4 delicious gluten-free recipes

There’s a whole lot of buzz around gluten-free dishes right now and I’m fully on board with this awesome way of eating. You see, for me, creating gluten-free meals not only is good for my health but also helps fuel my creativity in the kitchen.

Given that I follow a paleo lifestyle and have done for years, I’ve mastered the art of no-gluten cooking and I’m stoked that I’m able to substitute with healthier ingredients that are better for my body and make my meals taste more delicious.

I reckon that’s what gluten-free cooking is all about. It’s about taking the stuff out of your regular meals that doesn’t serve your health (think flour, pasta etc) and replacing it with far better alternatives such as coconut flour, nut flour and spiralised vegies.

In fact, it’s what I love most about being a paleo chef and what inspires me when I develop recipes. By simply switching a few ingredients, you can create meals that will give you more energy than ever before, boost your body’s immunity and encourage a healthier gastrointestinal system.

Beyond rice & pasta

Take rice or pasta, for example. Both are side dishes I know many people who haven’t experimented with gluten-free alternatives may feel are hard to replace. That’s where a food processor and spiraliser come in handy.

A spiraliser is my latest kitchen obsession. It’s a really cool gadget you can use to turn different seasonal vegetables and fruit into delicious substitutes in what are traditionally carb-heavy meals.

By using medium- to hard-fleshed vegetables such as zucchini, carrot, beetroot, parsnip, turnip and sweet potato, you can create oodles of different-flavoured noodles. You can also thinly slice onions, shred cabbage and make sweet potato fries.

All these are great side dishes that will ensure your next meal is full of no-gluten goodness and, more importantly, are designed to support optimal health and wellbeing.

My favourite vegetables to use in creating a rice substitute are zucchini, cauliflower and broccoli. It really depends on which is in season and therefore the best quality, but I find these are pretty much interchangeable for all rice dishes.

I love to serve a good-quality protein in a really full-on flavoursome, spicy sauce with vegetable “rice” on the side. One of our current family favourites is Bengali Fish, from my latest book One-Pot Favourites. What I love about this dish is the way the deeply fragrant tomato-based curry infuses the fish with so much flavour and how serving it with zucchini rice provides a nutritious yet incredibly light side dish.

Zucchini is also full of health benefits and an outstanding source of manganese and vitamin C. It contains vitamin A, magnesium, folate, potassium, copper and phosphorus as well as omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, niacin and protein.

Another favourite gluten-free meal right now is Chicken Tikka Masala served with cauliflower rice. I love this dish because of its rich flavours and use of coconut yoghurt, which provides a lovely sweetness.

Take your tastebuds on an exotic tour with a dinner party recipe I like to serve up to friends: Middle Eastern Lamb Stew. I like that it uses the Arabic spice blend baharat, an all-spice mix that includes black pepper, cumin, cinnamon and cloves. It makes you feel as if the lamb is dancing on your tastebuds.

Of course, another big question I get asked is how do you substitute bread with a gluten-free option? That’s why I’m sharing Nic’s amazing Paleo Bread, which uses almond meal, coconut flour and psyllium seed powder as the base.

Why avoid gluten?

Apart from all of these meals being nutritious and delicious, what’s the point of cutting out gluten? How can this help support better health?

New research has recently revealed just how damaging gluten can be. In late July, Columbia University announced a breakthrough in understanding how gluten relates to health issues. Its findings — published in the journal Gut — reveal that the complaints gluten-sensitive people (those with non-celiac gluten sensitivity) experience are a consequence of a disruption of the gut lining.

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It’s something industry experts working in the area of nutritional and holistic health have known for many years. I closely follow the work of Dr David Perlmutter, author of the highly successful book Grain Brain, and he has advocated that the best way to live for optimal health is to go gluten-free.

What’s even more interesting is a recent finding from a Harvard University study: the breakdown in the gut lining as a response to gluten exposure occurs in all humans. In a nutshell, what this means is that immune activation occurs in all of us when we consume gluten whether we think we’re having issues or not.

So how does that relate to the state of your overall health? Well, there is a very strong relationship between this kind of immune activation and diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, coronary artery disease and even obesity.

Potentially, gluten may be an initiating or exacerbating factor in the roughly 100 recognised autoimmune diseases. Recent studies have shown a 400 per cent increase in celiac disease — the best-known autoimmune disease caused by gluten intolerance — over the past 50 years.

Gluten sensitivity also impacts on your gut microbiota, which new research is confirming may also regulate your brain function and behaviour — and even impact on bodyweight. A study published in March in Frontiers in Microbiology called Gut Microbiota: The Brain Peacekeeper finds that “results from animal models indicate that disturbances in the composition and functionality of some microbiota members are associated with neurophysiological disorders, strengthening the idea of a microbiota–gut–brain axis and the role of microbiota as a ‘peacekeeper’ in brain health”.

It makes sense to embrace a gluten-free way of eating so we have as much energy as possible to pursue the things we love.

What I also find particularly fascinating is that there is actually no human requirement for gluten. In fact, humans lived happily without grains for nearly 3 million years before the advent of agriculture, so it’s not unreasonable to suspect that politics and economics have played a role in the types of foods we now eat.

At the end of the day, my simple rule of thumb is to consume a small to moderate amount of animal protein from animals with a natural diet, an abundance of vegetables and good fats, daily broths and fermented foods. Even Nic’s Paleo Bread should be considered a treat.

Ensuring we consume nutrient-dense, healthy foods and committing to making our own meals at Home are two ways we can really support our mental and physical health, improve energy levels and protect ourselves as much as possible against the onset of serious diseases.

I don’t know about you, but I want to make sure I can nourish my body and brain in every way possible so I can be surfing and enjoying life for a long time to come.

I know the way I feel when I don’t eat gluten, dairy, soy, wheat or sugar is fantastic. I feel better than ever and urge you to try some of the no-gluten recipes I’ve shared in this issue. I hope embracing a gluten-free way of cooking boosts your kitchen creativity and takes care of you and your family in the same way it has mine.

Cook with love and laughter,

Pete