If you are on an anti-Candida and gluten-free diet, there is no need to feel hard-done-by at your Christmas Dinner! It is possible to enjoy a healthy roast, with trimmings. You just need to make a few changes. These two yeast-free and gluten-free stuffing recipes are quick and easy, can be made in advance and frozen, or stored in the fridge for a few days. If you are visiting friends or family for lunch, take some stuffing balls with you. They taste so good you will find everyone one wants to try them!
Erica White’s Beat Candida Cookbook contains a traditional Sage and Onion Stuffing, made with a yeast-free soda-bread. Alternatively you can try this gluten-free option. Although the stuffing recipe is extremely quick and easy, you do need to bake some yeast-free bread ahead of time in order to make the breadcrumbs.
Combine the flours in a mixing bowl and add the baking powder. Mix well and add the water, to obtain a stiff but moist dough. Pack the mixture into a small loaf tin, lined with baking parchment and place in an oven set at 180 degrees Celsius. Leave to bake for 30 minutes, until risen, golden, and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool before making the bread crumbs.
Finely chop the onions, and place in a saucepan with the water.
Add the sage and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently, until the onion is soft and the water has reduced to just 3-4 tablespoons.
Stir in the yeast-free breadcrumbs, onion granules, paprika, pepper and salt, and mix thoroughly. Pack into a small tin or oven-proof pot, or form into 12 little balls.
At this stage the stuffing can be frozen or kept refrigerated for a couple of days if it has been made in advance.
Before baking, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and place in the bottom of the oven for 30 minutes when cooking the roast
The great thing about this recipe is that it is cheap to make, so you have an extra treat on the plate, without great expense!
An easy way to avoid the breadcrumbs usually used for stuffing is to start with a cooked grain as the base. I have used cooked wholegrain rice here, or you could try cooked buckwheat, millet or quinoa grains. I usually roll the mixture into balls and freeze in a small baking tray, so all I have to do on Christmas day is to take it out of the freezer first thing in the morning and then pop into the oven about 45 minutes before it is time to serve.
Erica’s Rice and Chestnut Stuffing found in her Beat Candida Cookbook, is a favourite in our family. If you want to save time, some supermarkets now sell frozen cooked chestnuts, or if you look in the condiment aisle, vacuum packed cooked chestnuts. Do always check the ingredients, as producers have a habit of changing what they put into foods. Tinned chestnuts generally seem to have added sugar, so these are not suitable to use.
The quantities in Erica’s book are quite generous, so to make just 24 stuffing balls use the following measures, or halve them to make just 12 balls.