Fatty, creamy foods have a tendency to repeat themselves because they weaken the valve that keeps food in the stomach, thus enabling your stomach contents to revisit your oesophagus more easily.
Deep-fried foods, crisps, nuts and large chunks of cheese, especially when eaten alone, are all culprits in this respect, while if pasta's on the menu, I'd recommend a simple sauce that is neither creamy nor saturated with olive oil (even vegetable oils can cause heartburn).
And although my chicken stuffed with sage contains a little butter and oil, it will be easy to digest if you team it with a light side dish, perhaps some steamed vegetables, wild rice, new potatoes or a simple salad consisting of a few summery leaves tossed in a little olive oil and lemon juice.
Other foods to avoid are large amounts of raw vegetables (particularly peppers) and spicy foods, especially if they contain chilli, whose effect on a troubled gut can be compared to pouring paraffin on a fire.
When it comes to fruit, if even the thought of eating highly acidic citrus fruits, such as oranges, grapefruits and mandarins, makes you feel queasy, listen to your body and don't risk it.
There are plenty of succulent, stomach-friendly fruits to savour, including pears, berries, bananas, mangoes and papayas (papayas are wonderful stomach-settlers, even when sprinkled with a little lime juice to bring out their delectable flavour), but because some women find under-ripe fruit troublesome to digest, make sure that you don't bite into a sour apple or hard pear.
Alternatively, if you try poaching such fruits as apples, pears and peaches, you'll find that the cooking process both reduces their acidity and increases their sweetness, making them the perfect package. _________________________________________
RECIPE: Roast chicken stuffed with sage and lemon
Serves 4-6
900g organic chicken, thoroughly washed
75g unsalted butter, softened
2 handfuls fresh sage leaves, washed and finely chopped
2 cloves young garlic, peeled and finely chopped
4 slices unsmoked, streaky bacon, cut up into small pieces
2 unwaxed lemons, washed
30g almond slivers, roasted until golden brown
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 220C. Using kitchen paper, pat the chicken dry.
Place the butter in a bowl with the sage, garlic and bacon and then grate over the zest of one of the lemons. Now add the juice of the grated lemon, followed by the almonds, a little sea salt and plenty of black pepper.
Using your hands or a large spoon (I prefer to use my hands), thoroughly mix the herb-butter ingredients and then set to one side.
Using your hands, gently separate the skin from the flesh of the chicken, being careful not to tear it, and then stuff the herb butter under the skin so that the flesh is evenly coated. Spread any remaining herb butter over the outside of the chicken.
Slice the remaining lemon in half and place both halves inside the chicken. Place the chicken, breast facing downwards, on a baking tray, cover it with aluminium foil and pop it into the oven for approximately 30 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the oven, take off the foil, baste the chicken with the juices that have collected in the bottom of the baking tray and turn the chicken over so that the breast is facing upwards.
Now return it to the oven (don't replace the foil) and roast it for a further 45 minutes or so until the flesh has turned golden brown, basting it regularly to keep it moist. When the roasting process is complete (check by piercing the flesh in several spots with a sharp knife to ensure that the juices run clear), remove the chicken from the oven.
Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before removing the lemon halves from the cavity and serving immediately. |
