Author: Jules_GastroRD

I am a state registered dietitian. My speciality is dietary treatment of gut disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, crohns disease, ulcerative colitis, coeliac disease, lactose & fructose malabsorption and multiple food intolerances. I have had lots of experience in other areas of dietetics and I wished to start this blog to spread the word about evidence based dietary treatments and dispel much of the quackery that is common with these diseases. All information on this site is of a general nature and is based on UK based treatments and guidelines. Please see your healthcare practitioner should you need more country specific information.

Baba Ganoush – Low Fodmap

This is a dip recipe that is suitable for the low fodmap diet, many people really struggle to find dips, particularly when many are made with onion or garlic as ingredients. Baba Ganoush is a middle eastern dish made from aubergine which often contains onion but it is so easy to make and tastes really delicious without onion so give it a try today!

Ingredients

1 Aubergine

1 tablespoon of light mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cumin powder

(you can add your own spices here to change the flavour)

A few toasted pine nuts

Lactose free yoghurt to serve.

Method

Roast the aubergine in an oven till soft and allow it to cool.

Remove the skin and add the flesh to a bowl with the mayonnaise and spices and a little salt to taste. Blend till smooth top with lactose free yoghurt and serve.

Simple!

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Why does asparagus make your wee smell? – Book Review

My husband has received this book as a Christmas present and I am afraid he has not had much chance to read it yet! I am a bibliophile and I also have a passion for graphic design and chemistry (I gained a degree in polymer science and technology before I studied dietetics.) This book covers all my passions and as such I’m afraid I pinched it on the very day he received it and have not put it down yet. Of course he can have it back 🙂 – but he doesn’t usually settle down to read a book present immediately he has opened it (unlikely a bibliophile then!) and he does know I have it, so I am not being that mean!

Now back to the book, it is written in a very clear and understandable way, very important for a book covering the chemistry of popular food science and the info-graphics are a great way of showing the compounds involved. I wish info-graphics were available when I learned about chemistry, as my method of learning is very much visually I would have found this process a little easier. The author Andy Brunning is a chemistry teacher in Cambridge who is also the author of the website http://www.compoundchem.com/ which has similar blog posts, the website is really worth a visit if you have an interest in chemistry. I cannot find any negative aspects to this book, even the price is affordable for a hardback.

Some of the questions that particularly attracted my attention were:

Why do some people hate Brussels sprouts? – this might not be the reason you are thinking of!

Why do beans give you flatulence? Yes, this is the very reason you are thinking – I have also written about this very problem here, they are a fodmap!

Why are some people allergic to nuts?

Does MSG cause Chinese restaurant syndrome?

Of course, other posts might be more interest to you. The book has references at the back for all you scientists out there to do some further reading – although I guarantee this will be a little less stimulating.

 

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Kale and herb frittata with a cheese and pine nut topping – low fodmap

Wondering what to have for lunch? A frittata is a great option because not only can you eat it warm, it slices very well and can be eaten cold with a fresh green salad or even used as a sandwich filling. Very versatile and tasty for a lunch option and what’s more it is low fodmap.

Ingredients

4 eggs

handful of Kale

2-3 sprigs of thyme and a few rosemary leaves (you can also use dried)

1 oz of grated Parmesan

1 tablespoon of pine nuts

Salt & pepper to taste

Spray oil

Method

Boil the kale till a little soft and leave to cool then chop well.

Chop the herbs, grate the Parmesan.

Crack the eggs in a bowl and mix, season and split into two.

Add the kale and herbs to one bowl mix well.

Spay a little oil into a frying pan and add the egg and kale mix, flatten with w fork and cook for 1-2 minutes

Add the second half of eggs to the pan. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Place the pan under a grill to continue cooking and when the eggs are risen and fluffy sprinkle on the cheese and pine nuts.

Grill until the cheese is melted and the pine nuts are toasted.

Serve – serves 2-3 people.

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Christmas carols and canapes

It’s that time of year again – although it’s unusually warm outside this year! I purchased some gluten free frozen puff pastry and it is also Low Fodmap so here are some canapes to have with Christmas carols and shots – so invite your friends round and celebrate! They are simple to make, although a little fiddly to say the least. See below for the recipes. I could have made my own pastry – but life’s too short to be making puff pasty this time of year!

First cut the pastry into two and using the first block roll it out as thin as you can with plenty of flour to prevent sticking – I used rice flour. Use a small circular cutter and cut out as many circles as you can. Bring the trimmings together and roll out again. I made about 35-40 disks. Brush each with a little beaten egg. Use the following as toppings:

Basil, walnut and Parmesan

A handful of chopped walnuts, 2-4 freshly chopped basil leaves, a handful of pine nuts and 10g of grated Parmesan cheese. Mix these ingredients together with a teaspoon of olive oil and spoon a small amount on the top of each disc. Top each with half an olive cut lengthwise.

Serrano ham and manchago cheese

Place a small square of Serrano ham on each disk, top with a thin slice of cheese.

Smoked mackerel and potato

Thinly slice small new potatoes and spray with oil- roast for 10 minutes in an oven and top each disc with the cooked potato and a small amount of shredded mackerel.

Rosemary and Parmesan pinwheels

Using the other half of the pastry roll it into an oblong block as this as you can brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and chopped fresh rosemary leaving a thin strip away from you without cheese. Roll adding further egg wash as you roll it up and stick down once rolled. Slice into 1cm circles.

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Place each disk on a baking tray and cook in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes until cooked. Serve with your drink of choice. Remember alcohol can, for some  people make symptoms of IBS worse, so do take care. Your friends and guests will hardly be aware that these are gluten free.  These canapes are also high in fat but one or two are all that are needed, moderation is always key – even at this time of year! They make a delightful change to the usual peanuts or crisps served with party drinks.

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I do hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

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Chapati and low fodmap curry – yum!

Chapati

150 g of gluten free plain flour

1 teaspoon of garlic infused oil

1/2 teaspoon of Xanthan gum

20 g of well chopped coriander

Salt to taste

Water to form a dough

Method

Weigh out the flour in a bowl and add the xanthan gum and mix well.

Add the oil, salt and coriander and water.

Add water slowly and bring the flour together to form a dough – the more you work this dough the better the results will be!

Roll the dough into a sausage shape and divide to make approximately 8 small disks

Roll these into a ball then roll out evenly as thin as possible.

Cook on a flat griddle till the flour turns a little opaque then hold the chapatti in a flame to finish the cooking add some spray oil to the pan if needed.

Serve immediately – they don’t keep well and are best eaten fresh.

Curry

2 aubergines

200g spinach

200g of potato

1 red chili chopped small

1 inch of ginger chopped

1 teaspoon of coriander seeds

1 teaspoon of cumin

3 cardamon pods, split

1 red pepper chopped

1 tablespoon of garlic infused oil

1/2 teaspoon of asafoetida

salt to taste

Method

Roast the aubergines till soft and remove the skin and chop.

Add the spices and chopped chili (you can omit this if it affects symptoms too much) to a pestle & mortar and grind.

Add the oil to a pan and fry the spice paste to release the aroma.

Add the aubergine, chopped potato to the pan and cooked till tender.

Add 4-5 pieces of frozen spinach and chopped red pepper at the end of the dish and cook for ten minutes.

Serve!

Turmeric potatoes

These small potatoes are easy to make, use 3-4 potatoes per portion of salad potatoes. I roasted them in the oven in their jackets till soft them sliced them and using 1/2 tablespoon of oil fried turmeric and coriander seeds to release the flavour and added this to the potato with salt to taste. You could use this recipe with older potatoes if you wished.

 

 

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Cinnamon and lemon thyme roast chicken

It is the first cold snap of the season today and what better to warm the cockles than a roast chicken? This is a very simple roast, sprinkled with cinnamon and thyme.

Ingredients

1/2 roast chicken

2 teaspoons cinnamon

5-6 springs of thyme

salt and pepper to taste.

Method

Do not wash the chicken before you use it.

Place the chicken in a roasting tin on a rack to drain the fat as it roasts and add the thyme and cinnamon plus seasoning.

Roast for 3/4 hour.

I added some carrots to the roasting tin to add colour to the dish.

Enjoy!

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