Getting started on a gluten-free and dairy-free diet

 
Grace Cheetham, author of Simply Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free, gives you a quick guide to gluten and diary free diets.

Getting Started

 
It’s well worth stocking up on lots of different ingredients so that you have them to hand when you want to make something gluten-free and dairy-free. Fill your cupboards with gluten-free pastas, noodles, polenta (that you could use in something like my Lemon Polenta Cake) and different types of rice. You can get fusilli, penne, spaghetti and lasagne sheets made from corn and rice very easily. You’ll also find wonderful varieties of rice noodles – thick and thin – as well as noodles made purely from buckwheat and glass noodles made from mung beans.
 
Stock up, too, on dairy-free alternatives, such as margarine made from vegetable oils, or soya, (to make something like my Chocolate Fondant), soya milks, soya yogurts, soya cream cheese and soya cheeses (for a pizza, for example, like my Artichoke, Parma Ham & Olive Pizza), and products made from rice and nuts. They’re fantastically useful, and most of them last for a considerable amount of time in your fridge.
 
For most of the baking recipes, I use a mixture of rice flour, gram flour (also known as chickpea flour or besan) and maize/corn flour because they’re easily available and they combine brilliantly in terms of flavour and consistency. I also add potato flour to the breads (such as my White Bread) to ensure that they don’t taste dry, like some gluten-free versions do. You can use other flours, too, and discover how to work with the different tastes and textures – and also benefit nutritionally. For example, I use the nutty-tasting buckwheat flour, but combine it with sweet ingredients so that the flavours sing. I also use chestnut flour (in recipes like my Chocolate Birthday Cake), which, unlike most gluten-free flours, has great binding properties – but its distinctive taste can sometimes overpower other flavours if you don’t use balancing ingredients. And when I use quinoa flour, I mask its strong taste.
 
Quinoa is a wonderfully nutritious ingredient. I use the flakes and the whole grain itself. Amaranth is another wonderfood to add to your storecupboard. The grain dates back to the time of the Aztecs and the Incas and can be used as an alternative to couscous. It’s also a lovely bulking agent in mixtures and can also give a really crunchy texture in things like crusts. Cashew nuts make brilliant milk and cream. The textures are smooth and creamy and the nutty taste very subtle, making it hugely versatile. Almonds are a classic gluten-free ingredient, used in many different cuisines around the world. Ground into a flour, they give sweet moistness in baking, as well as a lovely light texture. But they can also serve as a wonderful dairy-free alternative. As with cashew nuts, you can whizz almonds into a deliciously creamy milk or cream in your food processor or blender and make, for example, an irresistible almond cream.
 
Coconut milk (and there are now different types of the milk, as well as coconut yogurts) has finally lost its bad reputation and can stand tall as a dairy-free alternative. While it does contain saturated fats, it’s now acknowledged that they are different to the ones in meat and, instead of being stored as fat in our bodies, they can provide a fantastic source of immune-boosting energy. Add in the high levels of vitamins that coconut milk contains, and you can tuck into it without any guilt.
 
It’s also worth making sure you always have gluten-free tamari soy sauce in your cupboard, as well as a good gluten- and dairy-free stock powder and gluten-free baking powder. Pick up a pot of xanthan gum, too – now widely available. It’s great at holding gluten-free baked goods together. Also stock up on cornflour for thickening soups, stews, sauces and fillings, and for creating crispy coatings.

Whether you’re suffering from allergy-related IBS, eczema, asthma, migraines or chronic fatigue, or you’re coeliac, Simply Gluten-free and Dairy-free will show you how to use substitute ingredients and simple cooking techniques to make mouth-watering meals. Find more inspiration on  Grace’s award-winning blog glutendairyfree.co.uk.

Simply Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free by Grace Cheetham.

176 pages • Illustrated • £12.99

AUS $24.99 NZ $28.00

Order your copy here with free UK postage