Cooking For Someone Who's Gluten Intolerant

Have someone who is gluten intolerant coming over for dinner?
Here is what you need to know:

Find out how sensitive they are to gluten.

Some people with gluten intolerance will react to even a few molecules of gluten, others can eat small amounts with little problem.

Know what contains gluten.

Gluten is in wheat, oats, barley, kamut, spelt, rye and triticale.
There are a lot of things that contain gluten that seem like the would be innocent:
Soy Sauce -- almost always contains wheat.
Ketchup, mustard and dressings many times can.
Many soups and chilies also do.

What is safe to cook for someone who is gluten intolerant?

It's generally safe to stick with the basics.
Meat
Pick a meat that's not marinated. Cook it with just some salt and pepper.
Vegetables
Salads, especially chicken salads can be a great meal! No croutons, and leave the dressing off. You can put out some olive oil and red wine or apple cider vinegar.
Starches:
Corn, potatoes, rice, millet, and quinoa are safe bets. Don't buy it from the bulk containers and if possible get one that says "gluten-free".

Other Precautions:

Be mindful of cross contamination. Even a few specs of flour can set off a reaction for some people. Separate a part of the kitchen as a "gluten free zone". Watch out for crumbs on butter, knives and other utensils. If you are going to put butter in a food, then take the butter from the back side of the stick where it hasn't been touched before. The same goes for cream cheese and other condiments that are put onto products containing gluten.
Make sure all pots are washed before cooking the gluten free food.
Remember to not stir a gluten free dish with a spoon that has stirred something with gluten.

 

If you mess up, it's OK... just let us know, we're used to finding things that are gluten free to snack on, usually even carry a few things with us... and really... we will have appreciated the effort more than you know.

Thank You!





Gluten Free Products and Diet Information

Gluten is a protein that is found in wheat, oats, barley and rye. For some people this protein causes the gut lining to become inflamed causing a plethora of other problems... more