A friend asked about what to serve a gluten-free guest at dinner.
We advise that a nice menu for entertaining a gluten-free guest might include
- A simple salad of lettuce and grated carrots with a dressing made of olive oil and lemon juice, fresh garlic, salt and pepper. Do not use croutons.
- A lamb, fish or chicken dish made with simple ingredients. Take great care that if you use stock or soy sauce it is gluten free. Use whole herbs and spices rather than ground spices. A simple recipe to try might be a Marinated Grilled Chicken.
- A rice pilaf such as Nilufer’s Khtichri or plain braised potatoes.
- Steamed broccoli finished with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper, or alternatively a dish made with fresh or frozen green beans, or carrots
- For dessert, serve a gluten free sorbet or fresh fruit salad.
- If you want to serve ice cream, ask the gluten free guest if they eat ice cream (some do not eat dairy products), and use a gluten free product. Haagen Dazs keeps a gluten free list of their products at this site: http://haagendazs.com/flavor_finder/. About half way down the page is a check box for “gluten free” – check that box and search the site – this will generate a list of their gluten free products. Always check the manufacturer’s site.
As you can see, the gluten free diet is a very healthy diet!