Tag: gluten-free

Easy Eggs for a Fast Gluten-Free Breakfast

Growing up, I was never much of an egg eater. Or perhaps my mother wasn’t much of an egg cooker. And, of course, as a child, I had typical, rational worries about consuming incipient baby chicks. I am embarrassed to admit I was in my thirties before I discovered this was a warrantless concern.

These days, I eat a lot of eggs. Particularly fried eggs. They make my bunless burgers so much more fun. One of my favorite dinners involves a great burger on a bed of lightly dressed greens, cheese, a fried egg, and bacon. Because, well, bacon. It’s my version of a breakfast burger, and it is so good.

Here are some great egg ideas that are perfect for a gluten-free breakfast — and most are simple enough to make before you’ve had your first cup of coffee. Or lunches. Or dinners. They range from five-minute dishes to thirty-minute dishes. Many of these dishes can incorporate leftover meats and veggies as well. Continue reading “Easy Eggs for a Fast Gluten-Free Breakfast”

Can You Trust Gluten-Free Food Labels?

It’s hard to walk through a grocery store these days without encountering foods labeled “gluten free”. For those of us who must follow a GF diet, this is fantastic news. As much as I applaud companies like Pillsbury and General Mills creating gluten-free versions of popular items, I appreciate that companies whose foods are naturally gluten free and made in safe environments are labeling their products clearly.

Even though I can tell from the ingredients that a particular bag of potato chips is safe for me to consume, having it labeled gluten free helps my peace of mind. And I admit it: I buy those products simply because I want to encourage continued development of convenience foods that are gluten free. For me, this isn’t a marketing gimmick; it’s how I’m going to eat for the rest of my life. Continue reading “Can You Trust Gluten-Free Food Labels?”

Gluten-Free Pasadena, California

We love eating out in Pasadena, and have a found a great number of restaurants that have gluten-free options and/or are willing to modify menu items to accommodate gluten-free diners. Please note that many of the place listed below prepare foods in shared spaces with gluten-based items, so you need to be careful when ordering.

I’ve found most of the staff and management in these restaurants have been extremely accommodating. Staff who are not familiar with what it means to be gluten free are willing to defer to managers and chefs. But, as always, ask lots of questions before ordering. Continue reading “Gluten-Free Pasadena, California”

Chicken and Rice: The International Duo

For many years, we spent Valentine’s Day in Manhattan…with about 2,000 of our closest friends. Since we were attending a conference, we found ourselves grabbing dinner at the last minute. One of our favorite places was a Cuban restaurant near Times Square, and dinner there with a group of international friends got me thinking about the many ways chicken and rice is eaten around the world.

Now, to be clear, chicken and rice can be served together a million different ways, so I’m focusing here on those dishes where the chicken and rice are generally cooked together (meaning, I’m leaving out dishes like Filipino Adobo), infusing the rice with more intense flavors. It doesn’t take long to realize how many cultures love this idea! Below are my favorites. Continue reading “Chicken and Rice: The International Duo”

Sushi, the Gluten-Free Way

I could have sushi multiple times a week (and, confession!, sometimes I do). It’s flavorful, creative, and satisfying without being heavy. Sushi is also a great meal for sharing — the small, bite-sized items, ordered in small portions, allow you get a variety of items. And, thankfully, sushi is great option for gluten-free dining. Continue reading “Sushi, the Gluten-Free Way”

Specialized Gluten-Free Foods: Expensive or Important

I’ve just spent about an hour reading comments from people about the price and quality of specialized gluten-free foods. Oh yes, they are indeed far more expensive than their non-GF brethren! And, especially when you first go gluten-free, nowhere as tasty as the foods they are mimicking.

Yet, we, the gluten-free community, keep trying to make GF foods that taste just as good as “real” foods. I am of two minds on this point. One, of course, is that sometimes I really do want a grilled cheese sandwich. This means reaching into my frozen stash of Udi’s Whole Grain GF bread.

But mostly, I don’t think too much about what I can’t have — as it turns out, during the years before I went gluten-free, I gravitated almost instinctively toward “safe” foods. Not always successfully, but I found my cravings were for those foods that left me feeling good after a meal.

Continue reading “Specialized Gluten-Free Foods: Expensive or Important”

Cooking with Vinegar

Via a link in my Twitter feed, I read a blog post that indicated rice vinegar is not gluten-free. This statement gave me pause because, by definition, rice vinegar is absolutely gluten-free. The author of the post was trying to figure out why her son became sick after eating sushi, and she used bad research to determine rice vinegar has gluten.

The culprit was almost certainly not the rice vinegar in the sushi rice (it was more likely the wheat in the fake crab meat). As I researched this issue — thinking maybe I was crazy — I saw there was a lot of confusion about vinegar. This makes me sad as vinegar is a fantastic ingredient to add to your gluten-free kitchen. Continue reading “Cooking with Vinegar”