Gluten-free, alcoholically...

So this summer I decided to take the plunge, so to speak.   And I decided to try gluten-free beers.  This was actually stepping out of my comfort zone quite a bit for me, since I never liked beer much even when I ate gluten.

But there are gluten-free beers I quite like!   I'm still in sampling mode.... but I've liked New Grist as well as Green's Endeavor (a dark ale).  My only caveat with them is that neither has *GLUTEN FREE* in large  friendly letters on the bottle, leaving it open to the possibility that your relatives will drink them.   *sigh*

I still can't finish a whole bottle, though.  I'm an alcoholic lightweight.  

My big concern, always, is going out to eat.  I quite like mixed drinks, but I've been afraid to order them for fear of getting glutened...   but it seems that more and more alcohol companies are testing their products for gluten.

Unfortunately, it seems that Godiva contains gluten...  (waaaaaah), but quite a few don't.

http://www.triumphdining.com/blog/gluten-free-alcohol/

Now if there was only a card to give a bartender....   it ends up being an odd list....

http://www.glutenfreedrinks.com/AlcoholBeverages.htm

with some varieties of brands being safe, and some not....

I get tired of just drinking wine, sometimes......  

If any bartenders are reading this, do you keep some kind of a cheat-sheet on gluten-free alcohol behind the bar?

Salad days, part 1..

Summer is the time for salad....   and so I give you a lovely jicama salad, loosely based on a recipe in Local Flavors, by Deborah Madison.  I sliced up some local Bibb lettuce, tossed the jicama on top, with some lovely scallions (also local) and dressed it with a splash of Orange Champagne Vinegar from Trader Joes.  Dabbed half an avocado on top, and served with the last of a BBQ chicken (also local)....

What do you do with Jicama?  (I still have a ton left over....)

A light Summer Dinner

So I'd bought some lovely fresh arugula at the Farmer's Market on Sat, and I had some Smoked Salmon at home, and some Red Peppers...  so I made a lovely, light, gluten-free dinner out of spring rolls...

Rice paper wrappers stuffed with the arugula, red peppers, and smoked salmon.  Its easy.   Just have everything you want to put in prepped.. Have a bowl of water to dip the rice paper in, and a flat surface to assemble!  
Dip the wrapper just for about two seconds, and lay it out.  put the arugula on top, then the red pepper, and top with the salmon.  Fold up the sides and the ends, and voila!

If I'd wanted to take it up a notch, I would have added some pesto or basil in the mix, but as it was, it was light, filling and scrumptious!

Gluten-free going mainstream....

More and more articles are publishing info on going gluten-free, intolerance, and celiac.   The latest article I've read was in BHG's July issue.  Unfortunately, they do not seem to have it posted online, but it is a nice little overview of gluten issues, along with some good links on gluten intolerance/celiac.  

I'm appreciative of this because, even though it is more mainstream, most gluten-free stuff is higher-cal/lower fiber than the conventional foods, and the article mentions this.    I do wish they'd also included a reading list of books and other resources for gluten-free living...

My favorite one, of course, is by Jax Peters Lowell.   But there are also some great cookbooks out there that are either gluten-free or can be adapted to be gluten-free.    I love Raw Food cookbooks for that reason...  although they have a lot of sprouted wheat, sprouted barley, they have a lot of other ideas that can be successful for gluten-free living.  The soups, the desserts, in particular...  

Eep, its been a while.

Ok, I need to start updating this blog more regularly...I've been a little distracted with Real Life and the heat  recently.  I haven't really wanted to cook and heat up the house.   In that spirit, let me talk a little bit about quick g-f summer meals that I toss together that don't require a lot of cooking...

There's always salad:  a bed of arugula with some grilled leg of lamb, garlic scapes.   Or cold potatoes, diced, with a little bit of mayo and langoustine tails from Trader Joes.

Unfortunately I usually have the tendency in summer to just grab a hunk of cheese.. or some cold meat.   My summer eating habits are not spectacular....  apart from the fruit and raw milk that I get at the market.

I've been eating tons of cherries from the Farmer's market.   mmmmm cherries.  

I keep meaning to make gazpacho.   I do it very simply, in the blender, and I think that will be my next post.

Eating locally...spring/summer meals...

So this year I am going to try to eat locally, as much as possible.    And last night's dinner was an example.

I had a radish salad, adapted lightly from Local Flavors, by Deborah Madison.   Sliced radishes, arugula, mixed lettuce, chives, and local cheese.    With a roasted chicken (from the same people who made the cheese).  And dessert?  Yogurt (with cherry jam).  And I realised upon finishing, the whole meal was local food, apart from the cherry jam.

The difficult thing about trying to eat locally is carbs.   Because being gluten-free and getting healthy carbs can be a challenge...and the gluten-free stuff generally comes from a distance.    So I'll never be a true locavore because I need my carbs!

Studies I would like to see:

I know this isn't technically a post that should go here, but I thought it would be an interesting thing to think about, since technically celiac is an autoimmune disorder.   I was on the ubiquitous Facebook this morning, and a friend of mine posted about her son's peanut allergy.   I had also posted, on my other blog, something about why I eat organic.  And I had been having a conversation with my mother in which we had been talking about studies we'd like to see.

I'd like to see a study on food allergies in kids raised in developing countries/the Amish/organic farms, vs kids raised in Europe vs kids in the States.   Basically kids eating less processed/pre-prepared foods vs fresher foods.   I suspect that its the processed foods that are the culprits.  

I'd love to see real studies, long term, on different kinds of eating habits.   There was a time, not long ago, in this country, where we had people eating doughnuts fried in lard, home-made french fries, tongue, liver, organ meats.   As well as canned food, preserves, fresh fruit in season.     Now, yes you can get doughnuts, but they are usually Dunkin', and filled with stuff.   And you have to wonder, with all the toxins we are encouraged to ingest...   I see people shopping at Whole Foods, vegans, who buy the vegan cheeses, the tofu foods, the frozen foods.   Are they healthier than the person who eats locally raised meats, veggies from the farmer's markets and the occasional French Fry?  I'd like to see studies on what women eat/wear/use for cosmetics and their children's health.  I suspect that some of the high incidence of autism/learning disorders/food allergies are linked to pesticides, or maybe to feedlot meat.  Maybe even a study showing comparative spending and health.  I know a lot of poorer people in Baltimore would make the effort to go to the Farmer's market to buy healthy stuff.  I know in Europe, they spend a lot more on food per person than we do here.    

What studies would you like to see about food and food allergies?