Gluten-free cooking has been gaining in popularity in the last several years, due to an increasing awareness in celiac disease or gluten intolerance.
illustration by nurainy darono | rawr
University of Idaho student Haley McDaniel has been diagnosed with celiac disease. She has been cooking gluten-free for the past four years.
“Everything that I (cook) is pretty much from scratch,” McDaniel said.
But what is gluten? According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, gluten is a protein found in the grains wheat, barley and rye. It serves as a binding agent that helps keep together the foods that it’s in.
Gluten is found in many food products and trying to avoid it can be tricky if you have an intolerance to it. Gravy, beer, noodles and batters are just some examples of food that can contain gluten in them.
“It’s a lot of label reading,” UI Campus Dietitian Marissa Rudley said.
Many products might claim to be gluten-free and while the product itself may not contain the protein, there’s no guarantee that it isn’t contaminated. Prepackaged products are often packaged in large processing plants and when you have a number of different food products in the same area, they can get contaminated. Almost any recipe can be made gluten free by substituting ingredients that contain the protein for similar ones.
Rice or nut flours can be used as a substitute for regular flour and starchy vegetables can be a great source of carbohydrates and other nutrients, Rudley said.
“Rice is really versatile and very easy to cook with and a good place to start,” Rudley said.
Other gluten-free grains range from the reasonably cheap millet to the slightly pricey quinoa. Gluten-free products can start to lean towards the expensive side, especially if you buy them prepackaged.
Being that gluten is a natural binding agent, baking with it can be a bit of a hassle. Baked goods tend to be crumbly when prepared without gluten or another proper binding agent.
Some gluten-free baked goods use extra sugar as a binding agent, McDaniel said.
In some cases, it can be a sugar overload.
“Just because it’s gluten-free doesn’t mean it’s healthy for you,” McDaniel said. “It can be worse for you than a regular piece of cake.”
Adding a little something extra to your gluten-free food can go a long way in terms of moistening up your bread or giving a dish more flavor.
Fruits are a great way to make baked goods less crumbly and dairy products like cheese can be used to make meals less bland, McDaniel said.
Gluten-free cooking is becoming a big movement in itself, with people going gluten-free even without celiac disease.
While there isn’t any real health benefit to going gluten-free unless you have an intolerance to it, there is nothing wrong with having a broader diet, Rudley said.
“I think that anybody can benefit from having a balance of lots of different kind of whole grains in their diet, including wheat if they can tolerate it,” Rudley said.
There are plenty of user-created blogs full of gluten-free tips and recipes, and sites like Pinterest also have a great variety for someone looking for a place to start. UI’s Bob’s Place also has an allergen-free bar that is gluten-free, dairy-free, wheat-free, egg-free and nut-free foods for students living on campus who have any kind of food intolerance.
“Keep it fresh,” McDaniel said. “When you’re going back to the same thing over and over again, it really makes you expand your horizons.”
Jared Jonas can be reached at [email protected]