Recipe - Scallop and Pea Risotto

This scallop and pea risotto is seasoned with garlic and mint which makes it perfect if you're allergic to wheat, gluten or dairy. The listed ingredients make two servings.

Ingredients

• 180g Finely Diced Onion
• 200g Scallops (you can use smaller, cheaper frozen scallops for this dish but defrost them thoroughly first)
• 150g Basmati Rice (I prefer basmati to arborio rice but you can use arborio if you prefer)
• 150g Peas
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 8 Mint Leaves
• 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil

How to Cook

1. Fry the scallops in the sunflower oil until they are starting to brown. Remove from the pan and reserve.
2. Fry the onion until it is starting to soften.
3. Add the rice to the onion and fry the rice until it becomes opaque.
4. Pulp the garlic and add it to the pan.
5. Add two cups of boiling water to the pan along with a teaspoon of salt and cook the rice. Add more water if needed. The idea is to cook the rice through but keep the rice "wet".
6. While the rice is cooking put 100g of peas and the mint in a food processor and blend. Add a little water if required to make a smooth paste
7. Towards the end of cooking add the remaining 50g of peas and the pea purée to the pan and stir in.
8. Let the peas cook for a minute then add the scallops for another minute to warm.

Enjoy!

On Weight Loss

Gillian and I were pretty certain we would lose weight during this diet. Not because we particularly need to, but because many of the sources of calories that we would normally consume are going missing; no more bread, soft drinks, cakes, chocolate, ice cream, crisps, etc. Now we don't live on this stuff but we knew that our calories would be reduced. Until tonight. We realised this evening that despite the removal of many of the foods we take for granted we still need to watch our calorie intake.

When I started I was at 14 stone 2 pounds and I'll be weighing myself throughout to see if I do lose anything but for now I'll be watching what I eat a little more carefully.

Monday Lunch - Salad with a Ginger Dressing

Just had a fantastic salad for lunch comprising iceberg lettuce, shredded cabbage, watercress, carrot ribbons, spring onions, cucumber and cold roast beef.

It seemed strange not to have tomatoes and mayonnaise but I made a dressing by soaking fresh ginger in olive oil over night and sprinkled that on top which was delicious.

Day 1 (Monday) - So Far So Good

A day spent painting the kitchen wasn't the best way to begin the diet because it meant that we didn't have space to prepare anything for breakfast or lunch. So what to eat? We survived throughout the day on brazil nuts, walnuts and fruit. Once the painting was complete we had a chance to actually start cooking. Tonight's dinner was turkey steaks marinaded in maple syrup and then fried in the griddle pan. This was accompanied by boiled broccoli and hand-made sweet potato fries cooked in sunflower oil. The whole dinner was delicious!

So far I'm feeling fine but I have had a low-level headache for most of the day and I'm getting hot ears - both almost certainly side-effects of stopping caffeine. Drinking plenty of water seems to help stave them off. Both effects should pass within a few days.

In The Beginning...

We are about to embark on an experiment. We're going to conduct the experiment on our own bodies. We'll be pumping a very tightly defined set of chemicals into our bodies over the course of two weeks - just to see what happens. We are hoping it's going to have mind-altering effects.

So what, you may ask, is this all about? Our names are John and Gillian and we are about to start an elimination diet. The purpose of the diet is to find out what food allergies or food intolerances we may have. This started because Gillian noticed that when she ate certain foods they would have odd effects on her. Dairy (especially cows milk), seemed to make her feel listless and have a lack of energy whilst wheat based products seemed to make her grumpy but unlike milk the effects didn't kick in straight away. But the effects were inconsistent and it wasn't always wheat and dairy. Many years later and with the medical profession seemingly unwilling or unable to help she was despairing of ever finding the reasons why. Then she found a specialist allergy doctor who suggested, as a first step, trying an elimination diet.

So from next Monday, out go wheat and dairy, along with corn, maize, goats milk, soya, eggs, beetroot, chicken, pork and a host of other potential allergens.

We'll be blogging about our experience along with what we eat (menus, recipes and pictures), and talking about the effects on our bodies. Hopefully our experiences will help other people struggling with food allergy and food intolerance and you may even find a few meals you would like to try.