Gluten-Free Recipes for St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow and for many people, the holiday includes the ritual of making certain dishes. After doing some checking on various websites, I came up with some traditional gluten holiday recipes that others have converted to be gluten-free.

First up is the sugar cookie recipe from Jules gluten-free. The recipe instructions gives substitutions so that they cookies can be made without soy, dairy and even eggs, for those with multiple allergens. Jules also has a recipe for Irish soda bread. Her version of that is also very allergen-free friendly.

• Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
• Irish Soda Beer Bread

There is a whole list of interesting St. Patty’s Day recipes over at About.com on the gluten-free cooking page. From glazed corned beef and cabbage to traditional Irish stew, Teri’s got you covered. This video explains how the dish corned beef and cabbage came to be. I might even try making Irish fadge which is apparently a potato flavored roll. For a bread item, it looks fairly simple to make.

During holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day and all the others that are to come this year, it’s important to keep the traditions you’ve always enjoyed alive and well regardless of any diet restrictions. It’s easy to think that once you’re on the gluten-free diet, you have to stop eating all your favorite foods. That is true to the extent that you might not be able to eat some of them exactly as you always have, but there is hardly anything you can’t either buy or make an excellent gluten-free version of.

For over two years after my celiac diagnosis, I didn’t get a subscription to Southern Living magazine. I felt that it would be too depressing to look at all the recipes that I would not be able to make because they contained gluten. Eventually, I learned how to convert most recipes to be gluten-free and I once again ordered Southern Living. Every so often there will be a recipe that looks too difficult to convert, but they are far and few between these days.

If you need some gluten-free beer for the holiday, I recommend trying Bard’s Tale, Green’s (pun intended) or Daura by Estrella Damm. All are fairly different from each other and are excellent in their own way. If you want to enjoy some green-colored beer, make sure to get gluten-free food coloring. At last check, McCormmick’s was safe, but double check the ingredients.

Making the extra effort to enjoy the things you used to do on holidays will eventually become second nature. And then one day you’re realize that no extra effort is required. Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!