nightshade-free

LZMiner
LZMiner Posts: 300 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So...my daughter has a nightshade sensitivity. Hard for me to relate to, because I can pretty much eat anything. But now that I am aware, it's amazing how many recipes have tomatoes or nightshade spices like paprika, red pepper and curry. Looking for easy dinners / soup ideas that don't have tomatoes---or if you have a really good tomato substitute!

Replies

  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    I unintentionally cook a lot of things that don't have nightshades: sauceless pastas, pesto pastas, protein with veggie and carb, quesadillas with different fillings, and chowders come to mind at the moment.

    Having had to eat an elimination diet for several years, Google is your friend.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    I also have a nightshade sensitivity, but I find that cooked tomatoes are OK for me - as in the tinned stuff or passata. I have more of an issue with peppers and eggplant though. What I do though is not completely eliminate it, but relatively regularly still eat a little bit of it. I have found that if I go too long without eating it, then I do have some, then the effects are heaps worse - all the gas and bloating. But if I eat it once a week or so, I will bloat, but not painful gas in my stomach.
  • moonangel12
    moonangel12 Posts: 971 Member
    edited December 2019
    My daughter is the same way - no tomatoes or peppers. Even the small amounts of tomatoes in salad dressing will trigger a major episode, but she is ok with small amounts of pepper items like paprika in mayo. (Feingold Diet has been a God send for us - we got our daughter back! She was on the verge of some pretty heavy meds for mental health issues - likely a form of epilepsy come to find out).

    No-mato sauce made from beets/carrots, beef/chicken stroganoff, I make vegetable beef soup without tomatoes and add a little vinegar for acidity, stir frys, sausage and kale soup, ramen soups (I buy ramen broth and add GF ramen noodles plus chicken, mushrooms, onions), I will think of more. We tend toward gravy/cream sauces, and have been tomato free long enough that it is second nature which makes it hard to think of specifics... I used peppers and chili powder in the majority of what I cooked - it was a hard transition, but so worth it. Look up in Pinterest “AIP” (auto immune protocol) recipes - they are nightshade free. Feingold has some member-made cook books as well.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    Does that include bell pepper? If not, there is a product that is red bell pepper and eggplant that I use to sub for tomato sauce (I can't eat tomatoes). It's sold at Trader Joe's or at Mediterranean grocers.

    Otherwise, I do a lot with pesto or hummus (both sub in pizza or pasta sauce). And I make stew using a creamy base (cream of x soup + onion soup mix envelope).

    Feel free to send me a message for more info.
  • LZMiner
    LZMiner Posts: 300 Member
    Thank you all for sharing. I’m starting to look up new recipes. We did try tomatoless ketchup tonight...beet based by Foraging Fox...delish!
  • moveandflex73
    moveandflex73 Posts: 5 Member
    bold_rabbit wrote: »
    Does that include bell pepper? If not, there is a product that is red bell pepper and eggplant that I use to sub for tomato sauce (I can't eat tomatoes).

    The nightshade family includes bell peppers and eggplant, unfortunately.

  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 7,073 Member
    My favorite soup is split pea. The plant-based version I make has jalapenos and paprika but if you make a basic version the ham or ham hock adds flavor. If you have an Instant pot Mel's Diner has a good split pea, I usually add barley to mine. Butternut squash soup looks amazing but I don't have an immersion blender so I haven't tried it yet.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    moveandflex73 wrote: »
    bold_rabbit wrote: »
    Does that include bell pepper? If not, there is a product that is red bell pepper and eggplant that I use to sub for tomato sauce (I can't eat tomatoes).

    The nightshade family includes bell peppers and eggplant, unfortunately.

    Thanks. I didn't know, and if I leave the app to check Google, I get kicked out of the forum back to my home screen.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    bell peppers are worse for me than tomatoes.
    i do a split pea and ham, a potato with ham, a potato with bacon, a potato and garlic and parmesan, white bean and ham with or without tomato paste, lentil and sausage soups
    most can be made not as a soup as well.
    i can't eat bell peppers at all. most days i can do cooked/roasted tomatoes
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    no eggplant either
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    What do people avoiding peppers do for heat? For this white chicken chili recipe, there is no tomato, and you could leave out the diced chilies, but how to replace the heat? Also, there would small amounts of some kind of pepper in the taco seasoning - are people avoiding nightshades able to eat that? (I'm guessing some can, and some cannot.)

    https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/255245/award-winning-white-chicken-chili/
  • jwoolman5
    jwoolman5 Posts: 191 Member
    I can eat tomatoes only occasionally or I start reacting again. I love tomato sandwiches, but found cucumber sandwiches were a good substitute. Especially English cucumbers since everything can be eaten. Cucumbers don't taste anything like tomato, of course, but somehow that made me feel less deprived. I often eat a pile of sliced English cucumbers as a side now as well as occasionally sticking them into sandwiches.

    I also once tried a tomato-free pasta sauce made from cooked and blended carrots, pumpkin, and beets or rhubarb, can't remember which. Any squash should do, though. Didn't make it again but it tasted fine (I am kitchen-challenged).

    Pasta is really good without any sauce, actually. Just load it up with tolerated veggies and herbs and use some tolerated oil or fat.

    Keywords on the web to find tomato-free heaven include

    "Tomato-free"
    "Tomato allergy"
    "Tomato intolerance"
    "No tomatoes"
    Tomatoless
    "Tomato-less"

    In addition to the obvious

    "Nightshade-free"
    "Nightshade allergy"
    "Nightshade intolerance"

    There is a huge book I borrowed from the library in ancient times (pre-web) that was very useful for me when first dealing with diagnosed allergies decades ago:

    The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook
    By Marjorie Hurt Jones

    I was able to buy a used copy a couple of years ago on Amazon. Lots of ideas on how to adapt recipes to suit your food issues as well as actual recipes.

    Also just searching amazon books for

    allergy recipes

    might turn up something of interest for you along with reviews. There probably are books specific to nightshade sensitivity as well. That's been recognized as a problem for some folks for a very long time.


  • moonangel12
    moonangel12 Posts: 971 Member
    edited December 2019
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    What do people avoiding peppers do for heat? For this white chicken chili recipe, there is no tomato, and you could leave out the diced chilies, but how to replace the heat? Also, there would small amounts of some kind of pepper in the taco seasoning - are people avoiding nightshades able to eat that? (I'm guessing some can, and some cannot.)

    https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/255245/award-winning-white-chicken-chili/
    No pre-made taco seasoning for us, the chili powder is a no go. I just add cumin, oregano, garlic, and onion to get a semi close flavor profile.

    Haven’t found a heat replacement, much to my daughter’s dismay. We were going to a counselor becuase of the sudden and extreme change in her moods and behavior (pre-diet change, but I had awareness of the foods/details) - he asked what had changed? I was wracking my brain, couldn’t pinpoint any single item or event... then one day it dawned on me! Her obsession with anything and everything jalapeño! BINGO. So sad for her to have to give it up...
  • ElizabethHanrahan
    ElizabethHanrahan Posts: 102 Member
    My son has crones and can't have ANY tomatoes or peppers(SKIN and SEEDS). We make either olive oil and herb pasta or a pesto without nuts(Again can't have most kinds) For heat, try black pepper, Mixed pepper(red, white and black) or cumin. Also try garam massala instead of curry with some added turmeric for color.

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