Silly yak.

How many people do you know with Coeliac (seel-ee-yack) disease? Coeliacs are unable to digest gluten with differing tolerance levels and symptoms. Some people feel a bit tired or get mouth ulcers after a sandwich and then I know others who cannot even use the same toaster that has had regular bread in it because even a few crumbs will cause them to start vomiting violently!! When people are diagnosed via a blood test or gut biopsy they are sent out into the big wide world instructed to never touch gluten again. So what the heck is there left to eat, you ask? "Plenty!!" I answer with triumph!

Here are a tonne and a half of gluten free meal ideas for all the silly yaks out there!

HEALTHY GLUTEN-FREE MEALS

Breakfast ideas
Gluten-free muesli with rice/soy/oat milk, fresh fruit, yoghurt and cinnamon
Bircher muesli: soak rolled rice flakes with enough water to just cover it and add ¼ cup of sultanas, a sprinkle of shredded coconut and 8 almonds. Then in the morning add a grated granny smith apple, some honey and yoghurt to make it creamy
Hot bircher muesli (follow above recipe but in the morning add some extra milk and heat through on the stove before eating). Add stewed apple and cinnamon
Boiled/scrambled/poached or fried eggs on gluten-free toast with avocado and sprinled with Celtic sea salt or cracked pepper
Breakfast stirfry: sauté mushrooms, capsicums, onions and bok choy in some tamari sauce (wheat-free soy sauce) then serve on toast with an egg
Homemade baked beans and avo on toast
The Essential Health Super smoothie: fruit, milk, yoghurt, protein powder, LSA, honey
Mashed steamed veg (such as a combination of sweet potato, broccoli and carrot) with some cooked brown rice mixed in with a soft boiled egg on top and sprinkled with Celtic sea salt
Make an omelette with mushrooms, baby spinach, onion and halved cherry tomatoes with fresh herbs from the garden
Fruit salad with a spoonful of yoghurt and sprinkled with sunflower seeds, pepitas and cinnamon drizzled with maple syrup

Lunch/Dinners ideas
Miso soup with tofu, brown rice or vermicelli rice noodles, broccolini, bok choy, snow peas and mushrooms. Cut up ½ a nori sheet (what they make sushi out of) into 1cm squares with scissors. You can poach, steam or grill a chicken breast, then place it on a chopping board and shred it with a fork then add it to the soup
Sushi
Vietnamese rice paper rolls
Vegetable minestrone with canellini or borlotti beans
Chicken and vegetable soup. Add 2 cups of cooked brown rice or quinoa
Spiced pumpkin soup
Orgran buckwheat pasta spirals with pesto, green beans, asparagus and chicken or tuna
Chicken/tuna/egg/felefel/lentil patty and salad in gluten-free wraps
Omelette and salad
Vegetable frittata
Mexican beef or bean nacho’s (unsalted corn chips) with lots of salad and fresh guacamole
Zucchini slice
Turkey meat balls with pasta or rice
Felafel wraps: buy a box of felafel mix from the health food aisle in the supermarket, soak mix in water for 20 mins and shallow fry in a frypan til golden. Sit the felafels on some paper towel to absorb the excess oil then put in a wrap with hommus, sweet chilli and salad
Grilled fish with freshly squeezed lemon and fresh parsley or basil with vegies on the side
Pesto grilled chicken salad with rocket and cherry tomatoes
Fried brown rice: add free range chicken breast, grated carrot and zucchini, corn spears, snow peas, mushies, fresh pineapple and fresh coriander, tamari and sweet chilli sauce. Make a little omelette of two free range eggs and shallots, then slice up and mix through the rice. Leftovers? Yummy for breakfast with a poached egg on top (Nasi Goreng style) or rolled up in rice paper rolls with some baby spinach.
Zucchini slice make with gluten-free flour served with salad. They’re great for school or work when baked in a muffin tin!
Fish cakes with a lime and chilli dipping sauce
Pizzas made with Orgran dough mixes


Snacks and treats
The Essential Health Super smoothie
Juice up some pineapple, pear, apple with fresh mint then pour into a shaker and mix in one teaspoon of barley grass
Juice an apple then blend it up with ½ a cup of berries and spirulina
Pack a little lunchbox with sticks of carrots, cucumber, capsicum, snow peas, mushroom cups, cherry tomatoes with a source of protein: felafels, a boiled egg or tin of tuna
Make your own dips to have on veggie sticks, corn thins or Vita Wheat “Rice Crackers”. Salsa: dice tomatoes, capsicum, red onion and fresh parsley with chopped coriander. Guacamole: mash an avo, squeeze of lemon, some cracked pepper and sweet chilli. Homemade hummus.
Baked granny smith apple with sultanas and cinnamon
Fig and almond bliss balls (finely chop 2 cups of dried fruit and 1 cup of nuts/seeds then combine with 2 Tbs of coconut cream, a big spoonful of peanut butter and roll into balls and cover with coconut, sesame seeds or LSA). You can add spirulina, protein powder, carob powder, cinnamon. Store in a container in the fridge.
Tamari roasted nuts and seeds (lightly coat 2 cups of nuts and seeds with 1 Tbs of tamari. Spread over lined baking tray and bake in 180 degrees over for 15mins or until dry).
Greek yoghurt with fresh fruit, sunflower seeds, cinnamon and honey


Great cookbooks
Wheat and gluten free by Jody Vassallo
Allergy-friendly Cookbook by Alice Sherwood