Dietary Restrictions++

[rax]

After some experimentation, I'm 99% sure I have a sensitivity to nightshades and should mostly not be eating them. I'm still working on figuring out if I can have small amounts of them, and whether I have a broad sensitivity or a more narrow one. (Tomatoes and bell peppers are almost definitely no; eggplant and potato are less clear.) For now I'm avoiding all of them, although in another week or two I'm going to add back hot pepper and see if I can still eat spicy things. (God, I hope so.) People have offered their condolences but all I can do is laugh; every time I think about it I am so relieved about two things:

• It wasn't gluten.
• It wasn't soy.

Gluten-free and soy-free vegan are doable, but very very hard. Nightshade-free vegan is just annoying, especially as it's a sensitivity (nasty digestive effects) and not an allergy (anaphylactic shock) and so if I screw up it's not DEATH, just bleaugh. Unfortunately I think I may have crossed that dark threshhold into "Seriously, don't bother trying to bring me to a restaurant." Luckily I don't much care, as I still haven't eaten a meal at a restaurant in town since moving to Bloomington, and mostly because I've enjoyed making my own food. (If, say, Mary's were here, I would have gone a couple of times...)

So, uh, please don't slip tomatoes into my food, and this shouldn't be a problem. :) If I develop something else on top of this, then we could be in danger territory. But for now, hooray! Still tons of things I can eat.

Comments

[rax.livejournal.com]

Is there some reasonable substitute for tomato sauce in lasagna? Most things I can imagine what I'd do pretty easily, but that one... I also tend to use tomato paste in seitan and it would be neat to find something else that filled that role, but that seems a little easier.

[bookofjude.livejournal.com]

It's the one thing I've actually been unable to come up with as an alternative, but it reminds me to try experimenting again. I've heard of suggestions for purees of other foods, such as zucchini and squash, and while that gives the slight... tang, it doesn't really give the sweetness. A combination might be better, I guess.

[fjm.livejournal.com]

For the tang try lime.

[bookofjude.livejournal.com]

As mentioned, apparently a sauce made from red lentils that have been boiled in a small amount of water and then pureed and seasoned works quite well. Unfortunately the recipe called for paprika, which didn't make much sense, as that's made from bell peppers. Likewise, a lot of other "tomato" substitutes call for pureed bell peppers.

Other options for heat-inducing spices include varieties of mustard (actually a cabbage, fascinatingly enough) and cocoa, which helps to intensify heat (at least, I have found this). I love spicy food, but I unfortunately have to avoid chillis for similar reasons, as well as turmeric, cumin and coriander. :/

[eirl.livejournal.com]

What is the reason for needing to avoid tumeric, cumin, and coriander? I'm sensitive to the red pepper family (though I don't have any reason to think tomatoes bother me). I've noticed that these spices also bother me, but I haven't been able to pin down why. Are they some how related to peppers?

[bookofjude.livejournal.com]

Actually, all have different reasons: I have an allergy to ginger, and turmeric is from the same family (Zingiberacea). I used to be able to get away with turmeric, cardamom, etc, without issue, but I recently developed a sensitivity so I've removed them from my diet for the time being.

Likewise, cumin and coriander are in the same family, and I had developed a sensitivity to cumin, so I decided to avoid all of them for the time being so that it would hopefully go away!

[eirl.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks! That's really useful to know. Thank you!

[perbac.livejournal.com]

Have you ever tried a white sauce lasagna? One of my favourite recipes (that I never make because it takes forever) is a spinach bechamel lasagna - you could try subbing a vegan bechamel, like http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=172 ...

Not a sub for tomato sauce, certainly, but an alternative taste you might enjoy.