Gluten-Free Guest

Treating a gluten-free guest is not rocket science, even though many gluten-eaters believe it is a foreign concept they cannot comprehend. For instance, the other day I enjoyed an impromptu dinner at my friend’s house. The original dinner menu was NOT meant to be gluten-free, but my friend’s mother made a few quick changes to my portion of the meal and I was A-Okay!

Let me give you the back story of the evening -

When I walked in the door of my favorite family’s house, I was greeted with a warm welcome. Although I was not expected [as my friend failed to notify her mother of my invitation], I was assured that they would cook something up for me that was gluten-free. So what did the original, gluten-filled menu consist of that evening?

• Pork chops (coated in flour & marinated in balsamic vinaigrette sauce, cranberries, & a few other yummy ingredients)
• Broccoli casserole (with some breadcrumbs, aka poison, crumbled on top)
• Beans + chunks of bacon
• Cupcakes (straight up gluten)

Any gluten-free person takes a look at this menu and immediately knows how to alter it to be gluten-free. Often times, the staple ingredients of dishes are naturally g-free and your host just doesn’t realize. It is the so-called “extra’s” that ruin it for us. Luckily I had arrived during the preparation process and was able to help out by notifying my host of what I could and could not eat in the meal. The pork chops had not all been coated with flour yet, so my wonderful host immediately set two aside for me [yes, I eat two chops, I'm a hungry girl, alright]. After finishing the flour-coating process of the gluten chops, my host washed hands [VERY IMPORTANT], got a separate dish out, and coated my chops in Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. See, isn’t that easy? BAM, gluten-free entrée!

Although it was too late to make the broccoli casserole gluten-free (the breadcrumbs had already been sprinkled), it would have been easily fixed. The only thing the dinner host had to do was put a separate portion in a smaller dish, sans breadcrumbs, and pop it in the oven.

The beans + chunks of bacon were in fact gluten-free, but unfortunately I personally don’t like beans as a side. I know, I am quite picky, aren’t I? I actually got made fun of for this during dinner since I have such picky taste, yet I am allergic to so much. But haters gon’ hate.

Now, the dessert portion of the meal was entirely off-limits. The cupcakes another guest brought did look amazing, but there was no way around all of the gluten inside them. However, there are a few easy ways to provide gluten-free dessert to a guest. For instance, have ice cream or sherbert included as well! Even if all dessert options aren’t gluten-free, the important/comforting part is that there actually ARE other options.

Moral of the post, if you are going to a dinner party, or hosting one, it is easier than you think to make a gluten-free meal even if the main menu is chock-full of it. Just a few simple modifications here & there and you are living in a g-free paradise!

Tagged celiac, celiac disease, celiac sprue, gf, gfree, gluten free, Gluten free dessert, gluten free diet, gluten free dinner guest, gluten free menu, gluten intolerant