For years I avoided bread because of my allergy to wheat. The gluten-free bread on the market was expensive and not very good. Some of that has changed - it is now possible to get excellent gluten-free bread, although it is still expensive.

A great alternative is rice paper. Traditionally, it is used to make spring rolls (a Vietnamese dish), but you can wrap almost anything in rice paper.

The pros of using rice paper to make a gluten-free meal is that it is versatile and inexpensive.

The cons of using rice paper is that you have to prepare it (easy to do, but this makes it less portable) and it does not keep well, making it hard to pack a lunch.

Hummus is a really handy food. It is an almost perfect replacement for peanut butter. I think that it is more balanced and more nutritious, and healthier too.

The main disadvantage is that it does not keep quite as well. You can usually keep it unrefrigerated for a day or so.

Hummus is great spread on rice-cakes, wheat-free bread, in rice-wraps, or on anything you can spread it.

Quinoa Tabouleh

This Middle-Eastern dish is usually made with wheat. This is a great shame if you are allergic to wheat!

Deprive yourself no longer! Here is a wheat-free, gluten-free version of Tabouleh made with quinoa!

Ingredients

Quinoa

1 Cup quinoa grain
1 +1/2 tsp. Sea salt
1 ¾ cups water.

A tasty combination of rice, cheese and spinach. Note that you can use dairy-free cheese.

Note: if the rice has been cooked ahead of time, this recipe is much easier and faster to prepare.

This recipe was contributed by Frances Cheung.

The recipe can be made dairy-free by substituting the butter for olive oil.

• Preparation Time: 3 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings

Polenta is perfect for food allergy relief, assuming you are not allergic to corn.