Gluten-Free & Vegan

I don't have a sensitivity to gluten (thank god), but sadly, lots of vegans (and omnis) do. And that means no conventional baked goods, no seminola pasta, and most depressingly, no seitan. That has to suck. Of course, you can create your own gluten-free goodies, but for many, gluten-free baking and cooking is a whole new world. Even people who are quite adept in the kitchen at creating gluten-containing foods may be clueless when no flour or other wheat products are allowed.

Enter The Complete Idiot's Guide to Gluten-Free Vegan Cooking. I was asked to review this new book, and even though I'm not giving up gluten, I'm always up for learning something new. I've never attempted gluten-free baking and only ever tried cutting gluten during my annual 21-day January cleanses.

The first thing I tried were the Baked Chickenless Nuggets:

These little finger foods are made with pressed and marinated tofu. Instead of a flour breading, these are coated with a mixture of chickpea flour and crushed cornflakes. I've made lots of variations of tofu nuggets in my day, and these are pretty darn fantastic. Perfect dipped into a homemade agave-mustard sauce.

While this recipe really didn't branch out into new territory for me, there are several things I want to try that do. Perhaps most interestingly, there's a recipe for gluten-free seitan! What?! I didn't even know that was possible. That's like saying, gluten-free gluten. I'm actually cooking up a batch right now. But I'm not planning to blog about it until I use it in a chili on Thursday. So stay tuned.

Also exciting: Shepherdess' Pie, Drunken Black Beans (made with gluten-free beer), Multi-Grain Sandwich Bread, Savory Kale Chips with Hemp and Flaxseeds, and of course plenty of xgfx desserts. The Chocolate Chip Cookies, Mochi Cream Puffs with Vegan Pastry Cream, and Lemon-Yogurt Pound Cake are all on my to-make list.