Veggie-Loaded Lasagne

We are gluten and dairy-free at our house due to our youngest child having food intolerances. Fortunately there are many wonderful recipes out there that can mean you can still enjoy foods like pasta and lasagne even when you can't eat gluten. 

I've adapted this recipe from The Healthy Chef and tweaked it for our household's dietary needs. I recommend making the basic recipe below and then once you've got the hang of this go ahead and adapt it to your own palate preferences.

Ingredients

• 1.5L x tomato passata
• 1/3 cup of red wine
• 1 x brown onion, diced
• 2 x cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 x tin of brown lentils, strained (or 3/4 cup of rinsed red lentils)
• 1/2 bunch of basil leaves, chopped
• 1 x bunch of greens (kale, Swiss chard or spinach greens), washed and chopped
• 2 x tbs Extra virgin olive oil + extra for roasting pumpkin
• 1 x small butternut pumpkin, seeded and sliced thinly widthways 
• 1 x tsp of ground cinnamon 
• 1 /2 x tsp of ground nutmeg
• 2 x cups of raw cashews, soaked for 2 hours
• 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
• 1 x cup of water
• Sprigs of rosemary or thyme for roasting (optional)
• Salt and pepper for seasoning

Method

1. Soak raw cashews in water (or speed up the process by soaking in freshly boiled water while you start the cooking process).
2. Preheat oven to 180C fan-forced.
3. Place sliced pumpkin on a baking tray and sprinkle with ground cinnamon, nutmeg and prigs of rosemary/thyme if using. Drizzle with 1 x tbs of olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes until golden and pumpkin is cooked (roast for longer if needed).
4. Heat remaining 1 x tbs of olive oil in a small heavy based saucepan while the pumpkin is cooking. Once the oil is heated add chopped onion and cook over medium heat until translucent and slightly caramelised. Add garlic, lentils and salt and pepper. Stir to coat.
5. Add tomato passata and red wine. Stir together and reduce heat to simmer on low for 20 minutes to allow flavours to develop. Throw in chopped basil leaves at the end of cooking the tomato sauce. 
6. Sauté greens in a small amount of oil or water until bright green.
7. Strain cashews and blend on high with water, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper until combined into a smooth paste. 
8. Assemble the lasagne in an oven-proof ceramic dish starting with pumpkin, then greens, followed by tomato sauce. Repeat and then top with the cashew paste.
9. Bake lasagne in the oven for 30 minutes until cashew layer becomes a crust on top.

Serves 8.

Enjoy! Lucy x

Apple & Strawberry Gluten Free Muffins

I've been working on a gluten free muffin recipe that was also egg/soy/dairy free (so it excluded the most common food intolerances that I encounter) AND wasn't too dense AND delicious. I knew I was onto something when my kids literally gobbled up the first batch that I made using the following recipe!

As with all of our recipes, you can swap things like the gluten free flours for regular wheat/spelt/khorasan flour, the milk for any milk your prefer, the coconut sugar for regular cane sugar and the apple puree for banana (or even pumpkin puree).

These gluten free muffins are perfect for lunch boxes or day trips, they keep well for up to 5 days (although best stored in the fridge) and freeze well. Enjoy! -Renee x

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

• 1/4 cup besan (chickpea) flour

• 1/4 cup arrowroot/tapioca flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup coconut sugar (you can also use regular cane sugar)

• 1/3 cup coconut oil

• 2 flax eggs (2 tbs ground flaxseed combined with 4 tbs water, mixed well and set aside)

• 1 cup apple puree

• 1 tbs apple cider vinegar

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 1/2 cup milk (nut, soy, rice etc)

• 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, chopped (you can use any berry)

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease two muffin trays and place both on a large baking tray and set aside.

2. Combine the apple puree, sugar, vanilla essence and coconut oil until well mixed.

3. Add the flours, salt, baking powder and soda, salt, flaxeggs, cinnamon and milk and process until smooth. 

4. Gently stir in the chopped berries, then pour the mixture into the muffin trays (should make 10-12 muffins.

5. Place tray in oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before removing from trays. Best stored in the fridge if not eaten within 2 days and they freeze well.

Quinoa Porridge

This one is for all the mums who are breastfeeding child with allergies or intolerances. Why? Because I can still distinctly remember staring blanking into my pantry searching for a satisfying breakfast while undertaking an elimination diet for my 2-year-old's eczema and non-IgE allergies. 

Only a breastfeeding mum, 3 weeks into an elimination diet, knows just how much a pain in the bum preparing breakfast can be.

If you are egg-free, soy-free, wheat-free, gluten-free, nut-free, oat-free and dairy-free breakfast you can feel like there's no safe foods to turn to - especially for breakfast when you can't reach for a simple omelette or muesli. 

That's where your seeds and gluten-free grains can come in. Staples like quinoa, brown rice and buckwheat are filled with minerals, proteins and starches to help you feel full, have regular bowel motions and give you plenty of energy for chasing your crazy kidlet around the place.

My youngest has stopped breastfeeding but our whole family still continues to eat quinoa porridge for breakfast....because it tastes delicious!

Want some more support with healthy diet options during your elimination diet? Get in touch book an appointment. 

- Lucy x

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of quinoa (see notes)
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of safe milk 
• 1 banana
• 1 tsp of sweetener (see notes)
• 1 tsp of cinnamon powder
• 1 medjool date, pit removed (optional)
• Extra water for rinsing and soaking
• Extra fruit, seeds and nuts for toppings

Method

1. If possible soak the quinoa overnight in the bowel with plenty of water.
2. In the morning strain the quinoa in a sieve and rinse throughly.
3. Place quinoa and the cup of water in a small pot on high heat.
4. Cover and bring to the boil.
5. Reduce to a low heat and cook for about 10 minutes until most of the water is absorbed.
6. On the low heat break the banana into pieces and add it to the pot with your choice of milk, the cinnamon and date if you are using it.
7. Stir over low heat until the porridge is a consistency you like.
8. Spoon into a bowl and top with slice fruit, crushed raw nuts and seeds.

Serves 2

Tips

• For quinoa I recommend you use tricolour or plain white variety as they make the porridge a creamier consistency.
• It's not critical that you soak the quinoa but doing this will release phytates from the seeds. This anti-nutrient compound can prevent the absorption of some minerals so soaking and rinsing helps to remove this from the quinoa.
• Safe milk may be coconut milk, almond milk, rice milk.
• I prefer to use maple syrup for a sweetener but you can use honey or rice malt syrup depending.
• Store any leftover porridge in an air-tight container to use for tomorrow's breakfast.