Guest feature: Hold the wheat

By Casey Manes

Hold the wheat, the barley, the rye. Eating them can be catastrophic, for some.

Those who suffer from celiac disease know all too well the adverse effects eating gluten — the protein found in wheat and a selection of other grains — can cause.

If you don’t know what we’re talking about, simply imagine a large array of gastrointestinal mayhem and a dizzying assortment of other seemingly non-related symptoms and you’ve conjured up the daily reality of people with unchecked celiac disease and wheat sensitivities.

The cure?

There isn’t one.

But, there is hope for people with this autoimmune disease: Removing all wheat and gluten from the diet … forever (gulp!).

It is a daunting concept. It doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to realize much of the Standard American Diet is comprised of wheat. Completely removing it can be overwhelming. No more Wonder Bread, breaded fried chicken or apple pie, you say?

Not so fast!

The hope in this is that there is a wide array of flour alternatives available and a growing, hip subculture of gluten-free eaters, recipes and even restaurants.

A few substitutes to wheat flour on the market today include: oat flour, brown rice bran flour, corn flour, almond flour (very pricey), white rice flour, sorghum flour, potato starch and all-purpose gluten-free baking flour. Many regular grocers now carry alternative flours and health food stores do as well.

These grains are easier to digest and do not contain the protein gluten, so are safe for celiacs and those who suffer from sensitivities to wheat or gluten.

It can take some time to adjust to the new flavors. But with some replacement and creativity, a new normal isn’t far away. So experiment, break out the spices and the new flours and you’ll be surprised how delicious the land of the gluten-free has become.

Hungry for dessert? Try this summer recipe for blueberry apricot crumble — of course, completely gluten free!

Fruit filling
1 pint blueberries
2 cups apricots, pits removed and cut into quarters
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
¼ cup sugar
Crumble topping
½ cup almond (or oat) flour
½ cup quinoa flakes
½ cup sorghum flour (if you don’t like sorghum, try brown rice flour)
½ cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
¾ cup tightly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, frozen, for perhaps an hour before you begin

Preheat oven to 375°.
Preparing the filling. Jumble the blueberries and apricots in a large bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice and vanilla extract over them and toss. Coat the fruit with the tapioca flour, until the mix feels a little pasty. Toss in the sugar and stir well.

Baking the filling. Pour the prepared filling into a buttered pan. Just be sure you have an inch of room, at least, after you have poured in the filling. Put it into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the fruit is fork-tender and the juices are beginning to run.

Preparing the topping. As the fruit is baking, put together the crumble topping. Combine the almond flour, quinoa flakes, sorghum flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Sift them into another bowl. Add the brown sugar and stir well.

Take the butter out of the freezer. With a butter knife or grater, dice up the butter and add to the flours and sugar. The butter has to be frozen for this to work. This will make the pieces of butter small and easy to combine with the flours.

Work the small pieces of butter into the flours with a pastry cutter or fork. When the topping feels well mixed— but not one big mass — you are done.

Baking the crumble. When the fruit has baked sufficiently, pull the baking dish out of the oven. Spoon the crumble on top of the fruit, making sure to cover it all. Slide the dish back into the oven.

Bake for an additional fifteen minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling juicily, and the topping has browned nicely.

Let the crumble cool for at least fifteen minutes before eating it.

Feeds 8.
(Recipe from Gluten-Free Girl.blogspot.com)

Casey Manes is a staff writer for Olivet's Office of Marketing Communications, and was diagnosed with a wheat and gluten sensitivity in 2007. Since then, she has spent the last two years living the wheat-free life. This is Casey's first article for Tiger Bytes.