One in ten people suffer with a sensitive gut and experience symptoms of pain and bloating but with a bit of careful dietary management symptoms can be managed well. This recipe is great because it does not contain any of the foods which we know trigger symptoms in most people such as the white part of onion, wheat and excessive amounts of pulses. It is also a nourishing recipe that can be enjoyed by the whole family and is adaptable. The salmon can be substituted with smoked salmon, mackerel, trout or chicken and the dressing can be simplified. The warm crunchy potatoes really make it taste good…
This recipe is taken from Cooking for the Sensitive Gut by Dr Joan Ransley and Dr Nick Read and published by Pavilion Books and available from Amazon, Waterstones and other major bookshops.
For more information about managing your sensitive gut go to www.cookingforthe sensitivegut.com.
Serves 4
Takes 30 minutes to prepare and cook
Ingredients:
200 g/7 oz new potatoes, rinsed
1-2 tbsp olive oil
300 g/ 10 oz fresh salmon
For the dressing:
100 g/ 3 ½ oz blueberries
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp maple syrup
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad:
4 handfuls of watercress and rocket leaves
1 red chicory, leaves separated
¼ cucumber, halved and sliced diagonally
4 salad onions, green leaves only
60 g/ 2 oz quinoa*, cooked
30 g/ 1 oz canned lentils, rinsed well
micro salad leaves like purple radish or cress
1 tablespoon shelled hazelnuts
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
Steam the potatoes until tender, cool and cut in half. Using a potato masher crush the potatoes and place in a roasting tin with 1 – 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix well. Sprinkle a little sea salt over the potatoes and place in the oven for about 30 minutes to become crisp and golden brown.
Place the salmon on a sheet of foil, season well and fold the foil into an envelope. Place the salmon on a roasting tin and cook in the oven with the potatoes for 10 minutes. Remove the salmon from the oven, leave to cool. Flake the salmon when cool enough to handle.
To make the dressing for the salad, crush half of the blueberries in a pestle and mortar and add 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp maple syrup. Season the dressing with a little salt and pepper and mix well.
Place the watercress, rocket leaves, red chicory leaves, sliced salad onion leaves and sliced cucumber on a serving dish.
Remove the potatoes from the oven when really crunchy and well browned and arrange on the salad leaves, together with the flaked salmon. Sprinkle the salad with the quinoa and lentils and dress with the blueberry, lemon and maple syrup dressing. Scatter the remaining blueberries over the salad together with any foraged nuts and sprigs of micro herbs.
NB
*To cook quinoa. Place 30 g / 2 oz quinoa in a pan and cover with water. Cook for 12 minutes until the little tails appear from the grain.