Lean and lovin' it: Finding tasty, healthy wheat alternatives a challenge
Giving today's highly-hybridized wheat the boot isn't as easy as: “Just say no.”
Whether you have celiac disease, are gluten-sensitive or believe, as some authorities do, that wheat bread kicks your insulin levels into high gear (higher, even, than sugars), if you're gonna say “no” to wheat you want decent, wheat-free alternatives.
You could go looking in your supermarket; walking up and down the aisles you'll see “gluten-free” splashed over all sorts of products. Are those the answer? Maybe.
Unfortunately, many gluten-free products are high in refined carbohydrates, high in fat and some are high in added sugars.
Sure, some ready-made gluten-free products, like cookies, can be a fairly-good substitute for wheat flour-based cookies. But those cookies, and almost any gluten-free, pre-made product, come at a hefty price. For example, Harry and David's charges $19.99 for one dozen gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. Ouch.
I considered the possibility of making my own gluten-free cookies, breads, pancakes and pizza, but finding the special ingredients like brown rice flour, modified tapioca starch and xanthan gum quickly soured that idea. Plus, as pointed out by Consumer Reports magazine, there appears to be an issue with arsenic and rice, even organic rice.
Then I asked myself what else could I do to cut the cost of gluten-free foods? Mixes seem less expensive than pre-made products. Perhaps packaged gluten-free boxed mixes?
That idea led me to two brands of gluten-free mixes: Simply Mills and Bob's Red Mill. First I baked a batch of Simple Mills' brand (a Chicago company) Naturally Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies from its mix. List price for an 8.4-ounce box: $7.99. I added an egg (50 cents), 2 teaspoons vanilla (60 cents) and 3 tablespoons melted butter (40 cents). When done it made 19 cookies and cost $9.49, or $5.99 a dozen.
All Simple Mills' packaged gluten-free products use almond flour as a substitute for wheat flour. You'll also see arrowroot powder on their product's ingredient list. Arrowroot powder is similar to cornstarch and is used as a thickener in many gluten-free baked products. The cookies were just OK. More than one person who tasted them said the flavor reminded them of Chips Ahoy!
I also baked Simple Mills' Naturally Gluten-Free Artisan Bread ($7.99). This time I added two eggs, 2 tablespoons olive oil and ¼-cup apple cider vinegar to the mix. I did as the package suggested and sprinkled fresh-grated Parmesan cheese, chopped dried rosemary and coarse salt on the bread before baking.
In 20 short minutes my Artisan Bread was done. Its texture was more like a cornbread than wheat bread. It looked like focaccia bread. Dipping a slim slice in a little good-quality olive oil boosted the flavor notes.
I also made gluten-free pizza crust from Bob's Red Mill ($4.39), as well as Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Pancakes ($4.79). My pancakes turned out thin and didn't brown like a wheat-based pancake. They didn't look anything like the picture on the bag. Real maple syrup helped those pancakes.
Bob's pizza dough was hard to handle. The package suggests pressing the dough out with oiled fingers. I had to turn to a greased (olive oil) rolling pin to get my crust spread out and flat without it sticking to anything. Bob's mix made an OK crust; but don't expect it to equal the texture or flavor of a wheat-based crust.
It would be great to tell you there's a clear winner for gluten-free baked goods, but they all fall a little ways or further from the mark.
Thanks to inclement weather, I've yearned for a steaming bowl of cream of mushroom soup. Using a recipe from one of my cookbooks, I switched from wheat flour to cornstarch to thicken it and used some of the great mushrooms available today. Give it a try.
• Reach Don Mauer at don@ theleanwizard.com.