Lettuce Iceberg Core & Oil

I found a new vegetable shop nearby my place. They have lovely vegetables from Cameron Highlands everyday as the owner has a farm there.

I bought lettuce iceberg from him as iceberg lettuce is low in salicylate and also low in FODMAP! He told me that it is a common practice for many vegetable sellers to apply oil at the base/core of the iceberg lettuce to further prevent it from rotting.

That was the first time I heard of such a practice.

And then I realised why many times the lettuce icebergs which were kept in plastic bags had solidified/cloudy oil residue at the bottom of the bags. (From supermarkets at many different malls)

I then asked him what was the oil that he used for this purpose as I can't take peanut oil.

He went to the back of his shop and brought the bottle out to show me.

I've used this oil before. But I don't anymore as I found it to be too oily. And I didn't like that it was in a plastic bottle and that the bottle was not opaque to keep the oil from getting rancid. 

Have you heard of such a practice?

Gluten-Free Pie

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups of cooked salted, garlic rice
2. 3 sticks of celery (peeled and sliced into thin pieces)
3. 1 small sized lettuce iceberg (shredded into small pieces)
4. 500gm of minced chicken (seasoned with sea-salt)
5. *Spinach (Omit this if you cannot tolerate this. I had plenty in my garden and I had to harvest and use them before they became old.)
6. Sunflower oil
7. Sea-salt
8. Home-made mashed potato seasoned with sunflower and sea-salt (about 3 to 4 cups)

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1. In a large mixing bowl, pour the minced chicken, celery, lettuce iceberg, and (*spinach-optional). Drizzle some sunflower oil and sprinkle some sea-salt onto the ingredients. Mix all ingredients throughly.

2. Line a bread pan with a baking paper.

3. Fill the bottom part of the bread pan with the mixture.

4. Then layer the rice as the second layer.

5. And finally, layer the mashed potato as the last and highest layer.

6. Preheat oven at 220C.

7. Bake for about 50 minutes or until potatoes turn golden brown.

8. Serve it hot.

Bon appétit!

Bitter Gourd Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium-sized whole free-range chicken (antibiotic-free) (cut into 4 parts, skin removed)
2. 1 large bitter gourd (filling and seeds removed and cut into 8 parts)
3. A handful of barley
4. Filtered water (approximately 10litres)
5. Sea-salt
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1. In a large pot, add the chicken, cut bitter gourds, water and sea-salt to taste.

2. Boil on high heat until it bubbles.

3. Then simmer on low heat for 2 hours.

4. You can boil some spaghetti noodles and stir-fry some lettuce iceberg to serve together with the soup. Break some of the softened chicken meat to add to the noodle soup.

Bon appétit!

A Salicylate-Free Meal

Steamed cod fish, steamed lettuce iceberg and claypot style minced chicken+tofu!
Serve hot with sushi rice for a perfect-salicylate-free meal!

For cod fish recipe, click here.

Bon appétit!

Salicylate-Free Vegetarian Congee/Porridge

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups of unpolished, brown rice
2. 3 large potatoes (peeled and cut into cubes)
3. 1 lettuce iceberg (washed and cut into strips)
4. 2 teaspoons of sunflower oil
5. Sea-salt

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1. Wash the brown rice under running water.

2. Pour the rice, potato cubes, lettuce iceberg, and sunflower oil into the rice pot. Add 5 cups of water and set the allocated time for congee/porridge.

3. I boiled my congee/porridge for 2 hours.

4. I stirred the congee/porridge at every 1/2 hour.

5. Once the congee/porridge has thickened, season to taste with sea-salt.

6. Serve hot!

Bon appétit!

This is the packaging of the unpolished brown rice which I bought.

Yes, it does not look appetizing. But seriously, who gives a damn about how it looks when the stomach and intestines are having the battle of Armageddon? It really soothed the injured stomach and bowels! Try it!

Clay-Pot Rice Buns!

I thought of a new recipe this week. Thought I give it a try. And it was worth the try as it was so yummy, and delicious! I made buns that had clay-pot rice as fillings.

Here is the link for the salicylate-free clay pot rice.

BUN RECIPE

Ingredients:

1. Organic high-protein bread flour (500g)

2. Instant yeast (1 teaspoon)

3. A pinch of salt and brown sugar

4. A cup of warm water

5. 1/2 cup of sunflower oil

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1. In a large bowl, pour the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, sunflower oil and water.

2. Mix them together until everything is well blended.

3. Knead the dough for 15 minutes and set aside for 2 hours for it to rise.

4. Cover the large bowl with a damp cloth.

5. After 2 hours, knock the dough down and knead again.

6. Cover with damp cloth and leave aside for another 45 minutes.

7. Knock the dough down again and divide the dough into 8 round balls.

8. Flatten each ball with a rolling pin.

9. Place 2 tablespoons of clay-pot rice, bring the edges together and seal the bun securely. (You do not want the fillings to spill out during baking time!)

10. Place buns in pre-heated oven (200C) and bake for 30 minutes or until buns are slightly browned.

11. Serve while warm.

Bon appétit!

A Salicylate-Free 3-in-1 Dish

On days when I am exhausted, being too tired to cook a decent meal and yet the stomach is screaming and growling like a ferocious lion for food, I will make a dish which has rice, meat and vegetables. All in one. It's a 3-in-1 dish.

Ingredients:
1. 3 cups of sushi rice
2. Minced chicken (700g) (seasoned with salt)
3. 1 large lettuce iceberg
4. Sunflower oil
5. Sea-Salt
6. Shallots and garlic (optional)

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1. Cook the rice first. Put it aside and let it cool.

2. In a heated claypot or wok, pour the sunflower oil. Then pour in the sliced garlic and shallots.

3. Once the garlic and shallots are lightly browned, add the minced chicken and fry until it is almost well-done.

4. Add the shredded lettuce iceberg and cook until the vegetables are softened.

5. Add the rice and mix well with minced chicken and vegetable. Season with sea-salt.

6. Serve hot!

Bon Appetit!

*You can omit the garlic and shallots if you cannot tolerate them.

Claypot Chicken + Liver Rice

Ingredients:

1. Minced chicken breasts (800g)

2. 3 chicken liver

3. 3 large old potatoes

4. 1 lettuce iceberg

5. Garlic and shallots* (if you can tolerate LOW levels of salicylate)

6. 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil

7. Pepper* (this is HIGH in salicylates)

8. 4 cups of sushi rice.

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You would either need an electrical rice pot OR a clay pot which is used on the gas stove.

1. Firstly, cook the sushi rice.

2. Marinate the minced chicken with salt, pepper* and sunflower oil. Marinate the liver in salt, brown sugar and pepper*. (Omit *pepper if you cannot tolerate it)

3. Cut the potatoes into small cubes.

4. Shred the lettuce iceberg into thin strips.

5. Slice the garlic and shallots thinly. (*Skip step 5 if you are unable to take garlic and shallots)

6.  Heat the pot and pour the 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil into it.

7. Add the garlic and shallots and stir fry until lightly browned. (*Again, skip step 7 if you are unable to take garlic and shallots)

8. Add the potatoes and cook until they are softened.

9. Add the minced chicken, liver and lettuce iceberg into the pot. Cook until you don't see any more uncooked meat. Break the minced chicken and liver into smaller pieces.

10. Add the rice into the pot and stir thoroughly, mixing all the ingredients evenly with the rice.

11. Serve it while hot. You can serve them with homemade fried garlic and shallots. (IF you can tolerate them)

Bon Appetit!

This is the rice pot that I use to cook most of my dishes. I am in Malaysia. You would need to look for something similar if you are not in Malaysia. There is a 'clay pot' function in this pot. 

35 months ago was the day I met Death.