PREFACE

HOW CAN YOU be a healthy vegan and also be gluten free? This can be a daunting task! Most vegans eat quite a lot of wheat and other gluten whole grains for their healthy carbohydrate content, along with some protein, too. In the past five years, I have seen many patients who have been put on a gluten-free diet for health reasons. Joint pain and digestive complaints are common symptoms of people who are gluten sensitive. Even those who have minor symptoms are surprised to find that, when they avoid gluten for several weeks, they feel better than they ever thought they could feel!

It is common for me to meet people everywhere (not just in my nutrition practice) who are struggling to find grains that are both satisfying and tasty. LOOK NO FURTHER! The Gluten-Free Vegan is your answer. Sue has made this an easy and delicious task. You no longer have to restrict your grains to rice and corn! Just try a new recipe every week and, before you know it, being a gluten-free vegan will be no big deal.

Sue uses grains that are new to most people. For example, quinoa (pronounced “keen-wa”) is a South American food that has a higher protein content than most grains. It is technically not a grain but looks and tastes like a grain and so is treated as one. And sorghum flour is a great substitute for wheat when baking. I was impressed when I tried it for the first time last year when Sue’s cookbook Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Cooking [third edition] was published. My gluten-free patients were thrilled to find this cookbook.

Even if you are not a vegan, you should try these recipes. Perhaps you or other family members have some food allergies ... or, maybe you would like to have one or two vegetarian meals each week, just for health reasons. Then this is the cookbook for you. The Gluten-Free Vegan will help you to prepare wonderful recipes for you and your family. I plan to recommend this cookbook to my patients with food allergies or gluten sensitivities, and also to those who desire to prepare and eat more healthy meals. It will finally be easier when I suggest that my vegan patients try to avoid gluten for a trial period: a copy of Sue’s book will be the first thing they purchase!

 

Bon appétit,

 

BARB SCHILTZ, RN, MS, CN