The Big Book of Wheat-Free Cooking: Includes Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Reduced Fat Recipes

The Trouble with Wheat

A large percentage of people eat too much wheat. If you think about the average daily diet, just three or four foods show up repeatedly. For example, an everyday breakfast of toast with butter and marmalade consists of wheat flour (bread), dairy (butter) and sugar (marmalade). A typical pasta salad for lunch would mean more wheat and dairy, whilst a dinner of pizza or chicken pie would again include wheat (in the pizza base or the pastry). And let’s not forget snacks – biscuits, doughnuts, crispbreads and bagels are all popular snacks and each one contains wheat.

Many people don’t think about the constituents of their meals and imagine they are eating lots of different foods. In fact, many meals are essentially the same but are processed, assembled or cooked differently.

Variety is the spice of life and one of the core principles of a healthy diet is exactly that – plenty of variety. If we eat a wheat-laden diet day in day out, year after year, it’s no wonder our systems become overloaded, give up the struggle and become sluggish. Our bodies need the whole spectrum of nutrients and we cannot get these if we eat the same foods repeatedly.

Wheat has a nutritious and wholesome image because it is considered to be a good source of carbohydrates and dietary fibre. However, whilst we undoubtedly need both these elements in our diet, today’s wheat flour is so over processed that the end product – the mass-produced bland bread that fills the supermarket shelves – bears little resemblance to the kind of healthy, wholemeal bread that our grandparents ate.

Since the arrival of mass production in the 1960s, wheat-filled foods have been the fastest growing items on the supermarket shelves. They are cheap and filling – which is what both the manufacturers and the majority of shoppers want – but, in order to produce the vast amounts of flour needed at the right price, wheat is sprayed with insecticides and fungicides. To then turn that wheat into bread can also involve an amazing number of processes. The wheat germ (which is high in vitamin E, has many of the B vitamins and is good for us) is often removed because it can turn rancid quickly and would therefore spoil the flour faster than the manufacturers would like. To make white flour, the bran is also removed; this is the outer part of the grain, which is a good source of niacin, iron, zinc, B vitamins and fibre. They may also irradiate the wheat in order to avoid contamination by insects. Having done all this, manufacturers then sometimes use chemicals, conditioners and preservatives to improve the texture and shelf life of the end product.

Unfortunately, all these processes result in most of the vitamins and minerals originally contained in the wheat being lost so the manufacturers often add synthetic vitamins and minerals, which the body has great difficulty absorbing.

Given this treatment, it’s little wonder that the nutritional value of your average mass-produced loaf of wheat bread, or other wheat-laden products, is often rather poor. Personally, I would rather make my own – with the help of today’s bread-making machines it’s not the arduous task it once was.

Intolerances and Allergies

One of the main reasons that people give up wheat is because they discover – or suspect – that they have an intolerance to it. The exact cause of food intolerance is as yet unclear. However, repeated over-consumption of a particular food undoubtedly plays a central part in its development – hence the most common culprits in food intolerance are wheat, dairy produce, yeast and sugar.

Food intolerance can cause a myriad of symptoms and although they are usually mild at first, they often gradually worsen over the years. This list below outlines some of the most common symptoms of wheat intolerance:

• A bloated stomach

• Regular flatulence (gas) or indigestion

• Diarrhoea or constipation for no apparent reason

• Fluid retention

• Grogginess on waking in the morning

• Feeling permanently tired

• Brain fog or sleepiness after eating a wheat-filled snack or meal

• Headaches

• Aches and pains for no apparent reason

• Skin conditions

• A craving for foods containing wheat

• Fluctuating weight despite having a very healthy diet, exercising regularly and drinking plenty of water

Food intolerance is notoriously difficult to detect because the reaction to the offending food is slow and symptoms are not felt for a few days. It is therefore not easy to connect the offending food to the symptoms it causes. Also, given that the culprit food is usually one that we eat very regularly, the symptoms can be on-going and we often attribute them to something completely different, such as stress. There are certain conditions that are now strongly linked to food intolerance; in particular an intolerance to wheat or dairy. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a prime example – when wheat is removed from the diet the condition often improves dramatically or clears up completely.

There are various tests available for food intolerance, though generally these should be treated with caution, as many of them are unreliable. Your doctor will be able to arrange for you to see a qualified nutritionist who can oversee accurate tests for food intolerance but this is not a service provided on the NHS in the UK and it can be expensive. The only alternative is to eliminate the suspect food from your diet completely for a period of five weeks and monitor the results. If, on reintroducing the food, your symptoms reoccur then this will prove your guess was correct. However, please make sure that you always consult your doctor, as some symptoms can be indicative of a medical problem.

If you suffer from many of the symptoms outlined here (#ulink_adb38678-b2e8-53fd-af22-898bf69fbe6d) after eating wheat then you should notice a huge difference if you avoid it for about a month. You should feel energized and clear-headed, rather than exhausted and under par. Do be aware, though, that one of the quirks of food intolerance is that sufferers often crave the offending food and can experience withdrawal symptoms for a short period when the particular food is removed from the diet. However, these symptoms usually pass relatively quickly.

The good news is that food intolerance, unlike food allergy, is not for life. By avoiding the culprit food for a period, most people find that they can tolerate it occasionally, although problems will generally resurface if it is eaten on a regular basis. Unadulterated organic wheat flour or Spelt can sometimes be eaten by people with mild wheat intolerance – because all the original goodness and fibre is still there – but I have not used these ingredients in the recipes as this does not apply to everyone and such breads and pastas can be purchased from good health food shops.

There is a real difference between food intolerance and food allergy: Whereas an intolerance causes delayed symptoms, an allergy usually produces an immediate and often extreme physical reaction to the offending substance or food. This is a result of the speed of the immune system’s reaction to the allergen. In some instances the response can be so severe that it results in anaphylactic shock. Thankfully, despite the publicity given to such cases, they are rare and food allergy itself is far more rare than food intolerance. Those with a severe wheat allergy should look out for the * symbol in the recipe, as this indicates a product that may contain a very small amount of gluten – and the source of that gluten could be wheat.

Unfortunately allergies are very often life-long, as is coeliac disease. In this serious condition, the lining of the colon wall is affected by gluten (found in certain grains such as rye, barley and oats), which causes malabsorption of nutrients, severe pain and symptoms such as diarrhoea. (As mentioned above, any ingredient that could contain gluten is marked with an asterisk and coeliacs should ensure the product they use is gluten free.) The test for coeliac disease is a straightforward one but there are certain people who, although they have tested negative, still find they feel much better if they eliminate gluten from their diet.

Some Practical Pointers

Becoming wheat free does require a bit of forethought but this will ensure your diet is both effective and enjoyable. There is no point getting better but feeling deprived and miserable! A little organization will help you have a varied and interesting diet that won’t leave you feeling that you’re missing out. The following tips should help make the transition to a wheat-free diet as smooth as possible.

• Make a list of the normal foods that you would eat over a couple of days and buy wheat-free alternatives. If you usually have a wheat cereal for breakfast then put wheat-free cereals on your shopping list – for example, gluten-free muesli, porridge oats, cornflakes and rice pops – or if you have toast, add wheat-free breads to your list.

• If you work in an office, take time to plan your lunch as it will not be easy to buy wheat-free sandwiches. I suggest making up your own delicious lunch box – it will probably be cheaper and less hassle than eating out anyway. You can make up your choice of wheat-free sandwiches or rolls – why not try out some new flavours such as smoked trout and avocado or chicken tikka and roasted red peppers.

• When you cook, think about making extra portions. For instance, if you are cooking on Sunday make an extra portion so that you can take some into work for lunch on Monday. Equally, if you are having a night in, make a big pan of soup and save some to take into lunch over a couple of days. And don’t forget to keep a stock of emergency rations if you have a sweet tooth. Ready-made cookies or cakes are great for convenience or you can make your own cakes or muffins at the weekend and take them to work over the following days. Some recipes in this book last the whole week, such as the fruit, chocolate or ginger cake.

• Dinner is of course much easier than some other meals, but it is still important to plan ahead. The last thing you want is to be so hungry that you grab the first thing you can find – which will probably have wheat in it. If you live alone or with a partner who doesn’t mind going wheat free, it’s a good idea to go through your cupboards, refrigerator and deep-freeze and throw out any products containing wheat. If you have a family to feed then it helps to put all the wheat products in one cupboard or one part of the refrigerator/freezer and keep a wheat-free zone for yourself. However, the recipes in this book are designed to be eaten by the whole family – they’re so delicious that no one will notice they’re wheat free.

• If you are at home with tiny tots and toddlers ensure you are not hungry when you are feeding them, as it is very difficult not to be tempted into nibbling at their food, and fish fingers or cakes, chicken nuggets, sausages – not to mention cookies, cakes or sandwiches – are all full of wheat. If you are going to a children’s party where all the other parents will be tucking in to birthday cake and pastries, take your own special treats so that you can relax and have fun.

• When you start wheat-watching you are going to have to get used to reading the label on every product that you buy. It is pretty time consuming and boring but you will be surprised by how many foods contain wheat. Try to remember a few of these products and brands each time you shop and the process will soon get quicker.

• It is worth taking some wheat-free supplies with you when you go on holiday. Some hotels will cater for certain diets but they are unlikely to provide all the products you would like. You will be much more relaxed if you take your own crispbreads, oatcakes, sliced bread, snacks and so on.

• Use the wide range of resources that are now available to those with intolerances. Because of the increased demand in many countries, plenty of new wheat-free food ranges are now being produced and much more information about food intolerances and allergies is available from medical and alternative practitioners. The Internet also has lots of useful information and a wide selection of recipes from all over the world to help and guide people who wish to become wheat free.

Many people who initially see a wheat-free diet as restrictive soon come to view it as a form of liberation. Often people eat a lot of wheat because it has become a habit and it is convenient. However, when wheat is restricted it opens people’s eyes to the wide variety of foods that they are missing out on. By necessity, people begin to prepare a wider variety of foods and most find that they enjoy this healthy way of eating so much that they continue to eat this way indefinitely, and have just the occasional wheat product.

Be Sensible

If you are intolerant to wheat, it is important not to become obsessive about the whole thing. Yes in a perfect world we would avoid wheat entirely (and of course you must do if you are allergic to wheat or are a coeliac) but why go to extremes when it is unnecessary? As we know, many manufactured products do contain very small amounts of wheat but if you eat these products only occasionally you should not have an adverse reaction. Soy sauce is a good example. Ordinary soy sauce contains a very small amount of wheat and is therefore unlikely to cause any problems for someone who eats the odd meal cooked with it. Wheat-free soy sauce is available in the shops but if you convince yourself that you must only have the wheat-free brand then you’ll worry every time you eat out at a Chinese restaurant – which defeats the point of going out.

Make sensible choices when eating out; there will always be an alternative to wheat-based meals. An Italian restaurant, for example, will have much more than pasta and pizza – try risotto or fish. Alternatively, you can ask them to cook some dishes to suit you – cooking escallops without the flour and breadcrumbs, for instance, perhaps with some tomato sauce or with some sage and lemon juice, would not be too much trouble and chefs are generally very obliging.

Choose simple food that is more likely to be wheat free, such as salads to start or fruit and Parma ham followed by steamed or roast fish, vegetables and grilled meats. Avoid all the pastries, soufflés and hot puddings and instead have delicious sorbets, ice creams, fruit poached in liqueur, fresh fruit salad or a wicked chocolate or fruit mousse. Do not be tempted by petits fours with coffee, but do enjoy top quality or hand-made chocolates.

Enjoy Your Food

Your social life does not need to stop because you are following a wheat-free diet. Have fun trying out new recipes and make life easy for yourself by putting together quick and easy ideas with something a bit more complicated – never (unless you have all the time in the world) combine three really advanced recipes in one evening or you will be exhausted and past enjoying yourself by the time dinner is served!

With all cooking, you need to enjoy tasting the food at the beginning, in the middle and at the end. Season with your fingers and not with a spoon so that you are in touch with your food. If you are cooking without wheat and dairy you will probably need more seasoning and the magic of fresh herbs or spices to perk up the food. Dried herbs and spices lose their flavour very quickly so buy small amounts frequently rather than a large amount, which will soon loose its essential flavour. With practice, it will soon be easy to judge how much extra seasoning you need to make your food perfect for your palate

A varied diet is a healthy and exciting one so be adventurous and try wheat-free recipes from around the globe – Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Malaysian or Indonesian dishes will seldom contain wheat as they usually use rice instead. However, avoid wheat noodles and anything dipped in batter. Indian food is generally great for cooking at home or for takeaways as they usually use gram flour for poppadums and most of the dishes are served with rice and thickened with yogurt. Avoid naan and other breads, and vegetables dipped in batter, and you should be fine. Some Mexican recipes, like tortillas, tacos and nachos, are usually made with corn and are delicious with chilli sauce, guacamole, and spicy meats. There is a delicious recipe for wraps in this book, which you can use with all sorts of alternative fillings, such as chicken tikka, slices of roast tuna and sweet red peppers, cold roast beef and guacamole, to name just a few.

Be Flexible

Wheat-free flours play an important part in many of the recipes in this book so I suggest that you stock up on different kinds. There is nothing worse than finding you have run out – particularly when it can require a major trip or an internet order for you to replenish supplies. You’ll be disappointed you cannot make that cake or pastry and, in my experience, it’s tempting to using a bit of leftover wheat flour – which would, of course, ruin your efforts to be wheat free.