Gf Vegan Recipes

[Guest Addicted2Gluten]

Hi,

I recently found out that I pretty definately have Celiac Disease, I also have an allergy to corn and all milk products, and I am a strict vegetarian, as well. Could anyone recommend some vegan, corn-free, gluten-free recipes?

Thanks

[tarnalberry]

I had thought about going vegetarian - before I found out I was celiac. Between the gluten intolerance and the tendency towards hypoglycemia, I found I just need too much protein in my diet to allow me to go vegetarian. Based on that, I suggest taking a minute to reconsider if you want to remain completely vegetarian.

Now that you've done that, and probably said "What the heck?! Of course I'm staying vegetarian! I made this choice for a reason and I'm not letting gluten make me give it up! Stop that craziness!", here's what I've come across in my thoughts about trying to go vegetarian on a gluten free diet.

If you can have soy, then it's not as bad. You can use soy flour to make muffins with plenty of protein (or other baked goods). And, assuming that you are avoiding oats as well (some celiacs may tolerate them, some don't), you might want to look into the alternate gluten-free grain. Amaranth and quinoa both have more protein (and more complete protein), and healthy fats than wheat does anyway. Teff has a fairly strong taste, but that's not necessarily bad. Buckwheat flour also has a good protein content. (While none of these quite meet the 25% of calories from protein that oat bran does, they're not bad.) And you can get soy, amaranth, quino, teff, buckwheat, and other such items in their whole for (for instance, for making tabouleh, or other such dishes).

You may find vegan gelatin to work as a protein source as well. I'm sure you already eat lentils (great source of protein) and beans and nuts. And you can get bean flour for use in baking, as well as nut flour or nut meal.

Between the higher fat content of the whole, alternative, grains, and the nuts and seeds you may incorporate as well, the diet should also have a fair amount of fat.

Choosing vegetables and fruits that are higher in protein is good too - such as spinach. You can look up foods at the USDA's Nutrient Database to get an idea of the protein/carb/fiber/fat/nutrient content of a lot of foods: Open Original Shared Link (there are options there as well for downloading Excel files you can sort by nutrient so that you can find the items with the most protein, or calcium, or B vits).

Speaking of which... You probably already know, but if you're vegan, don't forget to take a B vitamin supplement.

I know you asked for recipes, but once you have such a wide assortment of tools to work with, the recipes pull themselves together. Like last night - I cooked lentils (used tomato sauce and some spices). And I made pinto bean dip and hummus. I made a salad for today, with plenty of spinach. (I'm not vegetarian, just picking the items I made that are.) I'm making enchiladas tomorrow, and instead of the chicken I'm using, you can use beans and onions and red peppers (and spices) and wrap them in tortillas you make from the alternative grains. (Or just make a bean salad (add spinach - yum!) by itself. You could make bean soup with beans, onion, spices, and broth. Or soy muffins (there's a recipe on Bob's Red Mill Soy Flour package. Or almond shortbread ("butter" (I use a variety made from olive/canola oil), flour, sugar, almonds). Fruit salads. Vegetable salads. Pasta salad with quinoa pasta. Marinated mushrooms. Oh... lots of things. Browsing a cookbook section of a book store might give you some idea for recipes to start from, but make your own way.

[Guest Addicted2Gluten]

Thank you so much for all of the information and the quick response! It really helped give me a lot of great ideas about different things that I should be eating. I already take a B vitamin, which I know is a necessary when being a vegetarian. I have debated about whether or not to stick with a vegetarian diet, and since a vegetarian diet is recommended for the metabolic disease that I also have (since the high phenylalanine levels in meat and dairy are both damaging to my condition), I've decided to stick with it. Also, I did try eating only fish, eggs and a little poultry this summer and felt completely awful. But, thank you again for the information and I'm definately going to visit that website.