Add all the other salsa ingredients into the drained chopped tomatoes and mix well. Refrigerate and leave to stand for as long as you can. It always seems to taste better this way.
  4. Fry your chicken and peppers (or whatever fajita filling you fancy. I’ve done this with Quorn pieces and sweet potato before, just for a change) in a good glug of garlic infused olive oil.
  5. When the chicken is cooked through, add in the spice mix. When it starts gettting too dry, add in some of the reserved tomato liquid to loosen it up, and add another layer of flavour. Add more of the tomato liquid, or spice mix if you feel it needs it. I usually burn off the tomato and cook the chicken and veg until it starts to char.
  6. Serve with gluten free wraps (I used Old El Paso when I was in the elimination stage), the salsa fresh from the fridge, some grated cheddar (low in lactose) and some simple salted tortilla chips.
Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started