Gluten-free Recipes for Valentine’s Day

The first time we ever went out to dinner after my celiac diagnosis was on Valentine’s Day. From the beginning of my gluten-free journey, I vowed not to give up all the things I loved doing. That included dining out often and traveling every chance I got. If you talk to a lot of people who are gluten-free, you know that a large percentage of them will avoid dining out and travel whenever possible. That meant I had my work cut out for me but I was totally up for the challenge.

That first year we enjoyed a lovely gourmet meal, but going to a place that didn’t take reservations was a huge mistake. We arrived at 5:55 pm and had to wait 1 hour and 55 minutes to be seated. Since I was a gluten-free novice at the time, I had nothing packed in my purse to eat while we endured the long wait for a table. The menu offered many safe entrees, salads and desserts but no appetizers that I could eat. That night taught me to never go to a new place without snacks in tow, even if we have reservations. The two years following the first Valentine’s dinner out didn’t go much better. At one place with a typically knowledgeable staff and fabulous gluten-free menu, I was told I could not have the goat cheese there. That turned out to not be true, of course.  Finally, last year we stayed in for dinner and it was nice not worrying about dealing with an overly stressed out staff. Since the holiday hits on a Sunday this year, we are going out again, but at a super early bird time. We’re risking being the only people there except the staff, but that is quite fine by us.

For those of you who are staying in, I thought these recipes from Whole Foods might come in handy. You can subscribe to the Whole Foods newsletter by special diet categories and choose how ofter the newsletter arrives in your in-box. You can search the site by whatever allergens you avoid and look for just appetizers, entrees, salads, soup, desserts and much more. It’s quite an allergen free friendly recipe site, in case you have not yet explored it. Here is the Valentine’s Day Whole Foods newsletter. Note not all the recipes are gluten-free, of course.  This guide to Antipasto can easily be made gluten-free and it’s lovely to share with your special someone. This tart recipe can be made gluten-free by using gluten-free flour. The below recipes are all gluten-free and some are dairy-free, vegetarian or vegan, as noted.

• Roasted Bell Peppers Stuffed with Quinoa – dairy-free, vegan
• Apple Glazed Pork - dairy-free
• Apricot Tart in Quinoa Almond Crust – vegetarian
• Antipasto Skewers – vegetarian
• Lemon Chicken – dairy-free
• Winter Squash Stuffed with Lentil Pilaf – vegetarian
• Balsamic-Citrus Wild Alaskan Salmon – dairy-free
• Chocolate Truffles with Pink Salt – vegetarian
• Frosted Spiced Cupcakes – dairy-free, egg-free
• Caramelized Plantains - dairy-free*, vegan* (if you don’t add whipped cream)

The above selections are just a few of the gluten-free recipes on the Whole Foods website. If they don’t appeal  to your tastes, you might want to check out the 900+ other gluten-free recipes on the site. Once on the site, you need to click on Advanced Recipe Search, then you can check whatever boxes apply to your individual needs. There are recipes that are free of dairy, those that are high in protein, sugar conscious, low sodium, high in fiber and vegan. There is no box for soy-free, which is unfortunate. Otherwise, it’s an extremely well done recipe website and presently, almost half the recipes listed are gluten-free.  Have a lovely Valentine’s Day and happy gluten-free eating!