Shawn and I had friends over for a gluten-free dinner last night and I'm only a little ashamed to admit that I took the easy way out for dessert. I bought a beautiful pineapple and planned to cook it up with a little butter and brown sugar and serve it over vanilla ice cream. We were all so full after dinner, though, that the pineapple was forgotten and remains sitting on my kitchen counter, taunting Stella (fresh pineapple is one of her favourite treats.)
I was unsure how to approach gluten-free cooking. Shawn and I are lucky in that our food allergies don't severely limit our diets. I don't cook shellfish or use raw carrots in salads or cook with peas (because Shawn is a BABY who won't even TRY a green pea because they "make him gag.") Other than that, we eat what we want. I was surprised to realize how heavily I rely on flour in my cooking so I decided to keep things very simple. We had roasted chicken with lemon and rosemary, baked potatoes with all the fixin's, baked butternut squash, roasted brussel sprouts, and mushrooms sautéed in wine. It was a lovely dinner.
I don't enjoy the fussiness of entertaining. I don't do place cards or candlesticks or centrepieces. I think sometimes I get too caught up in the idea of planning the perfect dinner that I forget the aspects of entertaining that I truly enjoy. Give me good friends and simple food and I'm a happy lady.
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Your food sounds so yummy! Except for the mushroom, I don't like them.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally cook for Vahid's friend whenever Vahid invites him over. It's pretty much the simplest thing ever because, like Vahid, if he has meat and beer he's happy.
Sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteI'm like you, I love to enjoy good food and good company, but I don't turn my table into a work of art. All that stuff ends up getting in the way, anyway.
I just make sure there is plenty of food and plenty of wine, and everyone enjoys themselves!
Sweets and I are also lucky - very few food allergies - we pretty much eat anything. But, being pregnant opened my eyes to what being careful about your diet is like. And now that Gavin is here ... I do think about what we'd do if he had severe food allergies.
ReplyDelete1) Your dinner sounds awesome. I mean, mushrooms in wine sauce? Yes, please. Just pass the pan over and get me a spoon on the double!
ReplyDelete2) Don't feel bad about your reliance on flour. You and 90% of the Western world, honey. When I went gluten-free four years ago, I nearly lost my mind at how hard it was to make people understand that THAT FRACKING TEASPOON OF FLOUR YOU ARE ABOUT TO "THICKEN" THAT SAUCE WITH IS GOING TO MAKE ME KILL YOU. Gluten is in everything. It's just part of our society. Soy sauce. Campbell's Soup (I haven't checked every single flavour, but I think it's in all of them...yes, even tomato). Soup stock. Deli meats. Rice Krispies. And the hit list goes on...
3) Pineapple with butter and brown sugar sounds like a FANTASTIC dessert. Just 'cause it's not starchy and baked, it don't mean it ain't dessert. If you've got too much left over, you just pop that sucker in a mail box and send it on over to the East Coast. I'll look after it for you.
Sorry Stella.
Also, why do I now have an undeniable urge to listen to some Dave Matthews?
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like such a delicious dessert!!
ReplyDeleteYum yum yum! So many delicious veggies! Yum again!
ReplyDeleteAlso, the vision of Stella nibbling on pineapple makes me giggle. I don't know why.
I'm the same way! I love having friends over for food, but I'm not in favour of making it a big fuss :)
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