Gluten-Free Blog

Shakshuka-Style Greens and Eggs

I’ve never been a huge fan of tomatoes, though I am trying (and finding them to be less, well, icky than I tell myself). But when I tried an Israeli shakshuka — a dish traditionally made with tomatoes and peppers — in a restaurant, I fell in love. It’s a breakfast dish, but I’d eat it any time of day or night.

One evening, I was playing with tomatillos and greens, considering a chile verde type dish. I didn’t have a plan, and I didn’t have any pork handy. I did have eggs, and it made sense to add the eggs to the dish. Voila! Later, I poked around the Internet for ideas to improve this dish; weirdly, what I found came out as a cross between one of my favorite ways to prepare greens and this final dish. The real difference is the tomatillo, which adds a lot of tanginess to the dish (and makes it a bit juicier than the greens alone).

Serve this to vegetarians and they will think you’re a genius. Serve it for brunch. For dinner. Take leftovers for lunch. You will thank yourself. I promise.

Easy Hungarian Beef with Paprika (aka Goulash)

I like to pretend it’s my Hungarian heritage that draws me to to this dish, but the truth is I love stews of all kinds, at any time of year. This braised dish sits on the back of the stove for a few hours, filling your house with the scent of paprika and yumminess. Oh, and it’s effortless to make this dish gluten free!

To offset the heat of the paprika, the recipe uses a bunch of onion. These cook down into the sauce to add a rich sweetness that will have you reaching for second before you realize it!

My recipe calls for a thick sauce that clings to the beef, but if you like a looser, soupier sauce, that is fine. The sauce will soak into buttered noodles, rice, or even gluten-free rolls.

Allergy versus Intolerance

As mentioned, I read an article recently that left me thinking about labels and how they help us communicate. In the article, the authors was very clear that she considers her issue with gluten to be an allergy. That’s fine — she knows her body best.

(This article has inspired two pieces from me as there were two key points I took away. Here’s the other one, where I discuss communicating with restaurant staff.)

In the article comments, there was a lot of interesting back and forth (yeah, I broke the “don’t read the comments” rule, but this is a topic that interests me!), but there was one comment that really took me by surprise. One person took great exception to the author’s labeling her gluten issue as an allergy. Continue reading “Allergy versus Intolerance”

Restaurants. Again.

I read articles about how others handle their gluten-free lives with great interest, though, in all honesty, most of those articles have common themes. However, every now and then, a point jumps out at me, or a sentence helps coalesce my thinking about a particular issue.

A recent article got me thinking a lot about communicating our gluten free-ness with others. The author of the article made it clear she considers her gluten issue an allergy, and that lead me to think a lot about how restaurant staff look at an order of “gluten free”. Continue reading “Restaurants. Again.”

Gluten-Free Product Review: Banza Pasta

As you know, I’m not huge on most gluten-free speciality items. They tend to be overpriced, and, often, just not that good. I do make exceptions for pasta as it can’t be beat for fast weeknight meals. And gluten-free pastas tend to be reasonably priced and reliable.

Okay, that final statement was a bit of lie. You have to buy quality gluten-free pasta. I cannot count the number of times I’ve had cheap pastas — often made from rice (white or brown) — go from not-quite-there to well-it’s-time-to-fall-apart in a blink of an eye. Bad gluten-free pastas give the whole genre a bad name. Continue reading “Gluten-Free Product Review: Banza Pasta”

On Probiotics

Leading up to my gallbladder surgery, I focused a lot on probiotic foods. I knew I’d be getting a good dose of antibiotics — the killer of those lovely bacteria that keeps our systems regular — and wanted to give my gut a head start.

It seems everyone is talking (or writing) about probiotics these days. I first encountered a probiotic evangelist back before my diagnosis. She was working with me to help pinpoint my digestive issues — particularly those in the intestinal area — and recommended I add kefir or yogurt to my diet. I did…for a while. Continue reading “On Probiotics”

Bad Food Romance

Right now, I’m in a bad relationship with food. It’s temporary, thankfully, but it’s all too reminiscent of those days before I realized gluten was my mortal enemy. I do not miss those days. Not one little bit.

The end result of this bad relationship is that I’m going to have to exercise even more caution when it comes to my diet. My gallbladder is the culprit, and its removal is the cure. According to all the literature, I can, theoretically, eat anything I want. That freedom comes with a huge caveat. Continue reading “Bad Food Romance”