Dairy-free and Gluten-free Cooking with Glorious One-Pot Meals

Reader question: My Dutch oven is brand new and I bought this cookbook to try cooking with it.  I’m allergic to dairy and gluten. The book is on its way to me, but my Dutch oven is a 5-qt. size.  Does that mean if I double the recipe I should double the cooking time? Thanks. ~ Sandy, Arizona

Hi Sandy. You’ll find in the book on page 12 a “Recipe Adjustment Chart”. This chart tells you how long you can expect to bake Glorious One-Pot Meals in various size pots. A 5-quart pot containing a doubled recipe (i.e., enough food for four adults) will take between 53 and 60 minutes to cook, probably closer to 55 minutes.

You’ll always know when your Glorious One-Pot Meal is ready if you follow your nose (see my previous post).

In terms of being allergic to dairy and gluten, no worries. Very few recipes in the cookbook actually contain dairy or gluten to begin with, and if you find you want to try one that does you can easily swap out the offending ingredients with others that are safe for you. For instance, you’ll find that Ed’s New England Fish Chowder calls for milk but you could easily use almond milk or any other milk substitute instead.

Several recipes in the cookbook call for pasta for which you could use a gluten-free pasta or another grain entirely instead. There are a list of grain options starting on page 8 and many, like quinoa, are gluten-free.

I’ve always loved how one newspaper reviewer put it (I’m paraphrasing): “Glorious One-Pot Meals are like assembling a puzzle where you choose your preferred option from each category (oil, protein, carb, veggies, flavors) and assemble them into the pot in the right order. Every single recipe can turn out exactly the way you want it.”

As I like to say in my presentations, every item in a Glorious One-Pot Meal is substitutable. Every carb can be substituted for any other carb; every protein can be substituted to any other protein; every vegetable can be swapped out for any other vegetable; and you can use any herbs, spices, or other flavorings that you like.

In fact, I don’t necessarily expect my readers to make every recipe just as written. In many ways, the recipes I offer are meant to spark inspiration for your own unique Glorious One-Pot Meals.

Glorious One-Pot Meals is indispensable in my food sensitivities practice because it offers the ultimate flexibility in cooking personalized meals. Glorious One-Pot Meals can be vegan, vegetarian, Paleo, low-carb, low-fat, allergen-free, dairy-free, gluten-free… pretty much anything you may want except for raw.