Ideas for a Gluten-Free Diet

A gluten-free diet may initially seem like a hardship, but it can actually be an opportunity to explore foods other than the mainstream processed options on the shelves of most grocery stores. In addition to the health benefits of tailoring your diet to accommodate a gluten allergy, a gluten-free diet can provide the impetus to cook from scratch and prepare tasty, healthy meals.
Fruits and Vegetables

Your gluten-free diet can include a wealth of fruits and vegetables. Enjoy vegetables raw in salads or with dips, such as tahini (sesame paste) or seasoned sour cream. Lightly steam vegetables, such as zucchini and asparagus, by chopping them into bite-sized pieces, cooking them for a few minutes in a steamer basket and then seasoning them with oil and vinegar. Saute leafy greens in olive oil along with garlic, shallots, leeks or onions. Eat fruits like strawberries, apples and peaches without any preparation except a quick rinse. Look for perfectly ripe fruit for optimum flavor. You can also prepare fruit compotes by stewing fruit on low heat in just enough juice to keep them from sticking to the pan. Sweeten them to suit your taste, and cook the mixture for about 10 minutes, or until the fruit starts to break down. Thicken the compote by sprinkling in a few teaspoons of rice flour, and then eat it by itself or over ice cream.
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Screening Processed Foods

Many food companies now offer gluten-free products, and many other grocery products contain no gluten even though they may not specifically be labelled as gluten-free. Read ingredient labels closely when shopping at mainstream grocery stores. Get to know which grains contain gluten, such as wheat, barley and rye, and which grains are gluten-free, such as rice and quinoa. Look at labels to see if foods contain these grains. Many might surprise you, such as soy sauce and malt, both of which contain gluten via a grain unless otherwise specified. There are also preservatives, such as hydrolyzed vegetable protein and caramel color, that may contain gluten, so choose products that do not contain these ingredients. Educate yourself as to what contains gluten and what does not by going to Gluten-Free Living's website and reading up on ingredients.
Meat and Dairy

Meat is naturally gluten-free, provided you buy it in an unadulterated form, such as ground beef or cuts that have not been previously seasoned or doctored to make foods such as meatballs, which may contain bread crumbs. Similarly, chicken and fish are gluten-free, provided they have not been breaded. You can bread your own fish or meat by using a gluten-free grain, such as corn meal. Dairy products also contain no gluten, although you should check ingredients labels for any products that contain more ingredients than a basic dairy product, such as chocolate milk or fruity yogurt.