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

Ricky’s Restaurant is located at Noosa Wharf on the river just a short walk, ferry ride or drive from Hastings Street. We like it for the escape it offers from the hustle and bustle of the main beach area. With its perfect riverfront location, it’s easy to while away the hours at Ricky’s. On a clear Noosa day the sunlight reflecting off the water is mesmerising, not to mention watching the many boats that pass by. There’s a distinctive vibe about Ricky’s—it’s open glass walls, high ceilings and polished wooden floors remind me of a beach house—I just want to stay, relax and enjoy.

Now to the menu…so many choices, all of them appealing. Even the gluten free (GF) menu had a few different options for entrees and mains. Here’s what we had:

Entrees

• BBQ quail, spiced carrot, medjool dates, rocket salad, honey yoghurt dressing
• WA octopus, pork belly, baba ganoush, slow roasted cherry tomatoes, haloumi, eggplant jam (GF)

Mains

• Char grilled Grainge eye fillet, potato leek gratin, confit shallot puree, asparagus, olive, manchego butter (GF)
• Herb crusted lamb rack, spiced quinoa, roast pumpkin, goats feta, almonds

Desserts

• Deconstructed cheesecake, strawberries, rhubarb sorbet
• Chocolate cake sundae, mascarpone ice cream, hazelnut panna cotta, strawberries (GF)

For me, the dish of the day was the herb crusted lamb with quinoa. The sweet and soft roasted pumpkin, wonderfully spiced quinoa very Moroccan in flavour, creamy goat’s cheese for a hint of saltiness, toasted almonds for crunch, and delightfully tender savoury lamb, each mouthful was a pleasure.

I cannot fault the food. The ingredients were as fresh as fresh could be, and the dishes satisfying without being too filling. I like to eat this way, it’s this kind of food that makes me happy. Ensconced in a light-filled restaurant with a stunning view, served by attentive wait staff, my smile widens with every bite. I feel privileged to have such a wonderful eating experience. And rest assured we will be back as soon as we possibly can.

Who doesn’t love crumbed calamari? When the calamari is fresh and soft, and the crumbs are delicate but crunchy, it makes a sensational lunch with some hand-cut potato chips or my favourite combination is with orange and fennel salad. It’s really quite easy to make. Just be sure to remove the skin from the squid tubes before crumbing them, otherwise they’ll turn out tough and chewy when cooked.

You’ll need:

Fresh squid tubes (ones that have already been cleaned)
Peanut oil
1 cup plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cups dried breadcrumbs (or panko breadcrumbs if you want more crunch)

Rinse the squid tubes under cold running water. Remove the thin film from the outside of the tube. To do this, make a break in the film and work you fingers up between the film and the flesh of the squid. This can take a bit of time to do but is worth the effort for soft, rather than chewy, calamari.

Cut the tubes into rings. Dust them in flour, then coat in egg that’s been seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon zest. Spread the breadcrumbs onto a flat tray and toss the calamari to coat it. This crumbing technique can also be used for prawns and scallops.

Heat the peanut oil in a deep saucepan to 180°C. The oil should be 6cm deep for frying. Add your calamari pieces in batches, depending on the size of your pot. Cook each batch of calamari for 1 minute, then remove and drain on paper towel. Make sure your oil is back up to 180°C before adding the next batch of calamari.

Arrange the calamari on a platter and squeeze lemon juice over the top to serve.

Summer calls for something light, cool and refreshing to eat. Orange and fennel salad is the perfect summer salad to serve up on those really hot days. We had this just last week with Jim’s homemade crumbed calamari. Delicious! It’s also really good with grilled white fish, such as coral trout.

Vinaigrette

1 tbs Dijon mustard
⅓ cup olive oil
2 tbs honey
1 tbs red wine vinegar
2 tbs lemon juice
Zest of ½ a lemon
Salt and pepper

Whisk all the vinaigrette ingredients together and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Salad ingredients

2 oranges
2 stalks celery
2 bulbs fennel
1 granny smith apple
A large handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves

Peel your oranges, cut them into segments and place them in a large salad bowl. Finely slice your celery stalks and add them to the bowl. Roughly chop your parsley leaves and add them to the bowl. Finely slice your fennel bulb (a mandoline is great for doing this) and add to the bowl. Finally, slice your apples into matchsticks and add to the bowl. Drizzle the ingredients with a few tablespoons of the vinaigrette and toss to combine the salad. Adding the vinaigrette will stop the apple and fennel from discolouring if you need to set the salad aside and wait for seafood to finish cooking.

When you’re ready to eat, roughly chop the parsley leaves and fennel fronds and add to the salad with more vinaigrette to taste. Toss to combine and serve immediately.

A Mediterranean feast is also very easy to prepare with the help of a good providore. Our staples for eating this way are:

• olives—we love smoked kalamatas, Sicilian olives marinated in lemon and garlic, and green olives stuffed with either feta or blue cheese
• ciabatta or Turkish bread—1cm slices lightly toasted
• garlic dip (this is essentially fresh garlic cloves ground with salt and olive oil till it’s light and creamy—delicious)
• dolmades—vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs
• baby Roma tomatoes
• marinated Persian feta
• marinated artichoke hearts.

Just today we had a variation of this for lunch. If you wanted to have meat as part of this then you could add some finely sliced salami or ham.

When we are entertaining or having a Mediterranean feast for dinner we add:

• Greek salad
• Grilled haloumi (with onion, parsley & lemon)
• Chicken souvlaki (I use Jamie Oliver’s wicked souvlaki recipe, but substitute pork for chicken)
• Marinated lamb skewers.

There are many ways to make a Greek salad but I have a simple and effective recipe that can be put together in no time.

Greek salad

2 cups salad leaves, torn
1 Lebanese cucumber, diced
200g baby Roma tomatoes, cut into halves or quarters
12–16 pitted kalamata olives
250g marinated Persian feta, drained but retaining the liquid to use as salad dressing
½ a Spanish onion, finely sliced (optional)

Combine these ingredients in a large salad bowl. Drizzle some of the marinade from the Persian feta over the salad and toss to coat. Once the salad is dressed, serve immediately.

Grilled haloumi is something I love. Haloumi has a high melting point so, despite being fried or grilled, it holds its shape and chewy texture.

Grilled haloumi

250g packet of haloumi
½ a brown onion, diced
Juice of half a lemon
⅓ cup of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Combine the onion and lemon juice in a bowl and leave to stand (this will soften the onions and take away any astringency). Meanwhile cut the haloumi into 5mm slices. Heat some olive oil in a fry pan. Fry the haloumi over medium heat until golden on both sides. Remove from the heat and drain the slices on paper towel. Add the chopped parsley to the lemon and onion and toss to combine. Arrange the haloumi on a serving plate and sprinkle the onion, parsley and lemon over the top.

Crispy, zingy and loaded with healthy fresh vegetables—coleslaw is a great salad for summer. I’ve been thinking about making coleslaw for many months, since we were at Taste of Sydney and ate coleslaw and crispy skinned chicken (it was like grown-up, much healthier version of KFC). So that’s what I decided to make myself for lunch one day last week, although I made parmesan crumbed chicken to have with my coleslaw.

The most basic coleslaw is a mixture of red and green cabbage with carrot in a mayonnaise or vinaigrette dressing. From that base, you can add ingredients like apple, fennel, radish, celery, shallots, even nuts—anything with a bit of crunch that’s not too overpowering in flavour.

I’ve found a blend that I’m very happy with:

1 cup red cabbage
1 cup green cabbage
1 small bulb of fennel
1 carrot, peeled
6 radishes, topped and tailed

Dressing
⅓ cup mayonnaise (you could make you own but I use Best Foods or Thomy)
1 tbs white wine vinegar
½ tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Finely shred the cabbage, and grate the fennel, carrot and radishes. You can do this by hand for a more rustic coleslaw, or use the food processor for really fine vegetable pieces.

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard and white wine vinegar by whisking. Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste, then toss through the vegetables.

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the dressing to flavour the vegetables.

My preference is to cook these on the barbecue. They are absolutely fantastic—the haloumi gets all brown and crunchy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside; the saltiness of the cheese works perfectly with tender pieces of lamb…oh, so succulent and juicy.

You’ll need:

2 tbs oil
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tbs fresh oregano, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
300–400g lamb back strap (fillet), trimmed of any sinew and fat
200g haloumi, cut into 3cm pieces

Combine oil, lemon juice, herbs and garlic in a large glass bowl. Cut lamb into 3cm pieces, add to the bowl and allow marinate for 30 minutes.

On kitchen skewers, thread a piece of lamb then a piece of haloumi, leaving a slight gap between them (just a few millimetres), and repeat until your skewers are full (remember to leave a couple of centimetres free on either end of each skewer). Brush the skewers with the marinade and cook over medium heat on the barbecue (grill or frypan), turning frequently, until the lamb is done to your liking.

To accompany it, we lightly toast flatbread and mix together a green salad with a similar dressing to the marinade ingredients.

When entertaining, this is an ideal dish to include as part of a Mediterranean feast.

N.B. For a more herby flavour you could also add parsley and thyme to the marinade.

Jim and I love a good lunch. Preferably something that’s healthy and full of flavour. Even better if it’s quick to make. So here’s today’s delicious selection…

1 tbs pine nuts
2 x 150g tuna steaks
1 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 x 400g tin four bean mix, drained and rinsed
½ cup basil, finely chopped
½ cup parsley, finely chopped
¼ cup shallots, finely sliced

Heat a small fry pan over medium heat and lightly toast the pine nuts until golden. Set them aside.

Heat a lightly oiled fry pan or grill over high heat. Add the tuna steaks and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Tuna should be cooked so that it’s still pink on the inside. Set aside and allow to rest for 2 minutes.

Combine the remaining ingredients and pine nuts in a bowl and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with the tuna steaks.

You can also make this dish with tinned tuna. Simply drain it and break it into chunks, then toss through the salad.

I am a massive fan of the humble pea. I think it comes from my childhood, helping Mum out by shelling the peas for dinner. They’re so sweet, fresh from the pod…it usually went something along the lines of one for me, one for the bowl. I also loved just-cooked peas with a bit of melted butter stirred through. Heaven!

Peas are delicious and so good for you. They’re an excellent source of dietary fibre and protein. They also provide vitamin C, niacin, folate, beta carotene, iron, zinc and potassium. That’s a lot of punch for something so small!

While most people opt for the convenience of frozen peas (after all, shelling peas is time-consuming), you can’t quite go past a fresh pea. They’re worth the effort because they taste so much better. I get excited when I see them at the greengrocer and yesterday I was even happier to see that broad beans were also available.

For me, that meant it was time to make one of my favourite lunches: smashed peas and broad beans on grilled ciabatta. Thank you, once again, Jamie At Home.

The dish is essentially the age-old combination of peas and mint, beefed up with broad beans, lemon and cheese, served on crusty toasted bread. Yum! Jamie suggests buffalo mozzarella on top but I prefer Persian feta.

It does look a bit like green mush when smashing it all up with the mortar and pestle but don’t be deterred, it is absolutely delicious and surprisingly filling.

It’s ideal for spring/summer because the mint and lemon juice are cool and refreshing with just the right amount of zing from grated pecorino. Pair it with a glass of pinot gris and now you’re really onto something extraordinary!