Cooking For Allergies

Today I had a great cook date for a new client. She contacted me after receiving results from her ALCAT test, showing what foods to avoid because of allergic reactions. The results sheet shows all the intolerances, but also gives a recommend 4-day rotation diet with a list for each day of food items that can be incorporated.

Each day has a column of foods, oils and spices that should be eaten for a particular day. So I set about developing menus, two meals for each day. Today I prepared for her eight meals, with two servings of each meal.

This was a fun and interesting challenge, kind of like being on Chopped! Each day's food could only use certain oils and spices, and each day had a limited number of proteins to choose from. For example, one day's choice was pork, and the spice choices included coffee and cocoa. So, I made a rub with coffee and cocoa and it was great!

I had to make a "recipe" for each meal to make sure I kept it all straight. Granted, some of the recipes had only three ingredients, given the restrictions. But all in all, the food turned out great. The thought came to me more than once that great food doesn't have to be complicated, just use high quality ingredients and a little creativity!

Here are some pics from today:

Pecan Roasted Salmon with White Rice

Basil Chicken with Wild Rice

Buffalo Meatballs with Roasted White Potatoes