The SIBO diet can seem terrifyingly sparse in the earliest, most restricted stages. As I’ve been using it with my patients, it’s been a big focus to keep plant diversity up as high as possible, which is not easy. What this actually means is that I like everyone to be eating ALL of the allowed and tolerated veg, fruit, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices every day, rather than just choosing a couple and eating those ad infinitum.
I have come up with a couple of recipes to help support this process as much as possible and I’d like to share this one as it’s simple and really delicious.
It’s a slight deviation away from the most strict version of the diet as it uses chicken bone broth, you can certainly omit this and just use the roasted meat plus water and ginger. It’s still great. For a vegan / vegetarian version you can skip the meat and stock altogether and add in some red lentils for extra nutritional density.
First roast 2 chickens using the following instructions:
Rub the outside of the chickens with coconut oil.
Push 1/2 a tsp of coconut oil under the skin of the breast along with 1 bay leaf and/or rosemary (fresh or dried) per chicken. Don’t worry if it crumbles.
Cook for the first half hour breast down, then turn over, sprinkle with a little salt and finish cooking breast side up.
Use this chicken for a meal while hot if you wish, but after they are cooked and you have eaten or not, pick the bones completely clean of all flesh you can. Keep the flesh in the fridge. Discard the skin.
Next make chicken stock:
- Place bones from both carcasses in a slow cooker or stock pot, along with the juice of 1 lemon. Cover with filtered water.
- If using a stock pot, cook for 6-10 hours, topping up with water as the level dips.
- If using a slow cooker, cook on low for 24 hours, topping up with water as the level dips.
- When time is up, cook and then strain the broth off the bones. Pour into glass containers and transfer to the fridge or freezer. If freezing, make sure you leave space in the jars for the liquid to expand.
Then make the soup:
This is to serve 1 person, for one meal, or one meal and one snack.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of broccoli
- 1/2 cup finely sliced white cabbage
- 2 small carrots, chopped
- 1/4 cup celeriac, peeled and chopped
- 10 green beans, chopped
- 1/2 red pepper, chopped
- 3cm of ginger, peeled and chopped
Instructions:
Place 500ml of chicken stock, or a combination of stock and water into a saucepan on low heat. Add all the veggies and ginger except the cabbage and cook until they are all soft and well cooked. Add the cabbage towards the end so it doesn’t overcook but is soft and well done also. Add salt and pepper to taste before the serving. You can also chop the cooked roast chicken and add this to the soup with the cabbage at the end to heat.
Variations:
Add a handful of leafy greens such as kale, spinach or rocket into the bowl and ladle the cooked soup over the top.
Add some chopped fresh tomato into the top of the bowl and serve with a good squeeze of lemon juice.
Robyn Puglia
Robyn is a Clinical Nutritionist with a specialised interest in the Functional Medicine approach to health. Robyn is very involved with the field of Coeliac Disease, Gluten-Reactive Disorders and Autoimmune Disease. Her passion for the healing power of food, has led her to work with complex cases, involving multiple diagnoses, and chronic health issues such as ME, auto-immune diseases and fibromyalgia. She also has a passion for working with the growing tide of chronic, lifestyle mediated illness; diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity, and runs a lifestyle intervention clinic for these issues. Robyn works with patients to nutritionally support their bodies, so that they can heal. She has successfully helped many people around the world improve their health and increase their quality of life. Robyn sees clients in London, Tokyo and New York, and has a virtual practice that allows her to work with people all over the world.
