Easter chocolate orange cake treat – low fodmap

Ingredients

Cake

150g self raising gluten free flour

150g margarine

150g golden castor sugar

Grated rind of 1 orange

Juice of half an orange

2 eggs

15g cocoa powder (check gluten free if needed)

1 teaspoon of gluten free baking powder

Orange marmalade

Chocolate frosting

50g Dark chocolate

15g Margarine

2 Tablespoons of warm water

175g of sifted icing sugar

3 Drops of oil of orange flavouring.

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Method

Cream together margarine and sugar till smooth.

Add orange rind and juice of orange, mix well.

Add one egg at a time and beat well to avoid the mix curdling.

If it does start to separate add a tablespoon of flour and mix in well.

Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder and baking powder) till fully incorporated.

Cook at gas mark 6 for 1 hour till risen and cooked through.

Whilst the cake is cooling make the icing.

Put the chocolate, water and margarine in a bowl held over a pan of boiling water.

Melt and mix, add the oil of orange and icing sugar and beat till smooth.

Cut the cake in half and spread the orange marmalade over the bottom layer, then a thin layer of frosting.

Add the rest of the frosting to the cake.

The cake is also decorated with half kumquat segments.

Serve – remember a small serving is probably a good idea, a great treat for Easter perhaps!

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Salad bowl – low fodmap

The weather this weekend is fabulous for April. We are famous in the UK for discussing the weather – not surprisingly when it can change so frequently. Days when it is unexpectedly fine are few and far between. It makes me crave a salad.

Ingredients

Salad leaves – radicchio, red leaf and spinach

1 Carrot

100g Celeriac

1 Teaspoon light mayo

2 Radishes

Green beans

75g Cooked wild and wholegrain rice

75g Black rice pasta

Dressed crab

Dressing for rice – soy sauce, olive oil (equal quantities) and a few drops of fish sauce.

Grated lime rind

Method

Wash leaves

Peel carrot and celeriac and grate – mix with the mayo.

Make the dressing

Cook rice and pasta till soft – add the dressing to the rice and pasta whilst warm and then cool

Wash and slice the radish.

Cook the green beans till soft, then cool.

Add all the ingredients to a bowl.

Pile the dressed crab on the top (you could use other ingredients if you wish, instead)

Sprinkle with lime rind

Enjoy!

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Tuna Nicoise, low fodmap – naturally

I love Tuna Nicoise salad, the above recipe is using fresh tuna – but canned tuna is just as tasty for this dish and it is a good lunchtime alternative to the staple gluten free sandwiches.

Ingredients

400g of tinned tuna in spring water (or fresh tuna)

800g of salad potatoes (keep the peel on for extra fibre)

2 tablespoons of light mayonnaise

200g of green beans

4 eggs

Romaine lettuce leaves and rocket

Method

Grill the tuna till cooked through, flake.

Hard boil the eggs for 10 minutes and cool under running water, remove the shell and slice.

Boil the potatoes in their skin till soft, slice.

Boil the green beans and cool, slice if too long for the rest of the ingredients.

Wash and tear the lettuce leaves and add to a dish with the rocket leaves

Mix everything together with the mayonnaise.

Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Serves 4

If you find that resistant starches are a problem then serve this dish with the potato freshly cooked and slightly warm.

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Hot roasted vegetables

I adore roasted vegetables – I have said this before but I can’t get enough of them at the moment. These choices are low fodmap and packed with fibre, really filling and comforting. The spice mix I chose to use was a Japanese mix called Togarashi- a seven spice mix. It is really fiery so if you have IBS and are sensitive to chilli, I would probably give this recipe a miss. Although the mix is suitable for a low fodmap diet. The spices are mixed chilli powder, black & white sesame seed, orange zest, ginger, sichuan pepper and seaweed. Sichuan pepper is contained in Chinese five spice mix which Monash have stated is suitable for the low fodmap diet. Monash is based on the Australian diet and in the UK if you wish to try Chinese five spice check the ingredients – some manufacturers add onion and garlic to their mixes. The manufacturer of this mix is Taste Gourmet Spice Company some of their mixes are gluten free. The website mentions Paleo and ‘clean’, which I don’t endorse for IBS – but I will forgive them that indiscretion for the fact that some of these mixes are onion and garlic free (I have not had time to check them all so it is worth a further look.) I purchased this mix and I might be tempted to buy more to test for you. I used a flat teaspoon of the mix and it was as hot as I could take – so you could use less if you wish.

Ingredients

Half a small pumpkin

1 carrot

1 Parsnip

200g swede

1 Aubergine

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 tablespoon of pinenuts

1 tablespoon of oil

1 flat teaspoon of Togarashi

Method

Peel and chop the vegetables

Add the spice to the oil and mix then rub on to all the surfaces of the vegetables.

Roast in a hot oven for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

Roast the sesame seeds and pinenuts for a one to two minutes till golden – watch them closely as they can burn easily.

Add the vegetables to a plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds and pinenuts.

A great Halloween treat and posted just in time for you to make for meatless Monday!

Serves 2-3

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Tomato free moussaka – low FODMAP

DSCF1197modMoussaka is one of my favourite dishes, in my humble view it has to have cinnamon included – and lot’s of it. You might feel that adding a spice used in sweet dishes in the UK sounds strange, but it rounds off the flavour really well. It can be a high calorie dish particularly when lamb is the main component but it is possible to reduce the high fat load. I may be performing moussaka sacrilege by suggesting that it can be made without tomatoes, but I feel the essential flavours are included, so the dish doesn’t miss much by not using them.

Ingredients

2 medium aubergines

1 tablespoon of garlic infused olive oil

4 potatoes

500 g lean lamb mince

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of asafoetida

2 teaspoons of dried oregano

1 pint of skimmed lactose free milk (Yes you can get it now!!!)

75 g grated strong mature cheddar

2 eggs

200 ml of red wine

1/2 teaspoon of gravy browning

100 ml of water

4 teaspoons of cornflour

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

The method is time-consuming but I don’t eat this dish regularly, I usually have it on special occasions so it is worth making an effort to make it well.

1) Dry fry the mince and add cinnamon, asafoetida, oregano and gravy browning. Drain off the cooking juices and allow the mince to cool. Put the cooking juices in the refrigerator till the drained lamb fat has gone solid, scoop off the fat and throw it away.

2) Pour the remaining cooking juices in a frying pan, add red wine, water and cook. Mix 2 teaspoons of the cornflour with a little water then add to the gravy, cook till thickened.

3) Slice the aubergines into 4-5 mm circular slices, sprinkle with olive oil and roast in the oven till brown. Cool.

4) Slice the potato to the same thickness as the aubergine and par boil for 10 minutes – do this just before you are ready to assemble the dish, you don’t want them to go cold.

5) Grate the cheese, pour the milk into a pan and add the cheese and the rest of the cornflour (mixed with a little water.) Cook till thickened, cool and add the eggs – mix well.

6) Add a layer of aubergine, potato, meat – add gravy. Continue to build up the layers till the ingredients are used up. Pour the cheese sauce on the top.

7) Cook for 1 hour at gas mark 6 (200°C), or until the potatoes are soft and the top has browned.

Serves 6

Peppermint creams LOFFLEX (Low FODMAP)

Peppermint creams, easy to make and good as an occasional treat for people with food intolerances

Ingredients

270g of icing sugar (extra if mix too runny)

2 teaspoons of peppermint oil

1 teaspoon glycerine

2 tablespoons of water

Method

Add peppermint, glycerine and water to icing sugar and mix till fully amalgamated.

Roll into a sausage shape and cut into equal parts, roll into a ball then flatten with a fork.