William has not been feeling well, the poor man! We’ve been talking about his symptoms, and I’m almost certain it has to do with dairy. When you research, even a little, into being gluten-free, it’s easy to see that there is a connection between intolerance to gluten, soy, and dairy.

I gather that the gluten and soy cause real, life-long aversions, and the dairy doesn’t work out because of damage to the villi in your intestines from having once eaten gluten. After about a year of going dairy-free, everything should have a chance to repair, and dairy can be introduced again. I’ve also heard that some people can just take a pill (Lactaid?) before eating dairy and the symptoms are prevented. I have doubts that this would do any service to the actual healing, though.

So after a week of being sick and bloated, we are cutting out dairy from his diet. I’m not saying I won’t eat it ever, but at least two meals a day that I eat with William will be dairy-free as well. 

Tonight we had a salad with Brianna’s homestyle French vinaigrette dressing and a risotto dish I made up. For anyone interested in trying something gluten-free, recipe follows. 

Tomato and Chicken Risotto

1 cup risotto

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pint water

2 lemons, juiced

1 small/medium shallot, quartered and thinly sliced

2 fresh tomatoes, diced

2 chicken breasts, diced and cooked

salt and pepper to taste. 

Risotto is easy: Pan-sear it until toasted with shallots for 5 minutes on medium. Add water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add tomatoes. Cook chicken in a separate pan with salt and pepper. Stir risotto frequently until water is absorbed and it is creamy. Add cooked chicken and serve. 

Risotto is great for gluten, soy and dairy-free diets, because the rice starch makes it naturally creamy, without having to add any type of milk or cream. We used to top these sort of dishes with lots of parmesan cheese, but it was honestly just as delicious without.