Help With Cooking A Gluten Free Dinner For My Girlfriend

[Shake&Bake]

I am far from a very good cook, but I would love to be able to cook her a nice meal. I actually know very little about cooking, but if anyone has any fairly simple ideas for me to prepare for her and set up a nice romantic dinner I would appreciate it.

[Shake&Bake]

Ok well I just realized that this site has like 5000 threads pinned and nobody will ever see this

[Guhlia]

I'm assuming your girlfriend is Celiac, right? You could make her baked chicken and vegetables (no sauces). I buy a whole Purdue chicken and season it with butter, garlic, and paprika. McCormick spices label clearly and most are gluten free, stay away from spice mixes though. That'll make your life easier. Anyway, there are directions right on the Purdue chicken, just follow them and when it's done, steam some vegetables and serve. You could also throw a baked potato in there if you like. Potatoes are gluten free.

If chicken doesn't suit you, you could throw some pork chops (boneless, trim the fat off) and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce into a baking dish, cover with foil, bake at 350 until pork is cooked through and soft. I usually bake for about 1-1/2 hours. Serve with potato and veggies.

If you want to try something that requires a little more effort you could fix her spaghetti. DO NOT use a wooden spoon that's been used for gluten or an old strainer. You can buy a strainer for a few dollars to keep from getting her sick. Use Tinkyada pasta. It can be found at most health food stores. Classico brand spaghetti sauces are gluten free, just read the label and look for wheat, barley, rye, or oats. I prefer the italian sausage sauce. I add 1 Tbsp of sugar and a little bit of garlic powder. Very good.

[emcmaster]

To be honest, I would ask her if you can cook her something and then let her approve the ingredients, utensils, cutting boards and pots. My husband cooks for me now, but only because we have cooked together so often. Even now he's glutened me a few times by using the wrong ingredient (like not checking spices) or a contaminated utensil.

I'm sure you mean well, but if my husband had cooked me something that I couldn't verify was safe for me to eat, I would have refused to eat it and risked hurting his feelings.

[RiceGuy]

Well, if you're not much into cooking from scratch, you may have a challenge on your hands. However, something on the simpler end of the scale might be a rice or pasta dish. A bed of rice, with veggies layered over that, a white sauce, garnished with parsley...or stuffed pasta shells (Tinkyada of course), veggies on the side, etc. Maybe soups would work for you. I don't know your cooking skills, but broccoli soup, celery soup, etc are nice I guess. Maybe this is why fancy restaurants keep the lights low and set candles out - so you don't get the sense that the food is just the same as you'd get at home. Placed right, the candles would help make the silverware sparkle. That'll help too.

Now, if you want to spend the cash, there is Open Original Shared Link that will apparently ship gluten-free meals.

At any rate, you really need to know what other things besides gluten she can't have.

[ArtGirl]

WARNING:

traditional white sauce is made with wheat flour - no can do and be gluten-free

canned creamed soups quite often contain flours for the thickening - check labels.

If you went with the rice, just melt grated cheese over the rice and forget the sauce (grate it yourself, packaged grated cheese might be dusted with flour to keep from sticking together). You could saute onions and mix them into the rice before adding the cheese.

You might make a huge tossed salad with plenty of fresh vegetables, like carrots, bell peppers, cucumber, tomato - just be sure the dressing is gluten-free, or mix oilve oil and vinegar and leave it at that.

[lonewolf]

Here's a really easy and delicious meal. Rosemary chicken and baked potatoes with green salad.

Chicken breasts (i'm assuming it's just the two of you, so 2-3)

Olive oil (about 3 Tbs.)

Fresh lemon or lime juice (about 1/2 lemon or lime)

About 2 tsp crushed rosemary

Garlic, salt and pepper to taste

Put chicken in a baking dish. Mix all ingredients together and pour over chicken. Put in oven at 350, along with potatoes (remember to poke them with a fork). Bake for 60-70 minutes. Serve with salad.

[jerseyangel]

One of my favorite meals is simple and easy to do

grilled NY strip steaks (this you have to do on a clean grill--or broiler pan)

baked potatoes

salad--butter lettuces with olive oil and vinegar

If you do this in her kitchen, you're probably fine. If not, be mindful of cross contamination--use clean plates to hold all of her foods--even before cooking. Do not use wooden cutting boards or utensils. Before you even start, wash down the countertops, refrigerator handles and your hands with soap and water.

It' so sweet of you to want to make a meal for her--anything else we can do, just ask

[zansu]

1) Kudos for wanting to do this

2) it's probably easiest to stick to stuff that's naturally gluten free (like several have suggested above, simple meat, veggies, rice)

3) READ All the labels, if you're going for a cheese-- go kraft, spices: McCormick (they're trustworthy).

4) Think about cross contamination -- flour can still be in wooden cutting boards or spoons (soap and water kill germs, not gluten!) flour can be in things that you might have used a table spoon to measure flour and then stuck the same TSP into the spice (after all, it never mattered before we were diagnosed!) Double check any mixing bowls, spoons, WHISKS for anything that looks like caked on anything. Empty and refill the sugar bowl if she uses that... A fresh stick of butter, no crumbs! A single bread crumb may make her sick, and we are NO FUN when we're in pain and running to the john.... Use the smooth finish pots and pans, no cast iron or scratched teflon that can hold on to stuff.

5) Trader Joes has a flourless chocolate cake by David Glass (Not the low fat one, that has wheat) for dessert, or go with some fresh fruit with a splash of chambord or similar and breyer's vanilla bean ice cream.

Unless it's a surprise, letting her vett the preparation is a good idea. If it is surprise, do all this, but don't be offended if she's hesitant.

Good luck!

[Sophiekins]

Guy-Proof Greek Goodness:

250g ground lamb (ground beef works too if you can't find lamb. . .it's just less greek)

One 400g tin of CHOPPED tomatoes (not crushed!)

200g frozen spinach (you can use tinned spinach instead, but drain it well)

1 stick of celery, chopped

1 small onion, diced

1 tablespoon Olive oil

Crumbled/Cubed Feta cheese

Cooked rice for two

Heat the oil in a stovetop casserole dish (or deep skillet).

Add the onion and celery, cook for 2 minutes

Add the ground meat and cook until brown, stirring regularly.

Add the frozen spinach, stir occasionally to break up the spinach.

When the spinach is thawed (soft and limp in the mix), add the tin of tomatoes and stir.

Cook for 5 more minutes.

Serve over rice with feta cheese on top.

Hint- if you start the rice water at the same time as you start heating the oil, the two dishes should be ready at the same time. To keep the meal gluten free, chop ingredients on a plate, cook in a metal pan (NOT nonstick) and use metal spoons etc.

Serve with Greek or Spanish red wine for a real treat. . .you can also leave off the feta cheese if she's lactose intolerant. For dessert (if dairy is okay), try a pint of Vanilla or Strawberry (NOT Strawberry shortcake!) Hagen Daaz and two spoons. . .

This recipe is tried and tested by my man. . .for whom Kraft Dinner is a challenge. Good luck!

[Phyllis28]

The hot meal below is only meal I think my husband, who knows almost nothing about cooking, could put together:

Costo pre-cooked gluten free chicken (Only use if chicken marked gluten free, they were when I bought one last week)

Baked Potatoes

Salad

It's not quite homecooked but its the thought that counts.

I think I'll try lonewolf's chicken receipe this week-end

[lonewolf]

  Phyllis28 said:

I think I'll try lonewolf's chicken receipe this week-end

I should have mentioned that you can also throw a whole chicken in a 9 x 13 pan and drizzle the sauce over it all and bake for 1-1/2 hours.

[kbabe1968]

WOW! You are so sweet!

DEFINITELY stick to the things that are not "packaged" that way you won't have any possible gluten in your ingredients. And listen to folks regarding the cross contamination.

I always love salads with a meat or fish on top.

Annies Natural makes some salad dressings that are gluten free right on the bottle (their buttermilk ranch and raspberry viniagrette are the two I know off the top of my head). BE CAREFUL some are not.

Get a head of romaine and slice it up thin, add scallions, sliced carrot, grape tomatoes, and nuts (providing she's not allergic)...I like slivered almonds or walnuts. Toss with the dressing, lay on the plate and layer grilled or pan seared chicken on top.

MMMMM....okay, your making me hungry!

[RiceGuy]

  ArtGirl said:

WARNING:

traditional white sauce is made with wheat flour - no can do and be gluten-free

Thanks, that's good to note, but what I meant is to make the white sauce, not use any pre-packaged stuff. I guess I should have clarified. I make everything from scratch, so I don't even know if white sauce is on the typical supermarket shelf. Heck, I never even looked up a white sauce recipe before - I just throw stuff together and let it go at that. I'm not too picky about it, but that's just me.

I always used corn starch or arrowroot to make sauces, gravies, and to thicken stews. Anyway, recipes for that would depend on what the dish is, and I'm sure Google will turn up a myriad of them. Since I generally go light on spices and such, mine would usually end up as being just water, the starch to thicken it, some garlic and/or onion, and a spice or two, like curry/cumin/oregano/pepper/paprika, etc, or maybe poultry seasoning or something, and of course some salt. Sometimes I'd include margarine or oil, cheese, milk, sour cream, etc. Just depends on what it's for. You can always start with a broth from a white meat if the meat is in the dish. A red meat would tend to give you a brown gravy, but the less of the drippings you use, the lighter the color of the end result.

[ArtGirl]

  RiceGuy said:

but what I meant is to make the white sauce, not use any pre-packaged stuff.

That's what I figured, but a novice in the kitchen would probably not know about sauces.

By the way, your version sounds pretty good - now if I can figure a way to make it without dairy!

[amybeth]

If you like Lemon and Chicken - this is a great, easy, recipe that is my new favorite ---

Open Original Shared Link

I use McCormick Spices, Purdue chicken tenderloins, Instant Minute Rice, and a NON-wooden cutting board to trim the chicken. It's literally a mix and bake recipe. Nothing too fancy, but the lemony goodness is great!

I use the extra juices to season some rice for lunch the next day, too. Yum!

Steamed green beans, asparagus, or brocolli would all go well as a side dish, too.

Could probably put sliced almonds on top, too, if you wanted to be more "fancy".

Just had this the other night, and now I'm craving it again. It's a winner!

Of course, it contains dairy ingredients in the butter....don't know if that's a concern for you.........

Good luck! What a sweet idea!

Just be careful to avoid cross contamination while cooking......

[Shake&Bake]

Thank you to everyone for your helpful suggestions. Actually my girlfriend is a member of this site (that is how I found the site) and she knew it was me who posted this so I am busted. I didnt realize she knew me that well, she said she could tell by the way I spoke it was me.

[RiceGuy]

  ArtGirl said:

By the way, your version sounds pretty good - now if I can figure a way to make it without dairy!

It works fine with water instead of milk. That's actually what I'd usually use (now always since dairy is a no-no), but I know what others are typically expecting. You could probably use unsweetened soy milk, rice milk, non-dairy cheese, etc. Maybe even a vegetable oil and some soy lecithin, though I've not tested this yet (planning to soon though). Open Original Shared Link has some non-dairy margarine and shortening products which may add a nice flavor too.