I have dealt with acid reflux for years, so I understand how confusing and frustrating it can be to think you’re doing the right things, only to feel that burn of acid in your throat again. So when I saw a cookbook called The Easy 5-Ingredient Acid Reflux Cookbook, I knew I had to take a chance on it. And I’m so glad I did.
Author Andy De Santis knows his stuff. He suffered from reflux when he was younger, and he used dietary and lifestyle changes to control it. Now he’s a registered dietitian, and he’s come up with 100 recipes for simple, delicious foods that can help reduce the symptoms of acid-related digestive disorders while keeping the shopping, prep work, and cooking simple.
First, he gets you started by helping you better understand the potential causes of acid reflux and offering charts of acidic foods to minimize and important foods to enjoy with gusto. He offers dietary and lifestyle changes, a list to help you stock your pantry with helpful foods, and the kitchen equipment that will help you create these dishes. He wants to welcome you to an acid-free lifestyle without judgment or deprivation.
And then there are the recipes. There are breakfasts like Overnight Cinnamon Oats, Banana-Avo Smoothies, Pumpkin Pancakes, Spinach and Mushroom Scramble, and Sweet Potato Hash Browns. There are sides and snacks, like Avocado Deviled Eggs, Easy Cornbread, Honey-Roasted Carrots, Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and No-Fat Biscuits (I had some doubts about this one, but he uses yogurt to make up for the fat).
There are soups and salads like a Crunchy Egg Salad, Simple Shrimp Salad, Chilled Ginger Melon Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, and Butternut Squash Soup. The vegetarian and vegan mains include Peanut Butter Noodles, Oven-Baked Pea and Porcini Risotto, Fried Rice, White Bean and Kale Stew, Veggie Pitas, and the very healthy sounding version of mac and cheese, Pasta with Cauliflower Sauce.
For seafood and poultry, there are Pan-Seared Scallops with Spinach, Coconut-Ginger Shrimp, Lemon0Dill Baked Cod, Crab Cakes, Honey-Soy Salmon, Turkey Burgers, Baked Chicken Fingers, and Cashew Chicken. For pork, there are recipes for Maple-Glazed Pork Loin and Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Gravy. If you like beef, you can make Beef Tacos, Beef Stew, or Skirt Steak Stir-Fry. Or if you want lamb, you can try the Moroccan Lamb Meatballs or Herbed Lamb Chops.
There are also recipes for broths sauces, and condiments. There are recipes for Homemade Vegetable Broth as well as Homemade Chicken Broth. There are several salad dressings, including a Chive-Free Ranch Dressing. And sauces like Pesto and Tzatziki, even a Greek Yogurt Mayonnaise and Strawberry-Ginger Frozen Jam. And for like me with a wicked sweet tooth, there is a chapter of desserts, like Vanilla Pudding, Gingered Red Applesauce, Honey-Cinnamon Poached Pears, and Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies.
All these recipes have 5 or fewer ingredients (not including sea salt and olive oil), and many offer variations for substitutions, for boosting flavor, or for making a larger batch and stashing some in the freezer. Many recipes are marked low-FODMAP, vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free, so if you need one of those special diets, the appropriate recipes are marked for you.
The Easy 5-Ingredient Acid Reflux Cookbook is packed with ideas that can help those of us who suffer from reflux find healthy, simple dishes that we can make and eat with few worries about the gastrointestinal consequences. And that is a relief!
A copy of The Easy 5-Ingredient Acid Reflux Cookbook was provided by Rockridge Press through the Callisto Media Publisher’s Club, with many thanks.