If you haven't been hearing the talk about gluten these days, you've been living under a rock. Just browse through the natural section of your grocery store and you'll see a whole shelf full of gluten free pastas, cookies, crackers and breads. If you read the ingredients you'll notice that they are filled with such exotic things such as amaranth, quinoa, and pregelatinized tapioca starch. You'll also notice that they're a helluva lot more expensive than the regular options.
So, what's the deal with this gluten thing anyways? Well, gluten is actually a type of protein found in wheat products. Gluten awareness first started because of the 0.5-1.0% of people who have a severe intolerance to it, called Celiac disease. Recently many "normal" people have learned that although they don't have Celiac's, their bodies simply don't handle gluten well. And athletes have learned that going gluten-free may be better for their training. Case in point: recently the Garmin slipstream cycling team went gluten free.
In the month prior to my last 70.3, I decided to go gluten free. It actually just happened by accident. Being a poor graduate student, the only wheat products I have in my house are pasta. I wanted to lose those last few pounds before my big race, and had always had a pasta problem. To solve it I simply said: no more pasta. Instead all I had was rice and oats on hand. And so I ate rice and oats (plus tofu, veggies, eggs, and fruit). For an entire month.
Despite the culinary boredom, something interesting happened. I shed weight like crazy, had better digestion, but more importantly, my training skyrocketed. I was able to recover better after hard workouts, and just simply felt like I had more left in the tank.
So after my "I'm going to Kona" celebratory period of wine, cheese, red meat and all the gluten a girl could ask for, I made a decision: Gluten free as I train for Kona. This makes it easier for me to not have foods I typically overeat on such as pizza, crackers and cookies. I am also saying no to all dairy except yogurt and to red meat and booze.
But if I'm gonna do this whole gluten free thing, I refuse to shell out big bucks for "fake" wheat products with bizarre ingredients. I don't have money to buy special flours and starches and potions. Naturally, that whittles down the culinary possibilities. So far, I've tried two new things:
Rice Pizza
Don't let this fool you. This pizza is perhaps the healthiest thing you can eat. It has brown rice, eggs, tofu, pasta sauce and veggies. That's it!
Frayed Laces Rice Pizza
- 3-4 cups cooked brown rice
- 2 eggs
- 1 package tofu
- spaghetti or pizza sauce
- veggies
- seasonings
Directions: Preheat oven to 400. Mix together the rice, eggs, about 1/3 of the crumbled tofu, and any seasonings (I used about 1tsp of Italian seasoning). Go ahead---mix in right in the pan. We don't waste our time with bowls. Press down into pan. Bake for 15 minutes or so until set.
Take it out of the oven and spread a nice layer of sauce. Top with whatever veggies you want (I sadly used canned peas and tomatoes because it was the only produce in the house). Sprinkle with the remaining 2/3 package of tofu. Bake another 10 minutes or so. Add salt if desired. Cut and enjoy!
My second culinary endeavor: What do these ingredients all have in common?
Why, they make some gluten free bread, of course!
Tuna Bread:
- 1 can of tuna, drained
- 1 egg
- 1 spoon baking powder
- 1tsp cinnamon
- 2tsp honey
Directions: Preheat oven to 400. Put all ingredients in blender and blend. Pour into a small casserole dish (or 8x8 square baking pan). Bake 25-30 minutes until set.
I know what you're thinking: "tuna bread? Seriously?" I thought the same thing. As the blender was whirring I thought "this is some nasty looking cat puke." When I poured the batter into the pan I thought "this is some nasty smelling cat puke." When I pulled it out of the oven I was curious. It had settled into something that resembled a bread-like substance.
It was pretty thin when it came out, and still smelled fishy. The website where I found the recipe claimed it was good with peanut butter. I decided to try.
Verdict? Tuna flavored peanut butter. Gross. I was about to throw out the pan, then had a thought and tried it with tahini. The verdict? YUM! I think next time I am going to take Maggs' suggestion and embrace the tuna flavor with curry instead of trying to hide it with cinnamon and honey.
Contest!
But...woman cannot live on rice pizza and tuna bread alone. I am sick of scouring the web for gluten free recipes only to find the majority of them containing the ingredients I refuse to buy. So guys and gals, I need your help! Send me your favorite wheat-free recipes! My only requirements are that they are cheap, easy and healthy (kinda like me). And bonus points if they contain the main ingredients I consume (brown rice, oats, tofu, eggs, veggies and fruit). I will post the highlights of what I get, and the top recipe submission will get some tasty mint chocolate GU from my personal collection!
