Celebration Roaster
I would celebrate the first day of my discovery diet with a roast chicken or turkey dinner. Although I might share that first meal with family or friends, I’d make sure the bird was big enough to provide leftovers to serve to myself later in the week, and I’d make several quarts of broth from the carcass.
4 to 8 pound whole roasting chicken, turkey, or turkey breast (Read the label to make sure that the bird is just a bird and contains no injections of oil, butter, seasonings, or anything else.)
½ teaspoon salt
Several stems of rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary or tarragon (optional)
Olive oil (1 teaspoon per 3 pounds of meat)
Preheat oven to 425°. Remove giblets and discard them, and wash bird inside and out with cold water. Dry with paper towels. Sprinkle cavity with salt, and put rosemary or tarragon in cavity. Rub skin with olive oil and place bird on a rack in a shallow pan. If you desire, loosen the skin completely and rub underneath the skin with salt and herbs. Place in oven and reduce heat to 350°.
Bake until juices run clear when thigh is pierced with a fork or a meat thermometer registers 190°.Allow 20 to 25 minutes roasting time per pound. When bird is done, remove from oven and let sit for at least 10 minutes. Cut away thighs and wings, and slice breast. Save skin for making broth.
Serve with baked yams and steamed spinach. If you are dining with others, you could add cranberry sauce and cooked cauliflower sprinkled with cheddar cheese.
After dinner, remove remaining large pieces of meat from the bones and wrap in meal-size packages. Refrigerate any packages that you expect to eat within the next day or two; freeze the rest.
Proceed to the recipe for chicken broth.
Poached Chicken
Instead of baking your chicken, you can poach it.
3 to 4 pound chicken (whole or cut into pieces)
1 carrot, cut into small pieces
1 onion (optional), diced
1 stalk celery cut into small pieces
½ teaspoon salt water
Rinse the chicken. Put in a large pot and cover with water. Add carrot, onion (optional), and celery. Add enough water to cover chicken, at least 1 quart. Bring to a boil. Skim off foam and simmer for 1 hour.
Lift out chicken and vegetables. When cool enough to handle, remove large pieces of meat and return bones and skin to pot. Continue with recipe for chicken broth.
Serve poached chicken with rice and beets.
Chicken Breasts or Turkey Breasts
Olive oil
Chicken breast halves, boneless (1 half-breast per serving)
Salt and pepper to taste
Sprinkle with dried rosemary, thyme, or tarragon (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly rub a shallow pan or pie plate with olive oil. Remove any skin from chicken breasts and lay them in pan with a bit of space between pieces. Oil tops of breasts and sprinkle with salt and tarragon, pepper, thyme, or rosemary. Place in oven and bake until the juices run clear when the breasts are pierced with a fork, about 1 hour.
You might consider cooking enough chicken breasts for several meals, as they are good hot or cold and freeze well.
Serve with wild rice mixture and asparagus.
Beef
Rare beef is a no-no for those of us with stomach disorders. Be sure to trim fat off beef. Usually, I recommend smaller portions (3 ounces) for people with digestive disorders.
Pot Roast
This is a family or company dish which will serve 4 to 6 and reheats easily. Begin preparation 8 or more hours before you wish to serve it, or the previous day.
Step 1:
2 to 3 pound boneless beef roast (chuck, rump, or top or bottom round)
1 onion, chopped (optional)
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1 bay leaf, crumbled
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon herbs—rosemary, thyme, cumin, or basil, or a combination of several herbs
Hot water
Preheat the oven to 450°. Trim as much fat as possible from the roast. Lightly coat the bottom of a Dutch oven or flameproof casserole with olive oil. Add the beef and place in the oven. Do not cover. When the meat is lightly browned on one side, turn the meat and add the onion, carrot, and celery. Lower the heat to 350°. Continue to roast uncovered for 10 minutes. Add seasonings and enough water to almost cover the meat. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, and return to the oven. When the liquid is simmering, lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the meat pierces easily with a fork, about 2 ½ hours. Add more water as the liquid evaporates. Place a colander over a large bowl and drain the roast, discarding the vegetables and bay leaf. Cut away any visible fat that adheres to the meat. Refrigerate the meat in the liquid.
Step 2:
Cooked meat and liquid from Step 1
A selection of vegetables: carrots, turnips, potatoes, parsnips and/or zucchini
Salt and pepper to taste
An hour before serving time, remove the fat, which will have hardened on top of the liquid. Return the liquid and the meat to the Dutch oven. Heat to a simmer on top of the stove. Peel the vegetables and cut into large pieces or chunks, all about the same size. When the liquid is simmering, add carrots and/or turnips. Simmer for 10 minutes, and then add the other vegetables. If the Dutch oven is not large enough to hold all of the vegetables, some may be cooked separately in beef liquid plus water.
Taste for seasoning and add salt or pepper as required. Cut the meat into slices or chunks, and place with the vegetables in a large bowl or platter. Serve the broth on the side. If you prefer thickened gravy, put a cooked potato and a cooked carrot in the blender with a little broth. Keep adding broth until the mixture is the consistency of gravy.
Leftovers may be coated with broth and stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Save any extra broth for soups or pilaf.
Classic Steak
3 to 6 ounce New York steak
Pepper, lightly sprinkled on both sides
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
Preheat broiler. Trim fat from steak and cut into 3 to 4 ounce pieces. Sprinkle with dried pepper, thyme, and rosemary. Broil each side approximately 5 to 10 minutes or until done.
Lamb
Lamb is a fine source of protein and easily digested by most people. Any of the following herbs and spices enhance the flavor of lamb: ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, mint, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
Roast Lamb
Serves four.
1 ½ to 2-pound boneless rolled shoulder or leg of lamb 1 teaspoon herbs and spices, in any combination (optional): ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, mint, rosemary, salt, pepper
Preheat oven to 450°. Remove any wrappings from lamb, rub with herbs or spices (optional), and place on a rack over a shallow pan. Place in oven. As soon as lamb is in oven, reduce heat to 325° and roast 1 to 1 ½ hours until well-done (165° on a meat thermometer).
Leftover roast may be served cold or reheated briefly in a microwave.
Serve with baked acorn squash and celery or fennel.
Sautéed Lamb Chops or Patties
Makes 1 serving.
Olive oil
1 loin or shoulder lamb chop, or ¼ to 1/3 pound ground lamb shaped into a patty,
¼ teaspoon herbs and spices, in any combination (optional): ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, mint, rosemary, salt, pepper.
Rub a nonstick skillet with olive oil and place over low-to medium heat. Add meat to skillet and sprinkle with herbs and spices (optional). Sauté until meat at center is no longer pink, pouring off grease as it accumulates in pan.
Serve with vegetable roast.
Lamb Kabobs
Lamb shoulder cut into 1-inch cubes (about 4 cubes per serving)
¼ teaspoon coriander (or other herbs suggested for roast lamb) per serving
1 teaspoon olive oil per serving
Squares of onion
Remove all fat from lamb and toss with coriander and oil. Slide onto skewers alternating with onion squares. Broil or grill until meat is well-done.
Serve with potato chips and cooked greens.
*You may substitute lean-but-tender beef for the lamb.
Fish
Fish Fillets or Steaks
¼ to ½ pound fish fillets or steaks per person: salmon, cod, halibut or other white fish
Dill
Lemon
Nothing could be more simple than cooking fish in the microwave. Place fish in a glass pie plate. Top with a sprig of dill or a pinch of dried dill and a slice of lemon. Cover with waxed paper and microwave on high. The time depends on the microwave and the thickness and number of pieces. If you are doing only one piece, check after 2 minutes; four pieces will take at least 4 minutes. The fish is done if it flakes when pierced in the center and lifted with a fork.
If you don’t have a microwave, place fish and dill in about ½ inch of water in a skillet. Cover and simmer over low-to medium heat until fish flakes. Lift to a plate and squeeze lemon juice over it.
Serve with wild rice mixture and carrots.
Tuna – Select water-packed solid white tuna, allowing no more than 3 ounces per serving. Add to a baked potato or rice pilaf. Serve with zucchini casserole.
Stir-Fried Vegetables – Cut any of the following vegetables to approximately uniform size: carrots, celery, onions, and green or yellow squash. Sauté in olive oil, keeping vegetables moving in pan until they are tender, approximately 10 minutes. Add a small amount of water if the pan gets too dry. Season with your choice of herbs.
Summer Vegetables Medley – Peel and cut a medium-size eggplant into chunks. Cut a zucchini into thick slices and an onion into thin slices. Sauté all vegetables until tender, adding basil, oregano, and cumin to taste, for 10 minutes.
Vegetable Roast – Rub a large cookie sheet with olive oil, and cover sheet with a single layer of any or all of these vegetables, thinly sliced: carrots, beets, potatoes, zucchini, and onions. Rub vegetable tops with olive oil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until all vegetables are easily pierced with a fork. You can add oregano, basil, or thyme.
Winter Vegetable Medley – Peel and cut any or all of the following vegetables into large pieces of nearly equal size: onions, potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, carrots, and parsnips. Steam with ½ teaspoon caraway seeds.
Sweet Potato and Carrot Purée
1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3 large carrots, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil or flax
¼ to ½ teaspoon minced ginger (optional)
In a medium saucepan, cover sweet potatoes and carrots with cold water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over medium heat until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Put vegetables in blender, add oil and ginger, and purée until smooth.
Zucchini Casserole
3 zucchini
1 small onion
Olive oil (1 tablespoon per 4 cups of vegetables
Oregano, salt, pepper, marjoram to taste
Slice vegetables and layer in casserole. Pour olive oil over vegetables.
Sprinkle with oregano, salt, pepper, and marjoram. Add 1/2-inch of water. Place in oven and bake, uncovered, until vegetables are tender. Stir occasionally, so that top vegetables do not get too brown.