Maria Middlestead - Clinical Nutritionist, Auckland. Call (09) 418 5422

Pasta Perfecto

Pasta and Noodle Dishes from Around the World

(No gluten or dairy – with options for nightshades*, legumes*, yeast, eggs and cane sugar)

Foods can suffer from discrimination and abuse especially at the hand of science segregationists. Carbs are in and fats are out; then carbs are bad and protein gets celebrity status. What makes for the confusion is looking at foods in isolation when they are rarely eaten that way. If all you ate was any one superb food your health would suffer. Plus different people experience different results from eating the same foods.

Italian Bean Dip

Makes 1¼ cups
(Vegan; no gluten, dairy, egg, soy or nightshades)

If you like to eat foods that bite you back with similar intensity: try this. It resembles a chunky hummus, Italian-style. Use it on bread, crackers or as a dip for raw vegetables and triangles of bread toasted with my dairy-free, herb and garlic version of Better Butter (see website RECIPES). Or add as a flavourful topping on baked or steamed vegetables, salad, poached fish or tofu. Any left-overs can be mixed with an egg and breadcrumbs and used to fill large mushroom caps. Fan Grill about 7 minutes for a vegetarian main. Serve with kumara wedges and salad.

Creamy Salmon Sauce/Dressing/Dip

Makes 2 cups
(No gluten, dairy, cane sugar, egg; with options for nightshades and soy)

Thick, creamy and flavourful, you can make this in 10 minutes and employ it in a multitude of creative ways. Although the sauce warms up well just tossed with the likes of hot pasta or veg, if preferred first warm it gently over very low heat (don’t let it bubble). The jalapeno peppers contribute a tangy, mild oomph. ‘Hot’ foods like this have also shown the ability to minimise pain and to thwart pathogenic invaders (see my HEALTH STORE report: How To Thwart Fungal, Yeast, Viral, Bacterial and Parasitic Invaders – and Build Strong Immunity).

TOFU TEMPTERS

(Mostly vegan options; no gluten, dairy or cane-sugar – plus options for nightshades)

Tofu Quick Tip

This is my favourite way of easily using tofu. It solves many a lunch and dinner dilemma. Guests assume it is cheese. Yet it has more protein, little saturated fat, and none of the adverse hormone disruptors of modern dairy products.

CHROMIUM: Your Fat-Busting, Vitality Mineral

If you want to promote lean muscle mass and prevent excess fat storage, if you want a steady fuel supply for buoyant mental health and an energetic body, then the mineral chromium can help achieve all this and more.

For an easy, tasty source try my Dynamite spread recipe as below.

Coleslaw with Tahini Dressing

(Vegan: no gluten, dairy, cane sugar, egg or nightshades)

When I arrived in New Zealand in 1973, coleslaw was an exotic newcomer. As if mandated by legislation there was only one other existing salad. This consisted of iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber, with optional tinned beetroot or hard boiled eggs, and a thick dressing made from sweetened condensed milk.

Asian Cashew Combo

Hot Veg Combo, Salad or Main – serves 4
(No gluten, dairy or cane sugar; with options for soy and potato)

This is a substantial side dish with mild but evocative Asian flavours. It can readily achieve status as a main. Four tasty versions follow. The colourful Sauce/Dressing can also bring instant pizzazz when tossed with or draped over Asian noodles or steamed fish.

Coriander or Basil Pesto

Makes 1¼ cups
(Vegan; no dairy, gluten, cane sugar, legumes, eggs or nightshades).

This spread is as delicious and multi-purpose, as it is therapeutic. Use it as a spread to replace butter, or toss with pasta, dollop over baked potato, mix with steamed vegetables, smear over cooked tofu, fish or chicken.

Better Butter (dairy-free), other Spreads and Butter-Options for Baking

Makes 1½ cups
(Vegan; no gluten, dairy or soy)

Even when the many options to butter substantially and tastily suffice, there will still be times when butter remains your preferred partner. Perhaps it and no other serves for the rich drip off corn on the cob, or a melting slather on just baked bread. If your lips cry, “Yes, yes”, but your hips, arteries or allergies say, “No, no”, then this is the recipe for you.