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Bertucci’s Gluten-Free Menu

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Bertucci’s is a growing restaurant chain with over 90 locations throughout the United States. Due to this growth, it looks like they got the attention of the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) which helped them to create a gluten-free menu and make it available to the Celiac community on their official website.

Official Website Menu Information: Bertucci’s Gluten-Free Menu
Location Finder: Find a Bertucci’s Location Near You

If you have a Bertucci’s Italian restaurant in your area and plan to visit, here are the foods that should be safe to eat:

Bertucci’s Gluten-Free Menu

Appetizers

  • Shrimp Scampi Appetizer – Tender shrimp simmered in a light garlic cream sauce. Order without grilled crostini.
  • Mussels Caruso – North Atlantic mussels cooked to order in your choice of a fragrant herbed white wine sauce or our spicy plum tomato sauce. Order without grilled crostini.
  • Antipasto Misto – Brick oven-roasted peppers, zucchini, artichokes, olives, prosciutto, fresh asparagus, broccoli, fresh mozzarella, and grape tomatoes served with baby field greens and balsamic vinaigrette.

Salads

  • Insalata – Mixed leaf lettuce, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, black olives, and Romano cheese.
  • Salad Vivaldi con Pollo & Bello – Baby field greens tossed with balsamic vinaigrette, grape tomatoes, roasted olives, and red onions, topped with grilled chicken and roasted Portobello mushrooms.
  • Tomato & Mozzarella Caprese Salad – Grape tomatoes and fresh mozzarella mixed with extra-virgin olive oil and herbs, over a bed of baby field greens tossed with balsamic vinaigrette.
  • Caesar Salad – Crisp romaine lettuce and Bertucci’s own Caesar dressing. Topped with shaved Italian cheese. Anchovies upon request. Order without garlic croutons.
  • Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad – Grilled chicken on a mix of chopped romaine and iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, onions, green peppers, carrots, plum tomatoes, and Romano cheese tossed with a gorgonzola cheese dressing. Garnished with a cilantro pesto sauce.
  • Venetian Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken – Grilled chicken breast on top of a bed of spinach, grape tomatoes, red onions, shredded Romano cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette.
  • Salad Giardino with Grilled Chicken – Grilled chicken breast on a mix of field greens tossed with grape tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, green peppers, red onions, olives, shaved cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Soup

  • Sausage Soup – A hearty soup with rice, spinach, tomatoes, and sausage.

Entrées

  • Grilled Steak & Chicken Combo – A combination plate with 6 oz. of sliced flat iron steak, grilled, cooked to medium, and a grilled lemon-thyme chicken breast over diced Tuscan tomatoes. Served with fresh asparagus and red-skin mashed potatoes.
  • Filet Mignon with Chianti Sauce – 8 oz. center-cut beef tenderloin grilled to order, flavored with herbed butter and a Chianti sauce. Served with red skin mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus.
  • Balsamic Chicken – Grilled chicken breasts drizzled with a balsamic glaze. Served with string beans and red skin mashed potatoes.
  • Pollo Sanremo with half Insalata – Grilled chicken breasts cooked in a light lemon sauce with roasted black olives, thyme, and capers. Served with asparagus and a half Insalata.
  • Grilled Salmon Fillet – A grilled fillet cooked with lemon butter and fresh herbs. Served with string beans and red skin mashed potatoes.
  • Salmon Florentine – Norwegian salmon fillet brick oven-roasted with white wine, lemon, and caper sauce on a bed of wilted baby spinach.
  • Eggplant Parma with String Beans – Eggplant layered with tomato sauce, provolone, and grated Romano. Served with a cup of sausage soup or half Insalata.

Side Dishes

  • Spinach & Artichokes – A delightful combination, gently sautèed with roasted garlic butter sauce and sprinkled with cheese.
  • Broccoli Romana
  • Fresh, crunchy florets flavored with roasted garlic and lemon wine sauce. Topped with grated Romano cheese.
  • Red Skin Mashed Potatoes – Freshly prepared red skin mashed potatoes.
  • Roasted Tuscan Vegetables – Brick oven-roasted peppers, artichokes, zucchini, eggplant, broccoli, diced tomatoes, and roasted garlic.
  • Fresh Asparagus – Tender asparagus with a touch of butter and Romano cheese.
  • String Beans – Sautèed with a touch of butter.

Desserts

  • Bomba – Vanilla and chocolate gelato wrapped in chocolate with almonds and a red heart of maraschino cherry. Served open with a dollop of whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
  • Chocolate Budino – Rich and creamy, bittersweet chocolate mousse finished with whipped cream.

Have you had a chance to try the gluten-free menu at Bertucci’s?   Please write a review or share your experience in the comments!

As always, when dining out gluten-free, do your due diligence and make sure the staff understands your needs. There are very few restaurants that are 100% gluten-free, so cross-contamination is always a risk. If you don’t feel comfortable with what you are hearing from the staff, perhaps it is best to dine elsewhere.

For information about other gluten-free restaurants menus, check out our gluten-free restaurants page.

Garlic Jim’s Gluten-Free Menu

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

The gluten-free restaurant menu submissions continue to roll in and we’ve had some good ones being submitted. In this post, we will be featuring the gluten-free menu available from Garlic Jim’s restaurants. If you aren’t familiar with this franchise, Garlic Jim’s is a pizza chain that recently introduced a gluten-free menu.

Official Website Menu Information: Garlic Jim’s Gluten-Free Menu
Location Finder: Find a Garlic Jim’s Location Near You

Garlic Jim’s gluten-free menu is pretty impressive for a pizza place. According to the official website’s locations page, it looks like you can find Garlic Jim’s in many different states. As of today’s date, they have locations available in California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Tennessee, Oregon, and Washington.

Have you gotten a chance to try the gluten-free pizzas available at Garlic Jim’s? If so, please share your experience in the comments!

As always, when dining out gluten-free, do your due diligence and make sure the staff understands your needs. There are very few restaurants that are 100% gluten-free, so cross-contamination is always a risk. If you don’t feel comfortable with what you are hearing from the staff, perhaps it is best to dine elsewhere.

For information about other gluten-free restaurants menus, check out our gluten-free restaurants page.

Who Makes the Best Gluten-Free Chicken Tenders?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff

Taste is relative but below is a list of products that are very well received by many people on the gluten-free diet. This is by no means a comprehensive list. It includes only products I’ve tried and enjoyed personally.

Wellshire Farms makes gluten-free chicken nuggets but they were tested about a year ago and were proven to contain gluten. Much more in fact, than is allowed in gluten-free foods. Or rather more than 20ppm. There was a bit of a scandal involving Whole Foods who carried the item and would not pull the products from their stores until customers pressured them to do so. It was a bit of a public relations nightmare for the national grocery chain based in Texas. Wellshire Farms stated they would switch suppliers for their gluten-free batter to correct the problem.

The gluten-free brands in the bulleted list above are routinely tested for gluten to make sure they are safe for those on the gluten-free diet. Bell & Evans makes many gluten-free breaded chicken items which are very good. S’Better Farms chicken fingers have a very crunchy coating, reminding me of extra crispy chicken from KFC. In addition to making tasty chicken tenders, Applegate Farms also makes very good gluten-free sausage. Allergy Free Foods products are free of gluten and all eight major allergens.

In the Atlanta area, zpizza in Alpharetta and Pepperoni’s both serve gluten-free chicken nuggets. At those locations, the chicken tenders arrive to the restaurants already battered. The famous Roswell, GA Outback Steakhouse also serves gluten-free chicken fingers, but they make theirs in house, making them as good as any gluten version you’ll find. To my knowledge, no other Outback Steakhouse serves gluten-free chicken fingers at this time.

If you want to make your own chicken fingers at home, they are super easy to make. Cut your chicken into nugget size or finger size. Soak chicken pieces in skim milk for a couple of minutes before dredging in a gluten-free flour blend. Make sure to coat all sides of the chicken pieces. We use Domata or Jules brand flour. Add salt and pepper to flour ifdesired. Pan fy the chicken in olive or canola oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil. For a quick honey mustard sauce, blend equal parts of honey, mustard and mayo. Making your own sauce is cheaper than buying ready-made sauce and it tastes much better than anything from a jar.

Have a question about the gluten-free diet which we haven’t covered yet?  You can now submit your questions here! (Note: All medical questions should be directed to your physician)

Is Movie Popcorn Gluten-Free?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff

Most major theatre companies including Regal and AMC report that their popcorn and butter (or imitation butter) is gluten-free. Popcorn is just popped corn and it is gluten-free. The gluten in corn is not the kind that needs to be avoided by people who can’t tolerate gluten. Grits are corn but sometimes grits packages will be marked ‘may contain wheat’. That is due to the processing methods used at some plants – not due to corn being unsafe for those with gluten intolerance.

Most theatre chains use the same suppliers for their concession items so it’s unlikely that you’ll find any popcorn that is not gluten-free. However, if you go to a non-brand name theatre, feel free to double-check with them about the popcorn they serve. The seasoning salt, cooking oil, and optional butter topping are the items to question. Theatre popcorn cooking oil generally doesn’t contain gluten as it’s usually coconut or canola oil. Both of those are gluten-free.

The one place you can eat food out in public where you don’t have to ask questions at is a movie theatre. This is assuming you don’t have a 100% gluten-free restaurant in your area. Theatres usually sell Coca-Cola soda products, which are gluten-free in the U.S.  and there is usually a wide range of candy – much of which is gluten-free. So you can have popcorn, a Coke, and some Raisinets and not ask one question about gluten. In fact, if you ask the teenager behind the counter if their popcorn is gluten-free, it would be surprising if they knew what you were talking about. For that reason, if you are unsure of the gluten-free status of the popcorn at your theatre, you should call the corporate office before going to the movies.

Many of us are watching movies at home these days and when we do – we like to have popcorn as well. Most, but not all, microwavable popcorn is also gluten-free. Read the label or check the website of your favorite brand. All Newman’s Own popcorn is gluten-free. Most U.S. manufacturers of microwavable popcorn seemed to have removed the weird chemical that causes the off condition called “popcorn lung”.

Enjoy the movies and your popcorn too! Thanks for the great questions – by sending them in, you’re helping others as well!

References:

Best Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Gluten-Free Naturals makes an exceptional line of gluten-free mixes. Their new bread mix makes phenomenal focaccia among other things. But the stars in their line up for us are the Pancake & Waffle Mix and the Cookie Blend Mix. The cookie blend flour can be used in any gluten cookie recipe. The package explains how to sub out the gluten-free flour correctly and it’s very simple to do.

To date, I’ve tried a couple of ready made gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies but none of them were good enough to purchase a second time. As far as I can tell, the only way to enjoy amazing old fashioned soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies is to make them yourself. This is assuming you don’t live near a gluten-free bakery that sells them. If you need more information about gluten-free oats, read my recent post about them.

Bags2To find a cookie recipe, I searched Recipe Zaar until I found a highly rated oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. Then I used the gluten-free Naturals Cookie Blend flour and certified gluten-free oats from Gluten-Free Oats to make the cookies. As I was making the cookies, everything reminded me of the traditional gluten ones I always loved. But smells and textures can be deceiving when it comes to gluten-free baked goods – most of us have learned that the hard way! These cookies spread out a little more in the oven than the gluten version does but it did not affect the taste one bit.

The result of using the gluten-free Naturals mix to make these cookies was simply exquisite! They could win a bake off contest against gluten containing cookies – seriously! No other brand of oats I’ve tried for these cookies produces the same amazing results as the ones from gluten-free Oats. This is likely because the other brands are all thicker oats. In fact, one brand requires soaking before they can be used in cookies. I guess some people have time to soak oats but I certainly do not.

Last Christmas, I got absolute proof that these cookies are as good (or better!) than any gluten cookie around. Someone on my husband’s side of the family asked for the recipe. They asked another family member – not me. When directed to me – the person asking actually thought I’d made gluten cookies since they were so good. Sure – I made cookies that I could not eat – not likely! When someone who might go out of their way to avoid eating anything that’s gluten-free asks for your cookie recipe – you know you’ve got a winner!

This year I’m making a double batch of these cookies. I’m also keeping mine in a separate tin so I get my fair share  – or more – of these incredible old fashioned treats!