ISO gluten/dairy-free potluck dish idea

[Cordel]

I need to find a potluck dish that is gluten free, and uses no dairy. does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Michael in FtW]

Well, something with rice maybe?

Steamed or baked cabbage rolls would fit the bill. Simply hamburger, rice, onion, diced tomatoes (herbs and spices can vary depending on the flavor you want) - wrapped up in par-boiled cabbage leaves ... then either steamed over low-boil/simmering water for about 30-minutes or placed in a greased baking dish and covered with a tomato based sauce and baked at about 350ºF for about 30-minutes.

Or Chicken with Long Grain and Wild Rice with herbs and mushrooms? Get a chicken and quarter it ... place in a pot a cover with cold water - toss in a quatered onion, a couple of sliced carrots, and a stalk of sliced celery - with a little salt and pepper. Bring to a boil - reduce to a simmer - and cook about 30 minutes until done ... remove the chicken to a plate and strain out the solids from your broth - reserve the broth and toss the solids.

Now, in a 5-6 qt pot - add some EVOO - and saute a large yellow diced onion ... then toss in 1-2 boxes of Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice with Herbs (or if you have an Albertsons store near by they have a generic equivalence under the Albertsons brand) - then toss in the rice and saute it a couple of minutes ... stirring frequently/almost constantly to insure the rice is coated with oil. Now, add the herb packet(s), stirr well to combine, and the reserved broth (use it to replace the water called for on the box) - stir well again. Follow the cooking directions on the rice box.

While the rice is cooking - remove the skin from the chicken, remove the meat from the bone, and either shred or dice it. When the rice is about 10-minutes from being done - add some EVOO to a skillet and saute some sliced mushrooms ... when they are browned add the chicken and stir frequently to heat through. Now - finally - add the mushrooms and chicken to the rice and stir to combine.

Of course there are gumbos, stews, chili, etc ....

 

[fireweaver]

hi Cordel, i have a friend who's been gluten/dairy free for nearly 2 years now, due to health issues, and you're right: if it's not something you live with all the time, it's pretty tricky. all of the sauces/soups/thickening agents that involve a pinch of flour or a splash of milk or a pat of butter, even when those things are far from the main ingredients, are right out.

but when you get used to it, there's plenty to go with. for example, most people with dairy issues have specifically cow-origin dairy issues. so a plate of sheep and/or goat cheese, with rice crackers (only wheat has the gluten in it, so any non-wheat bread-like products are fine) can be a nice treat for someone who hasn't had cheeses & crackers in a while. check with your party organizers to see if the non-cow thing is the only dairy to avoid.

fruits & vegetables are great options. fruit salad with a honey-vinaigrette dressing instead of a creamy one would be good for a dessert choice, as would a non-dairy fruit sorbet. pile on the fresh veggies into a hearty green salad, again with vinaigrette dressings instead of creamy ones. veggies roasted/sauteed/grilled in olive oil & savory herbs work out great as well.

any style of meat/fish/chicken dish you already regularly make would be fine, as long as you're not battering it in flour or cooking it with butter.

if someone in your group is really sensitive, keep a sharp eye on the ingredient list in any prepared sauces. soy sauce, which most of us just think of as liquid salty, generally contains some wheat, for example.

 

[Bilby]

Cordel, wherever you need to use flour, use some rice flour instead. You can also use soy milk instead of regular milk.

And fireweaver is so right about checking ingredients on pre-made items, often they have a gluten thickener or flavour added.

Here are a couple of links for you:
Gluten free - Recipe collections - Taste.com.au

55 fabulous gluten-free recipes

 

[GotGarlic]

all of the sauces/soups/thickening agents that involve a pinch of flour or a splash of milk or a pat of butter, even when those things are far from the main ingredients, are right out.

This is not quite true. Rice flour can be substituted, as can soy milk.

(only wheat has the gluten in it, so any non-wheat bread-like products are fine)

Sorry, this is not true, either. Oats, barley and rye also contain gluten: Gluten-Free Diet: Grains and Flours

We had a thread on this just last week: http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f18/holiday-side-dish-vegetarian-wheat-gluten-free-40594.html

This blog by a woman with celiac disease has a ton of great recipes: Karina's Kitchen Recipe Index

HTH.

 

[GotGarlic]

I should add, I have a friend with celiac disease. She tells me that her biggest problem when eating away from home is not necessarily the ingredients in a given dish, but cross-contamination. If food is prepared on a counter or cutting board that previously was used with wheat bread or flour and not cleaned well enough, just a tiny amount is enough to cause symptoms for her.

 

[Cordel]

Thanks so much for all the answers. I am not sure the lady with celiac is coming to the pot luck. I am the person who cannot eat dairy, and will substitute goat products and soy milk. Another attendee is sensitive to rice, so I plan to substitute quinoa, for rice, probably. Now I have to sit down and contemplate. Since I am a bread baker, I will have to be really careful with cross contamination.

 

[Bilby]

You know sometimes Cordel, you have to make dishes that will exclude people, or make two versions of the same dish. You should also be able to substitute corn flour for normal flour but just check as some things marked corn flour also have wheat products in (don't ask me why!). That would take care of the coeliac and the rice-intolerant, and I guess we don't need to tell you what you can use for yourself!!

A bit plate of chilli with corn chips or corn tortillas, with home made accompaniements would probably be the best sort of dish in lots of ways, or a simple chicken and vegetable pie with a potato crust. Something like that.

 

[Cordel]

Well,Bilby, while I have learned to substitute, but sometimes new menus that are meant to be dairy free, or to contain goat's milk taste better. I only was diagnosed in September, and while I feel much better, I find having to think up new meals for the holidays can be a challenge.

Pam, who has celiac, usually stays away from our pot lucks, but now that two more of us have allergies, I think it would be cool if we tried to make our pot lucks safe places for those with them. Having experienced the pain of trying "just a little" I have a whole lot more sympathy than I used to have.

 

[EastWestknives]

Dairy allergy

Hey there,

My girlfriend had a horrible dairy allergy and has used goat milk for a while now... Recently she did something called 'NETS' that got rid of her allergies. It's a form of acupuncture, the change in her was amazing and quick.

Also, she started buying RAW milk (goat and cow) from an Amish farmer. Apparently the pasteurization process destroys certain enzymes in the milk that make it easier to digest... There's lost of info about raw milk. People have been drinking it that way for 1000s of years. It was only during the industrial revolution and cows were raised in factory farms and fed things like Barley mash leftover from beer factories... that the horribly sick cows made infants sick. A good, grass fed cow raised with love by an Amish man isn't going to hurt anyone. Especially because now they have much more precise testing for antigens in the milk.