Middle-eastern night

Hwsgo and I are currently a bit post-viral, so to up our energy levels, we're both on the (give or take a curry and naan) CFS immune-system-assisting diet. Which is basically a caeliac (or even a yeast-free) diet designed to put as little stress as possible on us by cutting out wheat, sugar, dairy and alcohol (amongst other things).

And boy do I remember that first panic of "what the heck do I eat" when I went on this diet years ago (as part of the plan to clear my ME). I mean, breakfast. Hwsgo mailed me the first morning, having noticed that everything he eats for breakfast is off the list (and he *hates* porridge oats)... but cheered up when I told him that bacon and eggs (but no ketchup) were okay. But that done, that left the even trickier question of "what do you feed an unwell (and therefore v bored) foodie on a caeliac diet". I went to the local health food shop for inspiration (and some sugar-free chocolate: it does exist, just look for xylitol in the ingredients) - all the things that I used to eat were way-out hippy, and therefore, to a foodie, completely yuck. Anything brown - ditto. Wholegrain - ditto. Maize - the same.

The answer, my friends, is very traditional: it's meat and vegetables. Eggs. Rice. Lentils. Goat's cheese. Basically, a 1970s evening diet without the chicken kiev (contains flour). And you have no idea just how quickly that can become boring...

...hence the mediterranian evening. Making home-made hummus (no dairy; tastes much better if you warm it in the pan instead of eating it raw), and vegetable couscous. Except I've just checked the label and discovered that couscous is wheat-based. Ho-hum. Back to the rice again... anything but spending the next week writing horizontally...