You Go Gluten-Free Girl

I'm a big fan of Shauna James Ahern. I've been frequenting her blog, Gluten-Free Girl, for a while now, and am in the midst of reading her book by the same name. I do not have Celiac Disease, however, I really dig her approach to food. Since going full-blown vegetarian nearly 5 years ago, I've encountered some of the same issues as someone living gluten-free. Granted, the consequences of some gelatin or meat broth slipping past my radar aren't nearly as serious someone with Celiac inadvertently consuming gluten. However, for ethical, environmental and health reasons we are committed to avoiding all meat, which means reading labels carefully and knowing where it can hide. Grocery shopping can be tedious and time consuming. Eating out can be tricky (Me: "Is there meat in this soup?" Waiter: "No." Me: "Great! What's the base?" Waiter: "Chicken broth." Argh!!!!!) It's also easy to get in the rut of eating the same things.

So when I started reading Shauna's blog and book, it seemed oddly familiar and rather appealing. Her outlook is refreshing - instead of mourning the loss of forbidden foods, she celebrates the opportunity to experience new and exotic foods and flavors. Her recipes are tantalizing - I can't wait to try these Arepas, her Butternut Squash Soup with Smoked Paprika, and Shauna's Autumn Squash, Red Pepper, and Red Quinoa, to name only a few. There certainly isn't a shortage of flavors in the world, and I'd like to try more of them. I'd also like to learn how to cook with them, to figure out what pairs well together, and to be one of those cooks who knows how a "pinch of this" and a "bit of that" makes everything come alive.

I can also identify with the need for improved labeling on food packaging and better education of restaurant staff regarding diet restrictions. A few weeks ago, after starting Shauna's book, I tried doing my weekly grocery shopping entirely gluten-free, just to see if I could. It was hard, and I made several mistakes. I appreciate now that gluten is nearly ubiquitous in packaged foods, and probably winds up in a far greater variety of foods than meat products. Try buying soy milk without gluten, or try figuring out which cheeses are made with animal rennet and which aren't, and you'll see that in either case, food labels are inadequate to say the least. And if grocery shopping isn't bad enough, ask a waiter whether your sour cream contains gelatin, or whether the mashed potatoes are made with meat broth, and you're likely to be met with blank stares. On a positive note, things seem to be changing, if only slowly. In the mean time, it's all the more reason to DIY.