Salad Days

Early on in the SIBO adventure, when beginning treatment and following a gut healing diet composed of SIBO-safe foods for the very first time, we avoid raw fruits and vegetables and, basically, cook the hell out of everything we can eat.

I didn't go near a raw vegetable for, probably, three full months when I was first starting out. I always drop back to eating cooked-only veggies whenever I flare or relapse, too. Cooked, peeled and de-seeded low-FODMAP vegetables are the easiest to digest, hands down. (As a rule, discard peels and seeds because they tend to be higher in bacteria-feeding fiber than other edible plant parts.)

Once your gut has healed, however, you can begin to introduce salads and raw vegetables. Something to look forward to!

I have chives growing in my garden now. Chives and green onions are the go-to low-FODMAP allium, since onions and garlic are out. Chives and green/spring onions add color and flavor to any dish. As a bonus, sweet purple chive blossoms are also edible.

Bon appetit! ❤

The pretty salad pictured here features red romaine lettuce, grated carrot (peeled first!), Persian cucumber (also peeled!) and fresh picked chives.

About 4 ounces of pan-fried wild Alaskan salmon filet, leftover from the previous night and flaked, provides the protein. I cooked the fish in ghee: skin side up for 5 minutes, then flipped until done cooking. Near the end, I added a splash each of Nama Shoyu tamari and balsamic vinegar, and covered the pan for a few minutes while the flavors married. Yum.

The white stuff is Trader Joe's Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing & Dip. To be honest, I consider this convenient pre-made dressing a "legal cheat" as it is very low in carbohydrates (only 1 g per 2 Tbsp serving*) but contains some questionable ingredients (corn starch, non-fat milk powder).




*Rule of thumb: When reading labels, low carb/low sugar means low fermentation potential, so feel free to experiment with this principle when your belly is in a good place.