The Food Philosopher

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Summer Guide to Gluten-Free Entertaining

sUMMER ENTERTAINING AND THE BARBECUE SEASON HAVE ARRIVED
in all their smoky glory. It is difficult enough for some home cooks to whip up a delicious meal for guests, but how can you cook for and nurture a guest with a gluten intolerance? Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and oats. Celiac disease is an intolerance to gluten. Along with wheat allergies, celiac is becoming more readily recognized and diagnosed in the United States. In fact, it is now thought that one out of every 100 people may have celiac, a condition that is routinely screened for in many European countries. Look at this as an opportunity to venture outside your everyday cooking boundaries. Here are some guidelines to get you started.

Appetizers are simple enough: vegetables and gluten-free dips, seafood and sushi, nuts and olives, cheese with fruit, and crunchy rice crackers (available in most grocery stores and recommended by Weight Watchers). Forget about croutons, and instead top salads with delicious toasted nuts. Wheat pasta can be replaced by brown rice pasta for summer pasta salads. Remember to thicken sauces with corn starch or potato starch instead of wheat flour (1 tablespoon of wheat flour equals ½ tablespoon corn or potato starch). Grilled meats, poultry, fish, vegetables, potatoes, and rice are all wheat and gluten–free. Use wheat–free soy sauce for marinades, since the second ingredient in soy sauce is wheat!

When it comes to dessert, options are plentiful. Along with ice cream, sorbets, mousse, puddings, and fruit, round out your meal with one of our special gluten–free desserts. You will discover flavorful, nutritious, new flours that are often overlooked when we reach for wheat flour, that staple of so many American diets. Fortunately, you will not be the first person to venture down the path of gluten–free baking. We’ve developed a delicious assortment of gluten–free baked goods you can try. For gluten–free recipes that do not include any flour, see Flourless Gluten–Free Treats in the Gluten–Free archive. For simple, basic recipes to help you get started, see Three Fool–Proof Recipes to Get You Started , also in the Gluten–Free archive. Also, be sure to try out some of our other favorites as they are added in our quarterly updates. It is impossible to overestimate the happiness you can bring to others (or yourself!) when you make favorite baked goods in a delicious gluten–free version.