Here are some tips for avoiding gluten at your holiday meal:
- Avoid self-basting turkeys.
- Many people thicken their gravy with flour. However, it is extremely easy to thicken gravy using arrowroot starch or cornstarch.
- Obviously, most stuffing is not gluten-free. You can follow most conventional stuffing recipes by using a gluten-free bread that you've cubed and dried out in the oven. Avoid stuffings made with sausage.
- Soy sauce is a sneaky source of gluten, especially in vegetarian and vegan foods. Keep in mind that it's not only used in Asian dishes. Look for gluten-free soy sauce and tamari from San-J, Panda (Kari-Out), and Walmart Great Value.
- Cheesecakes and pumpkin pie fillings are often gluten-free, but check to make sure the baker didn't add flour.
- Many commercially available chicken broths have gluten in them. Some (but not all) of the following brands of stock are GF: Trader Joe's Hain's, Health Valley, Manischewitz, Swanson's, Shelton, Whole Foods 365, Imagine Foods. Celifibr, Herb Ox and Better Than Bouillon make GF bouillon cubes or pastes. Check the labels carefully.
- Breadcrumbs are used on casseroles, in stuffed vegetables, and in other dishes. Use gluten-free cornflakes, packaged gluten-free breadcrumbs, or make your own breadcrumbs.
- Cream sauces and other thickened sauces often have flour in them, so ask your host about what they used as a thickener. Karina recommends keeping around a bag of gluten-free baking mix (Pamela's Ultimate Baking Mix is great, while Bob's Red Mill and Gluten Free Pantry make dairy-free versions). Use it as a substitute in any recipe that calls for flour.
- Most of the "cream of..." soups used in casseroles are NOT gluten-free. Health Valley and Progresso make gluten-free Cream of Mushroom soups.
- French Fried Onions purchased in a grocery store have gluten in them. Make your own french fried onions for use in greenbean casserole, or try a greenbean dish without a different crispy topping, such as potato chips or toasted nuts.
- Stick to gluten-free specialty beers or the alcoholic beverages on this list.
- Be careful of vegetarian dishes made to taste or feel like meat. Most are made with wheat gluten / seitan, texturized vegetable protein (TVP) or hydrolized vegetable protein (HVP), which contain gluten.
- Watch out for these ingredients: Corn flakes, fried onions, nondairy cream substitutes, sweets that are flavored with malt, commercial salad dressings, commercial fruit pie fillings, BBQ sauces, other condiments, breaded or fried foods. Gluten-free versions of most of these products are available.
- If you are new to having celiac disease, or if you are new to cooking for a gluten intolerant person, please keep in mind that wheat-free does not necessarily mean gluten-free. Other unsafe grains include kamut, spelt, farro, semolina, graham (not gram) flour, bran, bulgur, barley and rye. A list of common food ingredients and their gluten-free status can be found here.
3 comments:
Great job aggregating all those holiday gluten-free recipe links and all! That's a great way to help everyone out this Thanksgiving. Now, of course, you'll have to start working on a Christmas GF list :)
Shameless plug through your site! Please forgive me!
A new 'gluten-free' podcast series is up through a listing on iTunes. If you suffer from Celiac disease or are gluten-intolerant, you may dig it. Thanks.
Blog: http://glutenfreepodcast.blogspot.com/
iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=206514983
Thanks for good info...I've learned alot. I will be bringing food for me to my Thanksgiving host (my asian mother-in-law that thinks I'm just a picky eater no matter what I or my husband says) along with the Redbridge beer!
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