Glutenfreesafari.com: " . . . it's a journey!"
Quick GF potluck options (you don't even have to enter a kitchen) that everyone will like!
Oh, the potluck. A chance to mingle with friendly faces . . . and perhaps imbibe in friendly food!
The other day I was confronted with that erstwhile dilemma: no time to cook before leaving the house (is there ever?), a series of errands and appointments that took longer than anticipated, leaving a total of about six minutes to emerge from a grocery store with something acceptable.
I picked up some mission figs, and a trail mix of cashews, almonds, candied ginger, and cranberries. Not only are the figs full of fiber, but all these ingredients are super-nutritious!
Cheese plates.
Luckily, most cheese is gluten free! However, there is a question about blue cheese. According to one major Gluten awareness organization, all blue cheese is safe to consume. However, because I have actually emailed one farm in Europe who told me that their cheese was not gluten free, if you are extremely gluten sensitive or intolerant I would avoid it -- unless you can contact the particular cheese producer first. (I, myself, eat all blue cheese because I love it and I don't think that I've had adverse reactions.)
However, there is a cheese that not a lot of people know about called Gjetost cheese. It's Norwegian. Although I have not emailed the producer to check for certain that it is gluten free, there are no gluten ingredients listed. I took some to one of my gluten free meetings, and it was a hit! It's a bit sweet and highly addictive. In the Pacific Northwest, I know that you can find it at many QFC stores.
Gluten Free Safari's Quinoa and Brussels Sprouts: Guaranteed to Please Potluck Dish for Holiday Parties: quick, tasty, gluten free, and a little different --
This is my own "creation", borne of necessity:
Start quinoa in rice cooker. If it's not pre-rinsed, you need to rinse it first. Slice onions, put brussels sprouts in olive oil, saute with some red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Put onions/brussels sprouts on top of quinoa in Corningware dish, insulate top and bottom with towels, put in double paper bag to carry. I took this dish to a potluck: when I arrived three hours after I left the house, it was still warm!
Successful gluten free dining at other people's houses!
So, how can you finesse those situations at a family dinner or party where you'd love to eat the food (since that's half the fun!) but you don't want to spend a big chunk of the night in the kitchen looking through twist tied plastic bags for ingredient lists on various cans, boxes, and wrappers?
The ham, turkey or other meat.
If the host(ess) is providing it, depending on whether it's family or not and your personal relationship(!) with the hostess, if you can alert them as to the brands of meat that are gluten free, you can head the problem off at the pass! You'll run into the issue of cost. Most GF items will be pricier! However, anticipating this, you can use apps/the newspaper ads/or the good old-fashioned phone -- to call a few places and ask whether they have any sales on the meat items that are GF. Then you can subtly convey that info (I'm not so sure how you convey the word "sale" subtly, but there must be a way!) during your conversation.
If you don't know the hostess well but the person who invited you does, you can ask them to run interference.
Or, you could offer to bring the meat dish yourself.
If the hostess provides it, please ask that s/he cuts off several slices before s/he applies any sauces/marination/gravy to the meat, unless you know everything that's in the sauce in advance.
Salad.
Many a gorgeous salads have been rendered only gaze-able by last-minute additions such as croutons or salad dressings with soy sauce or other gluten ingredients buried deep within the ingredient list. If you know the person bringing the salad, ask them to set aside some for you before they put on the "crowning touch." If you don't remember to bring your own salad dressing (that's a lot to ask any busy person) then ask to rummage for some plain balsamic vinegar and olive oil when you arrive.
Happy potlucking!
--Karen
Use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which you may view, here.
Copyright, Karen Fleur Tofti-Tufarelli, 2010-13, all rights reserved
Quick GF potluck options (you don't even have to enter a kitchen) that everyone will like!
Oh, the potluck. A chance to mingle with friendly faces . . . and perhaps imbibe in friendly food!
The other day I was confronted with that erstwhile dilemma: no time to cook before leaving the house (is there ever?), a series of errands and appointments that took longer than anticipated, leaving a total of about six minutes to emerge from a grocery store with something acceptable.
I picked up some mission figs, and a trail mix of cashews, almonds, candied ginger, and cranberries. Not only are the figs full of fiber, but all these ingredients are super-nutritious!
Cheese plates.
Luckily, most cheese is gluten free! However, there is a question about blue cheese. According to one major Gluten awareness organization, all blue cheese is safe to consume. However, because I have actually emailed one farm in Europe who told me that their cheese was not gluten free, if you are extremely gluten sensitive or intolerant I would avoid it -- unless you can contact the particular cheese producer first. (I, myself, eat all blue cheese because I love it and I don't think that I've had adverse reactions.)
However, there is a cheese that not a lot of people know about called Gjetost cheese. It's Norwegian. Although I have not emailed the producer to check for certain that it is gluten free, there are no gluten ingredients listed. I took some to one of my gluten free meetings, and it was a hit! It's a bit sweet and highly addictive. In the Pacific Northwest, I know that you can find it at many QFC stores.
Gluten Free Safari's Quinoa and Brussels Sprouts: Guaranteed to Please Potluck Dish for Holiday Parties: quick, tasty, gluten free, and a little different --
This is my own "creation", borne of necessity:
Start quinoa in rice cooker. If it's not pre-rinsed, you need to rinse it first. Slice onions, put brussels sprouts in olive oil, saute with some red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Put onions/brussels sprouts on top of quinoa in Corningware dish, insulate top and bottom with towels, put in double paper bag to carry. I took this dish to a potluck: when I arrived three hours after I left the house, it was still warm!
Successful gluten free dining at other people's houses!
So, how can you finesse those situations at a family dinner or party where you'd love to eat the food (since that's half the fun!) but you don't want to spend a big chunk of the night in the kitchen looking through twist tied plastic bags for ingredient lists on various cans, boxes, and wrappers?
The ham, turkey or other meat.
If the host(ess) is providing it, depending on whether it's family or not and your personal relationship(!) with the hostess, if you can alert them as to the brands of meat that are gluten free, you can head the problem off at the pass! You'll run into the issue of cost. Most GF items will be pricier! However, anticipating this, you can use apps/the newspaper ads/or the good old-fashioned phone -- to call a few places and ask whether they have any sales on the meat items that are GF. Then you can subtly convey that info (I'm not so sure how you convey the word "sale" subtly, but there must be a way!) during your conversation.
If you don't know the hostess well but the person who invited you does, you can ask them to run interference.
Or, you could offer to bring the meat dish yourself.
If the hostess provides it, please ask that s/he cuts off several slices before s/he applies any sauces/marination/gravy to the meat, unless you know everything that's in the sauce in advance.
Salad.
Many a gorgeous salads have been rendered only gaze-able by last-minute additions such as croutons or salad dressings with soy sauce or other gluten ingredients buried deep within the ingredient list. If you know the person bringing the salad, ask them to set aside some for you before they put on the "crowning touch." If you don't remember to bring your own salad dressing (that's a lot to ask any busy person) then ask to rummage for some plain balsamic vinegar and olive oil when you arrive.
Happy potlucking!
--Karen
Use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which you may view, here.
Copyright, Karen Fleur Tofti-Tufarelli, 2010-13, all rights reserved
