carrot | Cure Eczema Forever

Having guests around for Christmas lunch and wondering what to serve for a starter? This recipe is a tasty soup, suitable for vegan low fodmappers and has Christmas flavours with mixed spice. I have been using my copy of the flavour thesaurus by Niki Segnit, a gift for my birthday, and this marries chestnuts with carrot, celery (celeriac is a low fodmap food with a similar flavour to celery – a good substitution) carrot and rosemary and yes, this really works. It is a slightly sweet, winter roots flavour with a light addition of spices. Your guests will never know you have a low fodmap starter for them that is really easy to make and really tasty!

Ingredients

200g celeriac

500g carrots

200g cooked chestnuts

1/4 teaspoon of mixed spice

10 g rosemary

Drizzle of hazelnut oil

Some chilli flakes (if tolerated)

Seasoning

Method

Chop the vegetables

Add all ingredients to a pan

Add water to just cover the vegetables

Season to taste

Puree

Serve, drizzle with hazelnut oil and chilli flakes!

serves 6

talkhealth Blog

This is a salad that is vibrant and although rainbow carrots have been used these are not essential to the dish, it can be made cheaply with plain orange carrots, if needed. The dressing is fresh and adds another dimension to the taste. It is important to use flavourings when fresh garlic and onion are not available to brighten up salad dressings. I have never really got along with quinoa – I find it’s grains hard – but adding grained mustard to it has for me improved the flavour if not the texture of this grain. I like the taste of this dish, so I will be making it again. It is very nice for a light lunch on its own or to accompany meat or fish if you eat them. I wish I could like quinoa a little more, looking at Wikipedia I came across an interesting article suggesting it has potential as a food option for controlled ecological controlled life systems. In other words, Nasa have investigated its properties for use as food in longer term space missions. It has a favourable amino acid profile and can be grown hydroponically to give a good yield. But if this is the only offered grain it looks like I won’t be considering long term space travel soon – I will have to take a large jar of mustard with me if I do!

Ingredients

Dressing

1/2 pack of coriander

1/2 pack of flat leaf parsley

2 tablespoons of garlic infused oil

1 teaspoon of cumin

Season to taste

Quinoa

1 heaped teaspoon of grained mustard

1/2 cup of quinoa

3/4 cup of boiling water

Season to taste

Salad

1 Pack of rainbow carrots

Mixed salad leaves

Drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Few capers for decoration

Method

Dressing

Pour the oil into a blender and add the herbs, cumin and seasoning

Blend till smooth

Heat in a pan to cook the cumin – 5 minutes only are needed just to release the flavour. If you cook it for too long the heat will affect the colour of the dressing. Cool.

Quinoa

Add the quinoa and boiling water to a pan – cook for five minutes and then add the lid to the pan and leave for 20 minutes to cook in the hot water. Cool.

Mix in the mustard and seasoning to taste.

Salad

Peel the carrots into strips along the length of the carrot.

Add the salad leaves

Build the dish

Enjoy!

Serves 3