What Can I Use For Butter?

[Beth in NC]

I've been eating chicken, brown rice, potatoes, bananas, and grapes for several days and just added broccoli/cauli yesterday. I'm adding things in one at a time to make sure I can SEE when I get glutened. I have GOT to have some butter or something to help flavor some of this stuff. I'm not a big veggie eater anyways and I'm ready to hurl if I eat more of the same!

I'm not eating dairy or soy...and of course no gluten. What is the best butter/butter substitute that would be safe? the more natural the better, but I don't guess a substitute anything would be natural.

Please don't suggest olive oil...I use that in cooking, but it won't do much to flavor rice or a potato, ya know?

[Jestgar]

hummus?

tahini?

cashew/almond/nut butter?

walnut oil on your rice with shredded carrots?

[Phyllis28]

For the rice use 1/2 water and 1/2 chicken or beef broth to cook it in along with salt and pepper. I use the Pacific Foods or Whole Foods 365 brand chicken broth that does not have all the preservatives added.

Mix olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder together. Slice potatoes (finger, red, yellow or russet in order of preference) and coat with olive oil mixture. Bake 1/2 hour turning 1/2 way thru. My gluten eating husband loves these.

Hope you can expand your diet soon.

[ShayFL]

Yes, gluten-free chicken broth really helps. Buy extra virgin cold pressed organic olive oil and it DOES have FLAVOR!!

[missy'smom]

a pinch of saffron adds nice color to white rice

Do you have a Trader Joes nearby? They have a basmati and wild rice blend that has no seasoning, just the two rices and dried veg. and parsley that add flavor. I use it so much that I buy several packages at a time.

You can fry that banana in a skillet in just a bit of oil until lightly browned on one side. Yum!

I buy big, inexpensive packages of dried, sliced s$#&ake mushrooms from the asian market and add them to pilafs.

[Katsby]

I also use chicken broth to flavor my rice. I like it a lot better that way. I use Pacific organic free range chicken broth. I recently took dairy out of my diet also and I haven't yet found an alternate way to make a yummy baked potato without some dairy

[jmengert]

I'm also soy and dairy free, and for potatoes, I use Smart Squeeze (from the Smart Balance company). I find it at Food Lion or Kroger. I verified with the company that it is gluten-free, soy free, and dairy free. It's pretty good and has satisfied my craving for "butter"--you can't bake with it, but it's good for topping things like potatoes, waffles, pancakes, etc.

[Beth in NC]

I'm also soy and dairy free, and for potatoes, I use Smart Squeeze (from the Smart Balance company). I find it at Food Lion or Kroger. I verified with the company that it is gluten-free, soy free, and dairy free. It's pretty good and has satisfied my craving for "butter"--you can't bake with it, but it's good for topping things like potatoes, waffles, pancakes, etc.

THANK YOU, JULIE!! That I could probably do!

I was supposed to wait till tomorrow to add something back in but I caved tonight and had some Rice Chex with Pacific Rice milk over it. I have had the Rice Chex before and don't think they were what was glutening me. The Rice milk should be ok...we'll see. You just don't realize how much you need/want VARIETY till you don't have it any more!

Thanks for the other suggestions too...I'm sure I'll try some of them.

The chicken broth I've been doing all week and I'm about sick of it...no offense, of course! That potato dish with the garlic rub sounds great!

[Phyllis28]

I thought of one more if you can have plain rice vinegar. It is a variation of German potato salad. Boil red potatoes until done. Slice and chill in refrigerator for several hours.

then

Coat with the following dressing:

2/3 Sunflower oil

1/3 plain rice vinegar

Salt, pepper, garlic powder and ground oregono to taste.

I also use this dressing for salads and cold four bean salad.

[ravenwoodglass]

You could try Ghee, it is clarified butter and is gluten and casien free. Do be aware that almost all butter subs do have casien. This applies to many that are termed dairy free so be sure to look for the word casien on the labels if you are avoiding milk protein.

[gfp]

You could try Ghee, it is clarified butter and is gluten and casien free. Do be aware that almost all butter subs do have casien. This applies to many that are termed dairy free so be sure to look for the word casien on the labels if you are avoiding milk protein.

I'd second this.....

Butter subs are usually chemical nightmares.... and usually have a whole load of something bad.... (or taste bland)....

If your low-casein (instead of 100% CF) then butter is low in casein, its mainly fat and water!

I use gluten-free chicken or veg stock cubes in my rice if I wanna jazz it up.... however although I limit my casein I'm not fanatical like with gluten.

Try buying several olive oils... from a heady tuscan vigin to a light one.

You can buy some spice jars and then fill them 2/3 with oils.... to this you can add garlic, bay leaves etc. and make your own flavored ones.

Toasted almond oil, walnut oil etc. are all great for adding flavor....

lighter oil like grapeseed are good to just add flavoring to (like garlic or chilli)....

oops see Jestgar already put some of those.... and I'd also 2nd tahini etc.

[RiceGuy]

I really like coconut oil, but only Open Original Shared Link tastes truly good to me. It's expensive, but worth it if you can afford it. It has an excellent shelf life and high smoke point, making it great for cooking and baking. The flavor is marvelous! That is, if you like coconut!

Other than that, there's macadamia nut oil. I like the MacNut brand. Superb flavor, plus it's also good for cooking and has a good shelf life. Olive oil is not good for cooking, because it breaks down at too low a temperature, creating free radicals. Also, extra virgin olive oil has a very short shelf life.

[TestyTommy]

For adding fat and flavor, I've been using lots of avocado. I mash it up and mix it with meat and rice. Or I use it in place of mayo in tuna, or spread it on gluten-free bread in place of butter. Or just eat it sliced as a side dish. You can add avocado to almost anything, they're easy to find, convenient and completely natural. But mostly, I just love the flavor.