# red/yellow veggies



## Heather Van Vorous (Oct 2, 2001)

Hi Julia - Don't feel strange! You have an awfully tough problem and I hope I can help a bit. You're right in that you face some tough restrictions on fruits and veggies that may require extra effort in order to get the nutrition you need. Do you have a greater tolerance for tomatoes when they're raw? They are much less acidic this way than when cooked, and you can dice up some fresh ripe ones with a bit of shredded fresh basil to make a topping for baked corn chips, toasted French bread, or pasta. For the red peppers, roasting them and peeling them can help minimize the gassiness a bit, but they can still tend to be troublesome. Do you have any tolerance for other varieties of peppers, such as banana? They can be much hotter than bell peppers, but sometimes actually cause less gassiness (bell peppers are just notorious for that). Peppers of all shapes/colors/sizes are very nutrient dense.Since you tolerate spinach and broccoli in moderation you can probably also handle caulflowerm turnip and beet greens, and cabbage (and red cabbage) eaten the same way, and these are really nutritious veggies. Have you tried root veggies such as parsnips, turnips, and rutabagas? They're great for IBS since they're high in soluble fiber, and they're packed with nutrients as well. Beets may be a possibility here, but probably not as they are high in natural sugar.Cooked beans and lentils are also highly nutritious, and overlooked by a lot of people. If you soak them before cooking, cook them until very tender, and puree them into soups, sauces, or dips to eat with soluble fiber staples they can be extremely well tolerated. Have you tried rice milk and rice cheeses as alternatives to soy? Some brands are quite tasty and this would give you more flexibility with recipes. As an aside, have you tried stevia as a sweetener? It's a ground root available at health food markets in the spice department (it will be green or white) and might be a nice treat for you to sweeten cereal or a cup of hot. If you are in any doubt about getting enough nutritional value from your diet, I would really recommend you see a registered dietician and ask about this to be safe. It's a smart thing to be worried about.Wishing good health and happy holidays,Heather


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## Julia37 (May 9, 2001)

Heather,Thanks for your suggestions. I've heard of parsnips, turnips, and rutabagas, but I don't know how to prepare them. Do I boil them or what? Peel them? What are good seasonings for them? Red cabbage is a good idea, I know I shouldn't eat it raw, I should boil it with pasta or rice? Sorry to be so ignorant, I was raised by people who don't cook.Raw tomatos seem to cause more acid in me than cooked. Maybe because they're cold from the fridge, I don't like cold food. Maybe I could just warm them up without cooking them through.I don't think beans are a good idea for me since they can be cross-reactors with soybeans. I can eat them occasionally, but not as a staple. Don't like them much anyway.







I'll try roasting bell peppers as you suggest. I doubt I could handle hotter peppers, my diet has been so bland for so long.I do use rice milk in all my recipes. I haven't seen the rice cheese, I'll look for it.I did experiment with stevia and I think it caused spasms. Not 100% sure it was the cause, but its a suspect. I've gotten completely off sweets now, so I don't need it at the moment anyway.Can you point me towards the basics of preparing these exotic veggies?







Thanks so much for your help.


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## Heather Van Vorous (Oct 2, 2001)

Hi - Don't worry, those exotic root veggies could not be easier to prepare. They cook up just like white or sweet potatoes. Simply peel them, dice or slice them, and steam or boil until tender. You can then mash them with a bit of minced fresh or dried herbs, sprinkle with a little fresh lemon juice, garlic salt, Mrs. Dash, a flavored vinegar, or Bragg's liquid seasonings (this is a fabulous substitute for soy sauce, available at any health food store). Ground caraway seeds are particularly tasty with root veggies, and they are beneficial to digestion, too. You can make an easy creamy chowder with any combination of the root veggies, with or without white potatoes as a base. Just peel and dice them, saute in a big soup pot with a wee bit of olive oil until golden, add a few cups each of veggie broth and plain rice milk and cook until tender. You could easily add some finely shredded cabbage to this too - it will cook up very tender and the insoluble fiber will be greatly minimized. The starch in the veggies will thicken the chowder. You could even take a slice of Cheddar rice cheese and float it on top of a bowl of the chowder and broil it just until melted and bubbly. Hope this helps a bit.Heather


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## Julia37 (May 9, 2001)

It does help. I can't wait to try that soup! I found a good brand of canned clams...







Thanks!!


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