Gluten- and Dairy-Free Recipes for Fatigue Sufferers

Baking

Gluten- and dairy-containing foodstuffs are a ubiquitous part of the diet in the Western world and it can prove difficult for those suffering with fatigue syndromes such as chronic fatigue syndrome, M.E. and fibromyalgia to avoid these products.

Although supermarkets and health food stores stock an ever-increasing range of foods and drinks for those with intolerances, it is still useful to be able to control the ingredients because a great many gluten-free products contain corn (maize) which may also be an issue, for example.

Below are listed some gluten- and dairy-free recipes that have proved useful.

Gluten-free baking

Whilst gluten is a common source of food intolerance and particularly digestive problems, it also works to retain moisture and ‘glue’ ingredients together. Gluten-free products tend to be crumblier and need to be eaten within a day or so otherwise they become dry. Health-food stores stock some gluten-free products and some products such as xanthan gum that can be added to enhance gluten-free baking.

In my opinion, gluten-free and yeast-free breads tend not to be very appetising. You may also find that you can tolerate refined flours better than wholemeal, because it is the husk of the grain that you may be reacting to.

Some artisan, real French breads and sour dough breads are made in the time-honoured way of being left to rise naturally overnight rather than using the mass-production, industrial Chorley Wood method and you may (by trial and error or muscle testing) work out which ones you can eat. Some people may be able to eat Soda bread where bicarbonate of soda is used as the raising agent instead of yeast.

On the whole though, I think it is better to abandon the idea of substitute foods altogether and just find tasty replacement foods. The muffins, pancakes, damper and potato cakes below can all replace the traditional sources of carbohydrate. If you have really bad problems with overgrowth of Candida, it is probably best not to use any recipes at all and just eat whole foods until you are much better.

Gluten-free baking powder

To make your own gluten-, corn- and aluminium-free baking powder: mix 2 parts cream of tartar, 1 part baking soda and 2 parts arrowroot powder and substitute measure for measure in recipes. Sometimes gluten-free cooking requires more raising agent than in standard recipes. Also, ensure that your gluten-free baking powder is relatively fresh as ingredients can lose their effectiveness.

Soda bread

If you can tolerate dairy, use buttermilk in place of rice milk.

500 g / 18 oz / 4 cups gluten-free flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 tbsp butter
Optional: 1 cup raisins
1 egg, lightly beaten
470 ml / 16 fl oz / 2 cups rice milk

Sift together the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Use either a food processor or work the butter into the flour mixture using a knife until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the raisins is desired. Make a well in the flour mixture, add the egg and rice milk, mix and then gently knead into a ball. Transfer to a lightly oiled baking sheet, flatten the ball, cut a cross into the dough with a serrated knife. Brush with milk and transfer to a hot oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes until golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Transfer to a rack to let cool briefly. Serve warm or toasted.

Muffins

I’m not pretending these are healthy because they contain refined flour and sugar, but as an occasional weekend treat when you are feeling deprived or taken to eat for breakfast when you are going to stay with friends who might not have the foods that you need they fit the bill perfectly. They can also be served as a dessert that is acceptable to others.

375 g / 13 oz / 3 cups gluten-free flour
5 teaspoons of gluten-free baking powder
90 g / 3 oz / 1/3 cup butter, chopped
220 g / 8 oz / 1 cup caster sugar
310 ml / 10 fl oz / 1.3 cups rice milk
1 egg or equivalent powdered egg substitute (add more liquid as directed if using egg substitute)

You will also need muffin cases and an appropriate baking tray – lightly oil the inside of the paper cases otherwise they will not part with their contents. Mix the dry ingredients with the butter and milk and spoon into the muffin cases. Cook for approximately 25 minutes on a moderate heat.

Variations:

Add grated orange rind and chopped dates
Add chunks of apple and blackberries
Add blueberries
Add chunks of chocolate and chopped nuts
Replace some of the flour with cocoa and add dried cherries and chopped macadamia nuts to the mix

These could also be made as a dinner party pudding flavoured with chocolate and orange rind with chunks of chocolate inserted into the mix to melt and served with soya ‘ice cream’ or orange sorbet.

Coconut and cherry muffins

300 g / 10 oz / 2 cups gluten-free flour
125 g / 4.5 oz / 5/8 cup butter
70 g / 2.5 oz / 1 cup shredded coconut
200 g / 7 oz / 1 cup dried cherries
150 g / 5 oz / 2/3 cup caster sugar
270 ml can coconut milk
1 egg or substitute (and additional fluid)

Mix and bake as above. Retain some shredded coconut to sprinkle over the top.

Blackberry streusel muffins

300 g / 10 oz / 2 cups gluten-free flour
3 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
Half a container or 1¼ cups frozen blackberries
1 medium apple peeled cored and coarsely grated
150 g / 5 oz / ¾ cup brown sugar
3 eggs beaten or substitute (include more liquid as per instructions)
3 fl oz / 100 ml / 1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 fl oz / 100 ml / 1/3 cup rice milk

Streusel topping:

1/3 cup gluten-free plain flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon mixed spice
30 g / 1 oz / 1/8 cup butter

Mix topping ingredients, wrap in cling film and refrigerate until cool enough to grate over the muffins. For the muffins, sift the flour and baking powder and mix the remaining ingredients adding the blackberries last. Spoon into oiled muffin cases add topping and bake in a moderately hot oven for about 20 minutes.

Prosciutto, basil and tomato muffins

5 slices prosciutto cut into strips
375 g / 13 oz / 3 cups gluten-free flour
5 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
90 g / 3 oz / 1/3 cup butter
1 egg beaten or egg substitute with additional liquid as suggested
390 ml / 13 fl oz / 1½ cups rice milk
50 g / 2 oz / ½ cup drained chopped dried tomatoes
2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
A little black pepper

Rub butter into sifted flour, stir in egg and milk. Add tomatoes, basil, garlic and spoon into muffin cases. Top with strips of prosciutto and brush lightly with oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes in moderately hot oven and then cover with foil and bake for 10 more minutes.

Damper

525 g / 18 oz / 3½ cups gluten-free flour
8 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon caster sugar
40 g / butter
125 ml / 4 fl oz / ½ cup rice milk
310 ml / 10 fl oz / 1¼ cups water

Sift flour, sugar and salt, rub in butter and stir in milk to make a sticky dough. Knead on a floured surface until smooth. Place on greased baking tray, press into a 16 cm / 6 inch round, cut a cross about 1 cm / ½ inch deep, brush with rice milk, sprinkle with flour and bake in a moderately hot oven for 45 minutes.

Apple crumble

Crumble topping:

120 g / 4 oz / granulated sugar
120 g / 4 oz cups butter
150 g / 5 oz gluten-free flour
Optional rolled oats and/or chopped nuts

Apple filling:

¾ teaspoon cinnamon
60 g / 2 oz sugar
3 medium cooking apples

Peel and chop the apples coarsely, arrange in a casserole and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon evenly throughout. Sprinkle the crumble topping over and bake in a moderately hot over for 40 minutes. You may want to brown the top under the grill - briefly. Give it 15 minutes to cool as it can be very hot.

No-cook chocolate rice/corn fingers

140 g / 5 oz / 5/8 cup unsalted butter
340 g / 12 oz / 2 cups milk chocolate
85 g / 3 oz / 1/3 cup golden syrup
200 g / 7 oz / puffed rice or cornflakes

Food for your inner child - or an actual child. Melt the butter, chocolate and syrup over hot water. Stir in the rice or cornflakes, press into a tin, chill and slice.

Dairy-free dessert recipes

Dairy products give a creamy texture and are used in most desserts. Soya creams, custards and ‘ice creams’ are now available, but soya brings problems of its own (most soy is now genetically modified and soya has anti-thyroid actions) so I would use these products sparingly. Nothing can truly replace the properties of cream and milk (whipping to be firm, etc) and it is best to seek out tasty alternative meals rather than ersatz products.

You could make your own sorbets or non-dairy ‘ice creams’ at home and for this you may need an ice-cream/sorbet maker. Essentially though, desserts have no nutritional value and are, by definition high GI foods. So really other than high days and holidays, you may want to forget about puddings. It is ultimately not good practice to educate your children and other family members to expect puddings either.

Pears poached in vanilla syrup

2 ripe pears per person
A tablespoon of sugar per person
Vanilla pod
Lemon juice

Peel, core and half the pears and coat in lemon juice to prevent discolouring. Make a syrup in a frying pan using the sugar, water and a vanilla pod and let it reduce down for a few minutes before placing the pears in the syrup for 10 minutes or so turning once.

Coconut rice pudding

6 green cardamom pods
400 ml can reduced fat coconut milk
75 g castor sugar
150 g Arborio rice

Split the cardamom pods, remove the seeds and discard the pods. Crush the seeds to form a coarse powder. Place the coconut milk with 400 ml water in a pan, stir in the cardamom powder and caster sugar heat to boil and then reduce to simmer. Place rice in another pan and stir in a third of the warm coconut milk simmer, stirring constantly until all the liquid is absorbed. Ladle in the rest of the milk mixture until the rice is cooked and tender. Can serve with the caramelised pineapple (see below).

Caramelised pineapple

1 large ripe pineapple
4 passion fruit
The juice of 1 orange
4 tablespoons light muscavado sugar

Remove the peel and slice the pineapple into thick rounds and then each round into half. Take the flesh out of the passion fruit and work it through a sieve to extract the juice. Discard the seeds. Mix the juice produced with the orange juice. Heat a grill and lay half of the pineapple slices on a baking tray and sprinkle them with half the sugar and half the juice mixture. Grill for 2-3 minutes until caramelised. Repeat with the remaining pineapple, sugar and juice. Serve hot with the juices. Can serve with mango sorbet or coconut rice pudding.

Instant strawberry and coconut ice cream

450 g / 1 lb / 4 cups strawberries
450 ml / 16 fl oz / 2 cups thick coconut milk or cream – or a mix of the two.

Halve strawberries and freeze them uncovered on a baking tray. Put coconut milk or cream in the fridge until very cold. Process together in food processor and eat immediately. The thicker the cream the more ice-cream like the end result. To sweeten make a sugar syrup beforehand, refrigerate and add to the mix to taste.

Further resources

More gluten- and dairy-free recipes are available at www.newdiets.com.

For an in-depth discussion of the ideal diet for fatigue syndromes, please see chapter 14 of Chronic Fatigue, M.E. and Fibromyalgia: The Natural Recovery Plan.

You might also be interested in the following:

Food Intolerances

Special Diets

Meal Suggestions

Cooking Without Gluten and Dairy

Book Review: Trick and Treat

Modern Malnutrition

Coeliac Disease: The Undiagnosed Epidemic

Gluten Intolerance

Wheat and Gluten Allergies

Alternatives to Dairy Products

The Five Most Reactive Foods

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Gluten and dairy-free recipes: Article summary

This article gives dairy-free, gluten-free and yeast-free recipes suitable for chronic fatigue syndrome, M.E., fibromyalgia and autoimmune disease based upon the dietary advice offered in The Natural Recovery Plan book by Alison Adams.

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