Gluten-free grains that everyone should eat

I find it somewhat troubling that the gluten-free diet focus so heavily on what you CAN'T eat rather than focusing on what you CAN eat. Since there are way more foods that you CAN eat on a gluten-free diet, it's called "gluten-free" because that's a little easier to verbalize than describing the diet by what you CAN eat. Can you imagine if I went around saying, "I have celiac disease, so I follow a teff, amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, vegetables, fruit, fish and beans-containing diet". That would be weird. And I couldn't possibly list all the things that I DO eat.Having celiac has introduced me to a lot of new foods. If I wasn't diagnosed with celiac I probably wouldn't eat as many beans as I do. And I certainly wouldn't experiment with whole grains like teff and buckwheat! Naturally gluten-free grains add variety and positive nutrition to all of our diets.If you eat gluten-free or not, these are grains that are high in fiber, minerals and antioxidants that are often lacking in our diets. On KVOA tomorrow, I'll bring all these grains so you can see what they all look like. I'll post the segment next week. Try these out!

• Amaranth
• Brown Rice
• Buckwheat and/or Kasha
• Millet
• Oats, Steel-Cut Oats, Oat Bran
• Quinoa
• Teff
• Wild Rice

If you have celiac make sure that these grains all come from gluten-free facilities. I could only find brown rice, wild rice, oats, steel-cut oats, quinoa and teff. I went to Sunflower, New Life and Whole Foods, none of these stores carried all of the grains above from gluten-free facilities, so I ordered amaranth, millet, oat bran from Bob's Red Mill. This is another example of how celiac is unique; someone who is following a gluten-free diet for reasons other than celiac disease could purchase all of these grains from any company or the bulk section, however, those with celiac need to seek out grains from gluten-free facilities. I prefer Bob's Red Mill because the company uses very clear labeling regarding their manufacturing facilities. On the front of the package it clearly shows that grain comes from a gluten-free facility.

I made Curried Buckwheat Risotto last night that I will be writing up for GF Connect. GF Connect sends care packages of gluten-free foods, which is a wonderful service for those who are newly diagnosed with celiac or just need to find more options of gluten-free foods to eat. Not everything in those packages are "healthy", but it's important to know what's out there. I'll post the recipe when it's ready, it's modified version of Steel-Cut Oat Risotto. I used ginger, turmeric, garam masala and curry powder to season it and carrots and cauliflower for veggies. I added raisins, chopped almonds and parsley at the end. Delicious!I also tried Teff Porridge this morning and it was a really nice new breakfast cereal! While the cereal is a different color and texture than most hot cereals, we all thought it was really tasty, including my hubby with discerning taste buds.I followed the recipe on the package, using raisins in place of dates since I didn't have dates. My husband asked, "why do you make all these different things?" I think it's fun to try new things. I find it interesting how you can pretty much swap any grain into a recipe and it works! For example, this teff cereal is just like making oatmeal, but uses a different grain. And the buckwheat risotto was just like regular risotto or steel-cut oat risotto. Trying different foods and preparations keeps me from getting bored. Plus, some of these grains are nutrition superhouses! Teff is particularly high in magnesium, calcium and zinc, which are important for bone health, mood stability and insulin regulation.More ResourcesBob's Red Mill and the Whole Grains Council have excellent recipe resources available online. You can search each recipe database by specific grain or by gluten-free. Be cautious when using these resources since there are gluten-containing recipes on both sites that you want to avoid.On my website you can find more recipes using whole grains in the "Great Grains" category.Material on this blog is provided for informational purposes only. It is general information that may not apply to you as an individual, and is not a substitute for personalized nutrition or health advice or healthcare. Never disregard medical advice or delay seeking medical care because of something you have read or accessed through this website.