Cooking ideas for a restricted diet?

March 6, 2019 12:43 PM

I’m breastfeeding my son who has multiple food allergies, so I’m on a very limited elimination diet. What delicious things can one make with *only* these ingredients?

I can eat:

Chicken
Pork
Rice
Oats (and oat milk)
Coconut (milk, oil, shredded coconut, etc.)
Olive oil
Apples
Pears
Peaches
Blueberries
Raspberries
Lemon
Avocado
Carrots
Broccoli (and anything else that’s Brassica oleracea like cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale)
Spinach
Potatoes
Vanilla
Baking soda
Maple syrup
Sugar (cane sugar or brown sugar)
Salt

What meal, snack, or dessert recipes/methods/ideas use or can be modified to use only those ingredients?

I’m a good cook with an Instant Pot, a food processor, and most other kitchen gadgets, and I’m fortunate to have nice folks who will cook for me too. Bonus points for foods that are quick, filling, and/or flavorful without onions/garlic or spices.

(Please don’t suggest I stop breastfeeding. I know it’s a fine - and sometimes very tempting - option, but for now the emotional benefits of nursing to both my son and me outweigh the dietary inconveniences.)

Thank you!

posted by bananacabana to Food & Drink (28 answers total)

Roast brassicas in olive oil! My favorite is Brussels sprouts cut in half and roasted cut side down at 375 for an hour or so, but you can use any brassica (including frozen broccoli florets, etc) and you can do a shorter roast at a higher temp. Throw some chicken and potatoes in the pan for a sheet-pan meal. Don’t underestimate how good things taste with just a bunch of olive oil and salt.
posted by mskyle at 12:49 PM on March 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

Oats with Maple Roasted Apples and Cheddar.

I’ve made this, and you totally could skip the cheddar, and use olive oil and coconut/oat milk in place of regular milk.

I know you might feel restricted right now, but know that looking at that list my mouth is watering in terms of ingredients. I hope to think of more for you later.
posted by carabiner at 1:03 PM on March 6, 2019

Oats (and oat milk)
Coconut (milk, oil, shredded coconut, etc.)
Vanilla
Maple syrup
Sugar (cane sugar or brown sugar)
Salt


Granola bars, for eating one handed.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:05 PM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

This gluten-free flapjack recipe could be modified to remove the chocolate (WHICH SHOULDN'T BE THERE ANYWAYS) and replace it with some shredded coconut or more oats:
https://www.peacefuldumpling.com/recipe/flapjacks

I would probably not use a full 1/2 cup of coconut or oats to replace the chocolate, maybe a tablespoon or so less than 1/2 cup. I would have LOVED these while breastfeeding.
posted by Sauter Vaguely at 1:07 PM on March 6, 2019

Colcannon can be made with spinach or cabbage or kale, and just sub in olive oil for the butter.

Forgive me for asking, but can you eat fresh green herbs like cilantro, basil, parsley? If so, those can be chopped/whirled up into herb sauces that can bring a lot of flavor to otherwise plain food like roasted veggies, baked chicken, or potatoes cooked in your preferred style.
posted by CiaoMela at 1:08 PM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

For a snack, I'd make a guacamole from avocado + lemon + salt and dip carrot sticks in it.

For dessert, how about vegan rice pudding? Sub the almond milk with water + more coconut milk and top with whatever fruit you can eat.
posted by noxperpetua at 1:08 PM on March 6, 2019

We often cut up raw chicken, carrots, and parboiled potatoes into bite-sized pieces, coat everything with seasoned flour and fry it in an electric skillet. I expect it would work just as well with oat flour. If you can't use pepper or any other spices, salt alone would probably be sufficient for seasoning.
posted by Redstart at 1:16 PM on March 6, 2019

Response by poster: These are amazing, thank you so much and please keep them coming!

can you eat fresh green herbs like cilantro, basil, parsley?
I can’t have fresh herbs right now, but thank you!
posted by bananacabana at 1:18 PM on March 6, 2019

Using this Nom Nom Paleo recipe for green pork sliders as a launch pad, could you use

Pork
Coconut
Olive oil
Spinach
Salt

to make some kind of meatbally thing? Coconut flour, pork, and spinach get combined and fried in olive oil or coconut oil. Avocado goes on top.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:28 PM on March 6, 2019

Ok thanks for the clarification! Wasn't sure if that fell within the brassica family. Here are some other thoughts:

Mixed berries cooked down to a sauce, maybe with a little maple syrup and/or vanilla, over oatmeal made with water, oat milk, or even water/coconut milk

Spinach salad with thin sliced apples and avocado with a lemon/olive oil dressing (plus your choice of protein on top)

Baked apples! mix some oats and coconut oil together and stuff inside a cored apple that you've partially peeled on top, then drizzle with maple syrup and a touch of vanilla and bake for 15-30 min at 350

I'd experiment with mashed/whipping together avocado, spinach, lemon, and salt to make a green goddess-like dressing to drizzle over roasted chicken or a roasted pork loin

Actually, pork loin (or any kind of pork) is excellent paired with fruit--you can roast apples or pears along with the pork or even experiment with making a blueberry sauce to pour over it

Roast whole chicken or whole chicken parts over your potatoes and carrots--those dripping will make the veg delicious


Good luck!
posted by CiaoMela at 1:29 PM on March 6, 2019

I just made the most delicious baked oatmeal this weekend, using only items from your list* (I don't even like oatmeal, but was desperate to use up a glut of pears).

This makes about 8 smallish servings:

First make pear compote by chopping 6 pears (I used bosc, no need to peel) up into 1/2 inch chunks, toss them in a pan, add a couple tbs of sugar and the juice of 1 lemon. Heat & simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until the pears are translucent.

Then, in a large bowl, mix 3 cups oats with 1+1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. If you wanted to add some coconut shreds to the dry mix, I would endorse that plan.

In a medium bowl, mix the compote with 1 cup coconut milk, 2 cups oatmilk, 2 tsp vanilla, 1/3 cup maple syrup, and two more pears chopped into very tiny shreds (or grate them). I think changing the milk ratio would be fine if you wanted more coconut flavor.

Mix wet mix into dry. Grease a 8x13 pyrex with coconut oil, pour in mix (it will be a little liquidy) and bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 until golden brown and more or less solid.

*well, baking powder instead of baking soda, but I think you could switch them or skip it without any ill effects since it's not like the oatmeal rises a lot.
posted by snaw at 1:30 PM on March 6, 2019

Baked apples topped with a bit of oats and maple, I like Granny Smiths for this
Berry Cobbler with an olive oil only butter substitute and possibly whipped coconut milk if you can swing that
Pork chops and apple sauce with a side of spinach sautéed in olive oil
Carrot and potato soup in home made chicken broth and bacon fat (bones, boiled. Leaving the herbs out until you can add some in. The gelatin will still add some body and the meat will add a bit of flavor. The bacon fat will do heavy lifting)
Bacon and apples
Bacon and spinach
Bacon and any brassica
Maple glazed carrots
posted by bilabial at 1:42 PM on March 6, 2019

Also from Nom Nom Paleo, this Kalua Pig Instant Pot recipe is insanely good (and super easy), and the cabbage is so, so delicious made this way.

(When we made this we used her Magic Mushroom powder, which is mentioned as a possible alternative to the salt in the recipe, but I do recommend for those not on a spice restricted diet. We made a half recipe, which is plenty to have on hand for personal use.)
posted by taz at 1:47 PM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Avocado makes a great dessert mousse. One avocado, squeeze of lemon, 1-2 tablespoons sugar (or to taste) and enough oat milk (or coconut milk beverage) to make it blend. If you do it in a regular blender, you'd probably add enough oat milk to make a thick milkshake consistency, if you do it in a bowl with an immersion blender, or use a food processor, you can end up more like spoonable mousse.

Or if you aren't into the sweet avo, stick with rice cakes with salted avocado and a squeeze of lemon
posted by aimedwander at 1:47 PM on March 6, 2019

For dinner meals, you can make maplesyrup glazed pork roast! Or pork chops, served on a bed of baby spinach. And you can roast a whole chicken with your potatoes and veg (par boiled.) And you can make all the smoothies with your fruits, coconut water or oat milk, and avocado.

Also you should know that you can take cold, leftover colcannon and form it into fishcake-sized pats and pan-fry it. This too is good served over lemon spinach.

If you can eat rice, can you eat rice cakes? Because you can eat smashed avocado on rice cakes and it is pretty nice for snacks.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:55 PM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

When I was just home with my new babe, I remember loving roast chicken with potatoes and veg. Lately I like to do them all together on a sheet pan, with the chicken in pieces, potatoes cut in wedges, and brussels sprouts or broccoli. Toss everything in olive oil with salt and pepper, arrange on pans, roast at 425 for 15 mins, then turn down to 375 for another 25-30 mins.

Also roast chicken and mashed potatoes with pan gravy. No need to use flour in it. I put a halved lemon inside the chicken, and instead of rubbing with butter use olive oil.

I also have done a kind of poached/braised chicken, where you cook it in a dutch oven with some white wine and herbs (use a layer of foil pressed close over the bird to make sure it's well sealed in,) which makes a nice broth to go over rice. If no herbs, then just olive oil and lemon juice and s&p would be fine too I bet.

Avocado with dressing in the hole where the pit was, just scoop it out with a spoon.

All the fruit crisp! Cut up 4 cups apples (with or without pears added in) or mixed berries and put it in a 9x9 pan. Make a crumble topping, 1 1/2 cups oats with coconut oil and maple sugar (you can get maple sugar, probably? It's expensive but tastes amazing) and cinnamon and nutmeg. Rub together dry ingredients with coconut oil until combined. Bake in oven at 425 for 15 mins, then turn down to 350 and let it go another 1/2 hour.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:59 PM on March 6, 2019

Also guacamole is just avocado mashed with lemon juice and salt, anything else is adulteration, fight me.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 2:01 PM on March 6, 2019 [3 favorites]

Coming back with a few other ideas for when you're tired of eating your foods in their obvious forms:

If you have an ice cream craving and a strong blender, frozen berries or peaches with just enough milk of your choice to make them blend, plus sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla to taste is really quite good, though not actually ice cream.

For snacks: you could make kale chips. They're quite good with just a lot of olive oil and salt. Also, homemade potato chips are pretty great if you can get someone else to do the slicing the frying for you.

I was also curious about other forms of rice. If rice noodles are ok, noodles with sauteed broccoli, avocado slices, and lemon dressing would be pretty decent (add other veg + your meats to taste). Avocado and sauteed broccoli are actually really good together if you haven't tried them.

Similarly, if other rice formats are ok, you (or your chefs!) could try to make a super basic mochi without any red bean paste, using potato starch in place of corn starch, and fill with your berries. Or, just eat it fresh and plain if you like mochi.
posted by snaw at 2:08 PM on March 6, 2019

Last night I made a veg hash out of diced potatoes, apples, kale, onion, and mustard. It would probably still taste yummy without the onion and mustard. Sub a lot of olive oil and salt. Maybe a squeeze of lemon.

(Dice potatoes and saute in olive oil until browned. Lower heat and add diced peeled apples and roughly chopped kale. Cook until potatoes are done.)
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 2:25 PM on March 6, 2019

Wasn't there a ludicrous fast food promotion a few years ago that involved a sandwich where the bun had been replaced with fried chicken breasts? If you're looking for quick, maybe if you can find frozen precooked chicken breasts which you like you can try every possible combination of the other allowed ingredients as sandwich filling.

Sometimes I steam spinach and apples together (with the apples sliced thinly enough to cook quickly) and find I like that combination.
posted by XMLicious at 2:36 PM on March 6, 2019

Chicken can be poached in coconut milk, for a bit of variety. It's better with herbs and spices, but some lemon would help. You can toss some veg in on top to steam for a fast meal for one.

When I was on a super strict diet, I found Avocado and salt to be a reasonable substitute for cheese in a lot of things.

Berries work well with chicken, in a salad or as a sauce.
posted by kjs4 at 3:28 PM on March 6, 2019

This Spinach avocado salad with berries looks good. I'd either skip the dressing or make one with lemon juice & olive oil.

Smoothies with avocado, fruit or berries, & coconut milk
posted by belladonna at 4:09 PM on March 6, 2019

This isn't all the way to a recipe, but plenty of Jewish recipes use potato starch to make Passover cakes. It's great!
posted by 8603 at 4:16 PM on March 6, 2019

I would try mixing potato starch, coconut milk, sugar, baking soda, and vanilla, pouring it over a cake pan full of sliced apples, and baking. If you have applesauce, mix some into the batter.
posted by 8603 at 4:19 PM on March 6, 2019

Just thought of another one of my favorite meals that fits your requirements: roast pork butt (which I do roughly according to the Momofuku bo ssam recipe), coconut rice (cook rice with ~half the water replaced with coconut milk) and cabbage/carrot slaw (I usually make it with lime juice and soy sauce but lemon and a bit of salt would be fine, I’m sure). Labor/time intensive but the leftovers are amazing.
posted by mskyle at 5:26 PM on March 6, 2019

Pork in the slow cooker with boxed broth or apple juice, potatoes, carrots, and chopped apples.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 6:15 PM on March 6, 2019

I would immediately make some super simple chicken stock with a plain roasted chicken carcass and have it in the freezer in ice cubes. Just roast off your chicken with salt and olive oil, carve most of the meat off and set the bones to simmer for a good long while (or do this in your pressure cooker of course.) The extra step to all of this would be to trim your bird really well and render out as much of the chicken fat as you can, further separating fat from the stock and rendering that, so you have shmaltz to use to flavor everything in addition to olive and coconut oils. I live in a place where I can buy pre-rendered shmaltz but I'm not sure about the simplicity of its ingredients.

You can use kale as a wrap for fillings, either raw or simmered. For raw, if you have any leftover chicken or pork you can shred that up and mix with some mashed avocado and a bit more salt for your filling. Maybe carrots or even toasted coconut for different crunch and flavors.

For simmered, you could try a dolma-like rice roll. Par-cook rice, zest and juice a lemon, grate some carrot. Mix the rice with carrot, zest, and salt. Trim the kale stems so you have mostly leaves to work with (this would be best with a flatter kale like lacitano, or fantastic with collards if you can eat those) and place a spoonful of filling into the middle of the leaf. Roll them up like little burritos and tuck them into a pot. Fill it up with rolls and then cover it all with lemon juice, chicken stock, and water, plus some more salt, and let it simmer covered until all the rice is fully cooked. You could also add in some ground pork for a meat version.

I think that blueberries would work especially well in a crumble where you subbed coconut oil for the butter.
posted by Mizu at 8:57 PM on March 6, 2019

I hope you are good. It must be a stressful situation. Since you posted, I've been thinking a lot about your limitations, since it reminds me of when I was young and had to face a very restricted diet because of allergies and cross-allergies.
The good new is that today I can eat almost anything (in tiny amounts), and that I've grown used to the restrictions so I don't really think about them anymore.
Since you are not alone in this, my best advice is to think of the presentation of your food. In Mediterranean cuisine you often get several servings, where each serving in itself is very simple. Maybe start with a simple salad of raw cauliflower in a dressing of olive oil, lemon and salt. Then have roast chicken, with potatoes. Then a plate of nicely presented fruits.
Next day start with a guacamole where you have carrot sticks and pieces of cabbage instead of chips for dipping. And then have the leftover chicken with a spinach and blueberry salad on the side, with an oatmeal porridge with a lot of apple in it for desert. Then start with a broth made of the chicken bones, and have roasted potatoes, carrots and broccoli for the main, with a desert of pears in syrup.
It may seem silly, but making a feast of what you have does a lot for your feeling of satiation and happiness.
Obviously, use some of the good suggestions from above as inspiration for those menus, but also see if the produce in itself, lightly dressed can be good. We often eat pointed cabbage just steamed and with a vinaigrette, with boiled potatoes as a side. Everyone in my family loves that. Spinach is my favorite vegetable of all vegetables, and reading your list, I think one could make a sort of pie with just spinach (maybe creamed with oat milk or coconut milk) and a topping of mashed potatoes. Also, a pork chop with a side of spinach is classic and delicious.
posted by mumimor at 2:08 AM on March 9, 2019 [1 favorite]