When you first realise the dietary restrictions that are imposed by your chronic fatigue syndrome (C.F.S.), myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.), fibromyalgia or autoimmune disease or by the requirement of helping your body to heal, it can be overwhelming.
Below are some meal suggestions and recipes to get you thinking outside the box of eating wheat and dairy at every meal (as almost everybody does!).
Breakfast recipes
Buckwheat pancakes
Buckwheat is particularly good for fatigue syndrome sufferers. A gluten-free grain substitute and relative of rhubarb, it contains more protein than other grains and is high in magnesium, iron and potassium – in addition to being delicious.
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70 g / 2.5 oz / ¾ cup light or dark buckwheat flour
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1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder (see below)
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A little salt
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Powdered cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
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6 tbsps rice milk/soya milk/prune juice and/or water
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1 teaspoon of egg substitute or 1 egg (and additional fluid to mix as suggested)
I mix four times the quantity of all the dry ingredients including egg-substitute and store in a container. Then all you need do is take 2 moderately heaped tablespoons per person of the mix and add enough fluid to mix to a batter consistency.
The frying pan should be moderately hot and lightly oiled so that the pancake mix sizzles when it first hits the pan. Cook and turn. Drop blueberries or blackberries into the pancake, or serve with berries, stewed fruit, bacon, etc. This mix can make small round pancakes, larger pancakes for folding or can also be cooked in a waffle iron.
Rice porridge
A filling and satisfying gluten-free and dairy-free breakfast - allow 15 minutes to cook. A quicker version can be made using ground rice to make a rice ‘semolina’ style hot breakfast cereal.
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1 part rice flakes
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5 parts rice milk (approximately)
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A few drops of vanilla essence
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A little cinnamon and/or nutmeg
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Salt to taste
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A little agave syrup
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Optional: Dried cherries or other dried fruit
Cook stirring the ingredients and adding rice milk as necessary. Serve plain with stewed berries, or with dried fruit in the mix and a little agave syrup or xylitol. Stir in nut butters (such an almond), flaked almonds and a little almond essence for a different flavour.
Potato cakes
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1 cup boiled floury potatoes
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1 tablespoon butter
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2 tablespoons gluten-free or potato flour
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Salt to taste
A delicious alternative gluten-free carbohydrate source. Mash the potatoes with the butter while they are still hot, add the salt and flour to form a dough and roll onto a floured board. Cut into rounds (they can be dusted with flour and frozen between sheets of greaseproof paper like this) and fry or griddle for a few minutes each side. Serve hot. Eat with bacon, tomatoes, gluten-free sausages or baked beans.
Scrambled eggs and smoked salmon
A quick nutritious meal when you don’t feel like cooking a proper meal. Make the scrambled eggs with rice milk and serve with strips of smoked salmon over the top.
NB: See also baking recipes for soda bread, damper and/or muffins and the rosti recipe below.
Lunch recipes
Making stocks
Real stock adds a great depth and flavour to home cooked foods such as soups and risottos – and are also a great source of minerals such as calcium. If you have never made stock before, now is the time to learn.
It couldn’t be simpler.
First you can collect any leftover bones and if you haven’t got time to make stock at least put them in the freezer for later use. Alternatively, most butchers will give away bones for free. You can break the bones up a little for a chicken carcass, cover in water and add a couple of sticks of celery and a couple of carrots chopped into coarse chunks (and they don’t need to be in the first flush of youth either). Add an onion or two with a few cloves stuck in, a few chunks of leek, some peppercorns, a bouquet garni and some parsley stalks if you have them.
Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to simmer gently for a couple of hours. Skim off any scum that forms and then pass the stock through a colander and let it cool removing any fat that forms on the surface. This can then be further reduced to intensify the flavour. Stock freezes well and you can freeze in various containers including ice cube trays for future use in risottos, etc.
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Soups
I just can’t imagine where I would be without soups. I have a big cook-up at the weekend throughout the winter and make double quantities - some of which can be frozen for future use. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine you should eat warming foods in winter and cooling foods in summer. On this basis, soups form the basis of my lunches for the 6 dark and cold months of the year and salads the basis for the 6 months of more summer-like weather.
You can make really tasty, healthy soups without feeling the slightest bit deprived. If you cannot tolerate the cream or flour that others might use to thicken or for a creamy effect, you can rely upon cooking up root vegetables that will liquidise down to a smooth soup. Soups, and especially smooth soups, are also an excellent way of getting nutrition into people whose digestive system may be very compromised.
Match your root vegetable to the colour of the soup for best effect. The key is not to drown the vegetables, but to add enough stock just to cover the ingredients and to cook until all the ingredients are soft.
Two pepper soup
Yellow pepper soup:
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2-3 yellow peppers
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Flesh of a medium sized squash
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2-3 onions
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3 sticks of celery
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1 clove of garlic
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Chicken or vegetable stock to cover
Red pepper soup:
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2-3 red peppers
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2-3 sweet potatoes
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2-3 onions
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3 sticks of celery
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1 clove of garlic
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Chicken or vegetable stock to cover
Use a separate pan for each soup and sauté the peppers and onions for a few minutes adding the garlic, celery and either sweet potato or squash. Add stock, season and cook until soft. Liquidise and pass through a colander. Swirl one soup inside the other for an impressive effect. Do three soups including green pepper for dinner party fare.
French onion soup
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700 g / 1.5 lb onions, thinly sliced
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2 tablespoons olive oil
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50 g / 2 oz butter
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2 cloves garlic, crushed
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½ level teaspoon granulated sugar
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1.5 litres / 3 pints good beef stock
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Salt and black pepper
Cook the onions in a casserole on the hob along with the olive oil, butter, sugar and garlic. The onions will caramelise. Turn the heat down to low and let cook for 30 minutes, then add the beef stock scraping the caramelised mix off the casserole and leave on the lowest setting for an hour without a lid.
Red pepper and tomato soup
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3 red peppers
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2 medium sized onions
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A few sticks of celery
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A 400 g / 14 oz can of tomatoes
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2-3 sweet potatoes
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Chicken or vegetable stock
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A clove of garlic chopped
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Olive oil
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Salt and black pepper
Chop and sauté the red peppers and onions for a few minutes, add in the chopped celery, garlic and sweet potato chunks and sauté for a few more minutes before adding the can of tomatoes and covering the vegetables in stock. Season as required. Cook until all the vegetables are soft, liquidise and you may want to pass the mix through a colander to remove any lumps without removing too much fibre.
Basic tomato soup
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4 beef tomatoes or 8-10 regular tomatoes, chopped and/or canned tomatoes
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2 -3 sweet potatoes an equivalent quantity of squash and/or floury potatoes
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Chicken or vegetable stock
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2 onions, chopped
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2-3 sticks of celery
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Garlic
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Salt and black pepper
Sauté onions, add garlic, celery and sweet/floury potatoes or squash. Add in tomatoes and stock and season. Cook until soft and liquidise. Pass through a colander to remove tomato skins and seed and any lumps. Serve with chopped basil.
Tomato, pea and rice soup
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Basic tomato soup
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Rice
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Peas
As above but make a thinner soup by including more stock. Then throw a handful of rice into the thin tomato soup and stir occasionally cooking until the rice is soft and add the peas in the last few minutes of cooking. This makes the soup more substantial and if wholegrain rice is used adds fibre.
Minestrone soup
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Basic tomato soup
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Bacon or gammon strips or lardons
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Canned chick peas or beans of your choice
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Chunks of firm vegetables such as new potato, carrot, peppers, etc
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Small rice pasta like elbows or bows
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Green beans and/or peas
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Fresh herbs such as basil or parsley
Sauté the bacon pieces, add in the vegetable chunks and cook for a few minutes before adding the thin tomato soup. Cook for 15-20 minutes adding in peas, if used, after 10-15 minutes. Take off the heat before the pasta is fully cooked as it continues to cook in its own heat for a while and some rice pastas are notorious for disintegrating. This soup can be incredibly tasty and filling whilst incorporating up to a dozen vegetables, carbohydrates and protein.
Main meal recipes
Meat and fish
Roast, grilled or fried meat and fish should be O.K. for all but the most compromised digestions. Experiment with fresh herbs and marinades made with olive oil, lemon juice, herbs and spices to give flavour and variety.
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Roasted vegetables
Not exactly a recipe, but if you haven’t already discovered the joy of roasted vegetables you may want to do so now. Roast chunks of sweet potatoes; different kinds of squash; pumpkin; quartered fennel bulbs or onion (leave the ‘heart’ intact to prevent disintegration); leeks; turnips; parsnips; Swede; Jerusalem artichoke; courgettes; red, yellow, orange or green peppers by brushing with olive oil or goose fat in a moderate oven.
Turn the vegetables once or twice during cooking and you can add in herbs towards the end of the cooking time if you wish. Depending upon the size of the chunks, squash, turnips, Swede, Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin and sweet potato probably take an hour; fennel and onions 45 minutes and courgettes and peppers 30 minutes. So add vegetables in during the cooking time to serve together.
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Char-grilled vegetables
Again, a suggestion rather than a recipe. Slice courgettes or aubergines thinly lengthwise, cut peppers into long slices and fennel and/or red onions into wedges keeping some of the stalk attached to prevent them falling apart. Brush with olive oil and grill turning once. Put the hot vegetables straight into either a plastic bag or a plastic container and seal to get the vegetables to sweat and soften. Eat warm or refrigerate and serve with rice or coconut rice (see below), salad, balsamic vinegar, sautéed chorizo sausage, etc.
Coconut rice
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450 g long grain rice
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25 g / 1 oz butter
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1 litre / 2 pints cold water
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50 g / 2 oz creamed coconut
Rinse the rice in cold water, sauté in the butter and then add cold water and salt, stir, bring to the boil and simmer with a lid on for 25 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat and add the creamed coconut. Cover the pan with a clean tea towel and replace the lid. This allows the coconut to melt and the rice to absorb the steam. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve with grilled prawns, stir fry, etc.
Rosti
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1 baking or floury potato/person
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1 onion/person
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A little salt and pepper
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Butter and olive oil to cook
Grate baking potatoes on the coarsest setting either by hand or using a food processor. Slice the onions finely lengthwise so that they form shreds rather than rings. Mix the two ingredients together with a little salt and pepper if desired. Put a generous amount of olive oil and a good knob of butter in a frying pan on a medium heat and add and level the potato mixture. Put a flat plate on top of the mix so that it part-fries, part-steams and the mixture is compressed.
After 15 or so minutes take the plate off, tease the rosti from the pan then replace the plate and (using oven gloves) flip the pan, plate and rosti over. Slide the rosti off the plate back into the pan to cook the other side for a further 15 minutes. Slice into halves or quarters and serve. This is a tasty form of potatoes with a main meal, but also good with a cooked breakfast served with bacon and tomatoes. Rosti can also be made with potatoes only also.
Fish cakes
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Smoked salmon/a can of salmon and/or fresh cooked salmon steaks OR smoked mackerel OR a couple of cans of tuna fish
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2 -3 floury potatoes
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1 onion
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1 stick of celery, fennel or leek to taste
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An egg lightly beaten
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Lemon juice
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Gluten-free breadcrumbs
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Oil for cooking
Peel and chop the potatoes and cook in salted water until soft. Finely chop the onion and optional celery/leek or fennel if desired and sauté to soften in a little oil. Mash the potato leaving some lumps and add the flaked or chopped fish, the softened onion mix and a little lemon juice, season to taste and add an egg to bind. These are best made beforehand and formed into ‘cakes’ and left to cool in the refrigerator - or could be frozen. Brush the fish cakes in egg and dip in gluten-free breadcrumbs and fry on both sides in moderately deep oil. Tasty served with salad and/or peas and a squeeze of lemon.
Lemon risotto
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Chicken, vegetable or fish stock
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3½ tablespoons butter
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1½ tablespoons olive oil
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2 large shallots, chopped
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1 stick of celery
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2 cups Arborio rice
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2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
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4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
Heat the stock in a pan, along with the lemon juice and peel. Reduce heat to low and cover. Chop finely or food-process the shallots and celery and sauté in a knob of the butter and the oil until soft and then add the rice and stir. Add the hot lemony stock ladle by ladle until it is all absorbed each time and until the rice is creamy and tender but still al dente (firm). Stir in the remaining butter, season and add parsley if desired. Serve immediately with green salad and grilled fish.
Spicy rice pasta
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Chorizo sausage
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A can of tomatoes
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Rice pasta
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Chilli flakes
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Salt
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Olive oil for cooking
This is a super-quick lazy meal using store cupboard ingredients for when you really don’t feel like cooking. Note that rice pastas vary enormously - some just fall apart when cooked, but others hold their shape and texture - so shop around. Put the pasta on to cook in salted water. Chop the chorizo sausage and sauté on a moderate heat for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, some chilli flakes and salt to taste and cook for a few minutes. Stir the al dente pasta into the mix with a little of the salted water it has been cooking in to absorb the juices for a few more minutes and consume.
Further resources
For more information about the ideal diet for fatigue syndrome sufferers, please see chapter 14 of Chronic Fatigue, M.E., and Fibromyalgia: The Natural Recovery Plan.
"Chronic Fatigue, ME and Fibromyalgia: The Natural Recovery Plan is a brave and ground breaking book."
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