Category: Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Lebanese grilled lamb with lactose free yoghurt

I adore Ottolenghi recipes but he does use lots of fodmaps in them so I was very surprised to find a Lebanese seven spice rub in Marks and Spencer that is low fodmap and just the right spice mix for rubbing into meat and using on a grill or barbecue. so here is a good lamb recipe for those hot days when barbecues and eating al fresco is such a good idea.

Ingredients

2 lamb steaks

Enough Lebanese seven spice mix to coat both steaks

Cook on the barbecue still well cooked*

1 pack of chard

Lactose free yoghurt (Tesco Greek)

Chopped chard stems

1 lemon

Salt and pepper to taste.

Method

Mix 2 heaped tablespoons of yoghurt with half a grated lemon peel and 3-4 chopped chard stalks

Take the lamb steaks and coat in Lebanese seven spice powder and grill for 2 minutes at high heat on each side – then 5 minutes extra to cook through.*Do you like your meat pink? If you do then ensure that you cook the edges till they are well seared and reach a temperature of 70 degrees C. This should ensure that pathogenic bacteria on the surface of the meat are killed. The foods to cook well through on a barbecue are hamburgers (the mince surfaces are found throughout the burger so it needs to be cooked through.) Chicken also needs thorough cooking – cook a little in the oven or microwave before finishing on the barbecue.

Blanch the chard leaves is hot water for a few seconds and serve with olives, grated lemon rind and chard. This recipe serves two people.

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Pasty

I can’t claim that these are the Cornish variety but they are tasty and the celeriac gives a nice celery flavour to them. The pasty is a portable treat that can be taken on any picnic and these are low fodmap and very filling.

Ingredients

300g of gluten free plain flour

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

50g butter

1 egg

1 extra egg for glazing and extra flour for rolling out the pastry

500g of beef skirt

1oog of celeriac

Fresh Thyme

Salt and pepper

Method

Add the flour to a bowl and salt and pepper and xanthan gum – stir well into the flour

Cut up the butter into cubes and rub into the flour

Add the egg and extra water if required and bring the pastry together

Knead the pastry till smooth

Chill

Whilst the pastry is chilling chop the meat and celeriac into small cubes

Add the thyme

break the second egg into a bowl and whisk

Roll out the pastry in between cling film

Cut out disks about the size of a small plate

Add a small amount of meat and celeriac and thyme to half the disk

Add salt and pepper

Brush egg around the pastry edge on the half of the disc with filling

Bring over the other half of the disk to make the lid and crimp

Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash

Cook at 165 degrees C or Gas mark 3 for 50-55 minutes

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Courgette and walnut salad – low fodmap

Raw courgette adds another dimension to this dish it is crunchy and refreshing. This dish uses the yellow variety but is just as good with the green courgette.

Ingredients

2 yellow courgettes

1 handful of walnuts

1 handful of pumpkin seeds

100g of corn based couscous

2 teaspoons of grained mustard

Red leaved lettuce

1 yellow pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Spiralise the courgette into thick spirals. Pour boiling water onto the corn based couscous and leave to soak up the liquid and cool, add the mustard and mix well. Combine all the ingredients to the salad season and mix well. Serve and enjoy.

Serves 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Peppered leaf salad with prosciutto and berries – low fodmap

On the theme of salads again here is a lovely refreshing peppery salad. Watercress is suitable for the low fodmap diet according to the Monash App and I love it’s hot taste. I also added a few mint tips and radish shoots. The fruit is a portion so don”t have a piece of fruit after this salad or you will trigger symptoms if you have fructose malabsorption. Check it out for a great lunchbox or add to a gluten free wrap.

Ingredients

1 pack of watercress

80g blueberries

80g raspberries

1 pack of prosciutto (check the ingredients and avoid those with spices)

A few mint tips

A few radish shoots

balsamic drizzle – don’t exceed a tablespoon

Method

Simple – wash the fruit and leaves and arrange the ingredients in a bowl.

Drizzle with balsamic

Serves two.

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Lactose free rice pudding topped with blueberry brittle

Rice pudding is a real comfort food and often advised for people who need to have nutrition support for weight loss as it is easy to eat and tastes great. If you have lactose intolerance however, this might be a food you wish to avoid. But using lactose free milk means that you can have lactose free rice pudding – a joy!

Recipe

100g short grained rice

1 pint of lactose free milk (more may be required – depending on how thick you like your rice pudding.)

2 tablespoons of lactose free cream

2 tablespoons of table sugar

A handful of blueberries.

Sugar to sweeten to taste

Method

Add rice to the pan and cover with half the milk and cream and bring to the boil.

Keep stirring and adding milk till the rice is cooked.

Taste – then add just enough sugar to sweeten.

Add the two tablespoons of table sugar to a pan with a small amount to water and cook till dissolved. Add the blueberries and coat in the sugar. Add to the top the rice pudding and serve.

Serves 2

 

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Garlic – the fodmaper’s enemy?

Garlic contains fructans (an oligosaccharide) and is for some people a potent cause of symptoms in IBS. It is a shame that it does as it is found in many ready meals and processed foods so can be a challenging part of the diet to avoid. Fructans is a non absorbable sugar that increases fermentation in the gut and gives some people with IBS symptoms. Cooking method is the key with avoiding fructans, they are soluble in water and this property means that if you use oil only, to cook the garlic, the flavour is imparted but non of the fructans. As the fructans are not soluble in oil. So, by all means fry your garlic in a small amount of oil then remove the garlic pieces from the pan before adding any water based liquid to the pan, such as stock, sauce or tomatoes. If you don’t wish to do that, then a good option is garlic infused oil, ensure the oil is clear and free of garlic pieces and you should not go wrong.

One reason why it is important to re-introduce fodmaps to the diet is to relax the diet and you might find that you can tolerate a small, or large amount of garlic. This means that you can have foods containing garlic and it makes looking for suitable foods a little easier.

What about wild garlic, or Ramsons? Is it low in fructans? It might be assumed that because the green leaves of spring onion and leek are, so must the leaves of wild garlic. As far as I am aware they have not been tested, so it is wise not to assume. It is also wise, if you do not have an issue with garlic to use the foragers code – if you are unsure of what you are gathering, then don’t pick the leaves. See the image below from Compoundchem.com which explains about poisonous plants that have a similar appearance to wild garlic and you would not want to get them mixed up.

So, is garlic an enemy? For some people, for sure – it results in symptoms but my opinion is that we have no food ‘enemies’. For some lucky people they can eat garlic with impunity. This is always the case with IBS – every situation is different.

If you can eat it the image is a salad based on cucumber, pine nuts, capers, anchovy, pea shoots wild garlic flowers and drizzle of balsamic vinegar – yum.

But if you can’t eat garlic you can impart that glorious flavour in other ways and to see a carpet of garlic flowers in the spring is a joy that is guaranteed not to have any untoward effects!

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