It is constantly surprising how many things contain wheat, barley or rye. There are obvious things that you cut out straight away—bread, pasta, beer, cakes and pastries—unless they’re specifically marked “gluten free”. But there are a host of less obvious things as well, turning you into an expert in reading food contents labels. Things to check carefully on a gluten-free diet include:

• chocolate and lollies
• cereals
• biscuits and crackers
• French fries—these can be coated with flour before deep frying
• gravy mixtures
• processed meats and sausages
• salad dressings
• sauces, including soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Hoisin sauce
• seasoning mixes, including rice and noodle flavourings
• seasoned snack foods, such as potato and corn chips
• soups and stocks
• spreads, such as Vegemite, peanut butter, Anchovette paste
• yoghurts—some of the flavoured ones are thickened with gluten.

To anyone attempting a gluten-free diet, making the change seems daunting—“what am I going to eat?” being the primary concern. Our diets are often so loaded with breads and cereals that you can’t have any more, it can be a real challenge to find alternatives. There are plenty of delicious things that you can eat, it’s just about making sure you eat enough to fill you up.

Gluten-free fillers

Our favourite gluten-free fillers are:

• chickpeas, lentils, beans (kidney, cannellini, butter, fava, black)
• quinoa, buckwheat, polenta
• seeds, nuts
• corn, rice, potatoes
• eggs
• plus a host of other fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and fish.

Gluten-free substitutes

If you’re really struggling to fill up, here are some of the things that we’ve substituted into our meals to make them gluten free.

Tasty gluten-free meals

Gluten free doesn’t mean flavour free! We make some delicious gluten-free meals. Once you learn what you can and can’t eat it makes it much easier to adapt your recipes to suit. Check out some of our regular dishes:

Soups

• Zucchini, potato and feta soup
• Dhal
• Chestnut soup
• Pumpkin soup

Salads

• Witlof, apple and walnut salad
• Quinoa tabouli
• Asparagus and pea salad
• Orange and fennel salad
• Coleslaw
• Caramelised pear & fennel salad with gorgonzola

Mains

• Herbed rissoles
• Coconut chicken curry with banana chutney
• Pasta with cauliflower, peas, mint and quinoa
• Coconut, chicken and banana curry
• Thyme and lemon lamb with zucchini and chickpea
• Lamb and haloumi skewers
• Beef tacos
• Fish with charred Mediterranean vegetables
• Tuna with bean salad

The types of comfort foods we eat are different for everyone. For me, I associate things that are loaded with calories—some sweet, some savoury—with comfort and feeling better. I know I’m not alone in that. I mean, realistically, has anyone ever come home from a bad day at work and said, “I’ve had such a bad day, I really need some salad to cheer me up”? No, it’s things like chocolate, ice cream, or potato chips that we crave…

So what are the key qualities of comfort food? As I see it:

• nostalgia—some of my favourite comfort foods, the ones more like a meal than a snack, are the dishes that take me back to nana’s kitchen or special family dinners. For me, that’s things like roast lamb with mint sauce or pumpkin soup
• a treat—if something in my life isn’t going quite to plan I like to give myself a little boost with a sweet treat. Chocolate caramel slice anyone?
• pleasurable to eat—the sheer enjoyment of eating something decadent and delicious, even if it may not quite fit in with the healthy eating plan. I make a very simple dish that I class as comfort food—it’s the creamy sauce of garlic chicken majestic. I just love it!

Looking back over some of my previous posts it seems I have quite a few comfort foods. In addition to the ones I’ve already mentioned, take a look at:

• ‘stralian beef curry. Who doesn’t love a good curry?
• scrambled eggs. Best…brekkie…ever!
• herbed rissoles served with creamy mashed potato. Two comfort foods on the one plate—heaven!
• savoury beef roll. It’s like a giant sausage roll…need I say more?

Hmmm, nothing healthy in that list. I would love to hear from you if salad really is your comfort food. And if so, what’s the salad recipe? It’s gotta have bread or potato or creamy mayonnaise, right?!

The fresh banana chutney is critical to the dish. It takes a simple tasty curry to the next level—being sweet, spicy, tangy all at the same time. A brilliantly refreshing summer dish.

Ingredients

For the coconut chicken curry:

1kg chicken breast, diced into 2–3cm pieces
3 tsp turmeric
2 tbs peanut oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1–2 birdseye chillies, seeded and finely chopped
3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 tsp mild curry paste (I use Korma paste)
1 cup chicken stock
400ml coconut milk

For the fresh banana chutney:

2–3 fresh bananas, diced
½ a small purple onion, finely diced
1 birdseye chilli, seeded and finely chopped
¼ cup fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
2 tbs freshly squeezed lime juice

Method

Heat 1 tbs of the peanut oil in a large saucepan. Add the chicken pieces and turmeric, and stir to coat. Cook the chicken over medium heat until golden brown and cooked. Remove from the saucepan and set aside.

Heat the remaining 1 tbs of oil in the pan and add the onion, garlic, ginger and chillies. Allow to cook over medium heat until the onion is starting to soften. Add the curry paste and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes so the tomato starts to break down. Return the chicken to the saucepan and add the stock and coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour or until thickened to your liking.

When the curry is just about ready, make the banana chutney. Place the onion in a bowl with the lime juice and allow to sit for 2 minutes. Add the banana, chilli and mint and stir to combine.

Serve the coconut chicken curry on a bed of rice with a couple of spoonfuls of the fresh banana chutney.

2 tsp garam marsala
1 tbs vegetable oil
3 large chicken breasts
1 large onion, sliced
4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
450ml chicken stock
2 tbs curry paste (I use Madras, but Korma is also good)
200ml thickened cream
80g almond meal
50g desiccated coconut
2 large bananas, sliced to 2cm thickness

Method

Mix chicken with garam marsala and set aside. Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan and add the onion. Cook for around 10 minutes, until soft and golden. Turn the temperature up and add the chicken. Stir occasionally until cooked through and golden.

Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the stock and curry paste, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10–15 minutes.

Stir in the cream, almond meal and coconut. Simmer for 5–10 minutes. Add the banana slices and simmer for 5 minutes, until the bananas have softened.

Serves 4 people with steamed rice.

While this beef curry does not profess to be anything like a true Indian curry, it is still delicious and simple to make. It’s fantastic if you’re short on preparation time and can leave it cook slowly in the oven or slow cooker while you do other things.

There’s certainly plenty of flavour for not a lot of effort. And you can feed the family or multiply the quantities and feed the masses. I still remember my mother hiring catering pots and cooking this up to serve 40 people for my 21^st birthday party.

Ingredients

750g rump steak (you can also use round steak)
2 tbs peanut oil
1 brown onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbs ginger, finely chopped
2 tbs curry powder (I prefer Clive of India)
4–5 vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into wedges
1½ cups beef stock
3–4 kipfler potatoes, cut into 2–3cm chunks

Method

Trim the fat from the steak and cut it into 2–3cm chunks. Heat the oil in a casserole dish and brown the meat. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook until the onion starts to soften. Stir the curry powder through and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes and beef stock, stir and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat.

Return the meat to the pan and add the potato, stir through. Cover the casserole dish with a lid and bake in a moderate oven for 1–1½ hours, stirring occasionally. You may like to take the lid off the dish for the last 20–30 minutes of cooking time to reduce the amount of liquid.

Serves 4–6.

By cooking this for a long time the meat becomes so beautiful and tender. This dish is hearty comfort food, perfect for the cooler weather.