Submitted by Greg Cannon (MS, RD, LD/N) of the Melbourne campus of Keiser University –

The month of May is Celiac Awareness Month. In honor of those with Celiac disease who struggle with dietary choices and food boredom each day, who are looked at strangely when they ask the waitress “Is that gluten-free?”, and who are actually medically required to practice a gluten-free lifestyle, we want to provide a unique gluten-free recipe, and a week-long gluten-free meal plan. The first recipe is unique in that it uses rice flour, tapioca flour and potato starch to re-create a pancake similar to that of a wonderfully soft wheat product.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup rice flour
  • 3 tablespoons tapioca flour
  • 1/3 cup potato starch
  • 4 tablespoons dry buttermilk powder
  • 1 packet sugar substitute
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 cups water

Directions

  1. In a bowl, mix or sift together the rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, dry buttermilk powder, sugar substitute, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum. Stir in eggs, water, and oil until well blended and few lumps remain.
  2. Heat a large, well-oiled skillet or griddle over medium high heat. Spoon batter onto skillet and cook until bubbles begin to form. Flip, and continue cooking until golden brown on bottom. Serve immediately with condiments of your choice.

The 7 day gluten-free meal plan can be found at the Celiac Disease Foundations website here: https://celiac.org/live-gluten-free/7-day-gluten-free-meal-plan/. Hopefully it provides some new ideas to stale old recipes for those with CD.  If you don’t have CD but would like to experience what it’s like to cut out 90% of the grains Americans normally consume day to day, try and adopt a gluten-free diet for a day or two in honor of Celiac month!