Parenthetical

Thanks to some health problems and the end of the school year, I’ve been a posting slacker. I promise to clean up the backlog soon, etc. etc. Anyway, my newly restricted diet plus S’s own dietary restrictions have led to some bold experiments in gluten-free, animal-fat-free (vegan with egg whites) cooking. Some have been successful. Some not so much. Read on for dietary restriction meal ideas, or just to mock our pain…

The winners:

We are huge fans of Pamela’s gluten-free mixes. Her pancakes are a breakfast staple, and I actually prefer them to regular pancakes at this point. Mix up some pancake batter with egg whites only, cook it thin on a griddle with oil instead of butter, and voila: crepes! We filled them with a stir-fry of spice-rubbed tofu, green beans, red peppers, and a lot of garlic.

Yesterday morning we used the same pancake mix to make muffins: again with the egg whites (which might be better for some gluten-free baking, actually, as heaviness can be a problem with non-wheat flours and losing the yolk lightens things up), and some stewed rhubarb for the liquid. Good stuff! We rounded out breakfast with a tofu scramble, including asparagus and roasted red peppers (and S’s suggestion of turmeric to make it look more like eggs, which I didn’t think mattered to me but turned out to be oddly comforting).

Last night’s dinner was corn pasta with pesto, and Stuff From My Freezer Gazpacho. Tonight’s was white rice with pesto, asparagus, roasted peppers, and chard. Are we sensing a theme?

The losers:

Today was not a good day for baking.

This morning’s “biscuits” (made from a non-Pamela’s GF bread roll mix, with baking powder instead of yeast as the rising agent) were weird little grey spongy patties that tasted like baked matzoh balls.

And tonight’s lemon “cake” (an assortment of flours, plus silken tofu) had yummy batter, but baked into a dense, slightly gritty bar with the flavor of a lemon Girl Scout cookie. It was improved by the addition of a ton of rum-based simple syrup and some strawberries from my garden, but then, what wouldn’t be? (A, J, and Roommate S were kind enough to profess enjoyment.)

I’m trying to see the whole grand Dietary Restriction Experiment as like writing a villanelle — the restriction of the form leads to greater creativity. Or if I’m in a less optimistic mood, soy pesto pesto soy, repeat ad nauseum. Is the glass half-full or -empty? Either way, it likely contains tofu.