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Cooking without tomatoes or peppers!
Asked on 3 Apr 2020 by Bean
Good Morning, I hope this finds you all well and staying safe.
Please may I ask for seriously big help. My husband suffers from bad stomach reaction to cooked tomatoes - fresh cooked, grilled, tinned, passata'd; any which way. He similarly has a distinct dislike for Peppers of all types - I have avoided because of the same reactions. (even tried sneaking in a little, but it made him ill) As you will appreciate, this has diverse limitations on just SO many staple dishes - that's much of the Mediterranean/Hungarian/Mexican/Pasta/ Stews & Slow Cooks out of the question. I am racking my brains to substitute and vere away from my over reliance on a base of mushroom/leek/onion/carrot. His intolerance (which generally lasts 3-5 days) I believe is linked to the Nightshade family but has no sign of it through potatoes...Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated. Thank you.
Best, Bernice
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Hello Bernice,
How about courgette!
I think it could work to replace tomato in a lot of recipes. It’s wet and relatively bland! It could be peeled before cooking as well to provide a base!
For a basic ‘tomato’ sauce replacement, you could peel then chop (or grate) courgettes. Cook them slowly in butter or oil. Add flavourings as appropriate such as herbs and / or spices, wine, lemon juice, vinegar etc.
I don’t know is your husband can eat soya beans but white miso paste, has a lovely savoury kick of umami flavour and I think that would work really well added to a courgette-based sauce too.
Adding butternut squash (and / or chopped celery) to a courgette-based sauce might work too if you want to change it a bit and alter the texture / thickness of the sauce.
Hope that helps!
Best wishes
Lindsey
That's great, Lindsey ! Thank you. I shall give all of these a go, and look forward to the white miso paste - once I can get out to the shops !! I shall look forward to the Umami as well on its own. Much appreciated.
Stay safe. Best, Bernice