Happy Fathers Day

Have you remembered that it’s Father’s Day this weekend? We’re a pretty international team here at The Healthy Gut and there’s been lots of planning this week for a celebration meal for our wonderful Dads. A meal made with love is a gift that everyone can enjoy together, so what’s cooking for Father’s Day?

Without exception our team all love a table full of people to feed and Father’s Day is the perfect excuse! We all get excited about the opportunity to share SIBO friendly meals with friends and family…...especially when they wouldn’t know they are SIBO compliant. This weekend we’ll be cooking up Lamb Cutlets with Pomegranate, Pecan and Pumpkin salad from our SIBO Summer Cookbook, followed by the impressive looking Meringue Tree from our SIBO Christmas eCookbook. This is a simple meal to prepare but it looks super impressive. The Lamb Cutlets with Pumpkin salad and jewel-like pomegranate seeds look as good as it tastes, and the Meringue Tree is a total showstopper of a dessert, we think your Dad will be impressed!

All this talk of what to cook for them made us all think about what our own Dads mean to us and we agreed that what we want, and need, from our Dads changes as we get older. When we’re young they might have been the parent who let us get up to mischief, or they could have been the disciplinarian of the family. As we get older this relationship changes and we become more equal, even if most of us need to ask how to set up a pension! Once we have kids ourselves and become parents our Dads become Grandpas and a whole new era starts again. So this weekend whether you are celebrating your Dad, your Stepdad, your Grandpa or helping your own kids celebrate their Dad, let's say ‘thank you’ to all of the Dads out there.

If you’ve enjoyed these recipes and you’d like your own copies of our SIBO Christmas eCookbook and SIBO Summer Cookbook, click here (don’t forget that we now have a US version of the SIBO Summer Cookbook and the SIBO Family Favorites Cookbook).

Thanks to our lovely friends at Organic Angels for supplying the scrumptious organic produce featured in this recipe. Click here to find out more about how they could deliver beautiful organic produce to your door.

Lamb cutlets with pomegranate, pecan and pumpkin salad

Serves 2

Classification: Phase 1: Semi-restricted phase, gluten free, dairy free

Ingredients

6 lamb cutlets

1 tbs olive oil

Salt and pepper

Salad:

2 large handfuls mixed leaves, washed

1 small pomegranate, seeds removed and retained

20 pecans

1 cup pumpkin

1 tbs lard

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs white wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F.  Place the pecans on a roasting tray and roast in the oven for 5-10 minutes.  Watch them carefully as they can burn quickly.  Remove once they have roasted and slightly changed colour. Cool and set aside.

Cut the pumpkin into cubes.  Place in a large bowl.  Melt 1 tbs lard and pour over the pumpkin, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Place the pumpkin on a tray lined with baking paper and roast until cooked through and golden.  This may take 30 – 45 minutes depending on your oven.  Remove and cool slightly.

Cover your lamb cutlets with oil, salt and pepper.  Next, heat your BBQ or grill on a medium-high heat.  Place the cutlets on the BBQ and cook to your liking.  Remove from the heat, cover lightly with foil and rest for half the cooking time.  For example, if you cooked your cutlets for 5 minutes, rest them for 2.5 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix the salad leaves, pomegranate seeds, pecans and pumpkin.  In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, then drizzle over the salad and toss well to combine.

Serve the cutlets warm with a portion of the salad.

Celebration meringue tree

25-30 serving

Classification: Phase 1: Semi-restricted phase, gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian, low FODMAP

Ingredients

Meringue

12 egg whites

2 cups / 500g glucose

2 tsp vanilla powder

Filling

6 cups coconut milk, chilled

1 tbs vanilla powder

4 cups strawberries, halved

4 cups raspberries

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 120C/250F.  Cover 4 large baking sheets with baking/parchment paper. Draw circles of the following sizes on the paper: 25cm/9.8-inch, 22cm/8.6-inch, 19cm/7.4-inch, 16cm/6.2-inch, 13cm/5.1-inch, 10cm/3.9-inch and 7cm/2.7-inch.

Place the egg whites in a very large bowl.  Make sure it is very clean as any grease will prevent the egg whites from stiffening.  Using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Slowly mix in the glucose until fully incorporated and the mixture is glossy.  Mix in the vanilla powder.

Using the circles as a guide, divide the meringue mixture across the four trays, ensuring each circle has an even thickness and is flat across the top.  The 7cm/2.7-inch circle is the top of the tree.  You may like to shape this into a peak to resemble the top of a tree.  Place in the oven and bake for 1 ¾ hours or until dry and firm to the touch.  Turn the heat off and cool the meringues in the oven with the door ajar.

To make the filling, scoop the solidified coconut milk out of the can and into a bowl.  Discard the watery liquid at the bottom of the pan.  Add the vanilla powder, then beat until stiff peaks form.

To assemble just before serving, place the largest circle on a cake tray or platter.  Top with some whipped coconut.  Lay strawberry halves and raspberries evenly over the top.  The bottom piece will need to carry the weight of the remaining pieces, so it is important that the berries are evenly placed on this layer.  Repeat the process with the remaining layers.  Top with the peaked meringue.

Note: The meringue mixture needs to be baked right away to avoid deflation. If you have a small oven that cannot fit all of the trays at once, divide the meringue ingredients in half and cook it in two batches.  Use one-half for the two largest circles, and use the second half for the remaining circles.  The tree is best assembled right before serving.  It is not suitable for freezing.