Holiday Tips for Dietary Challenges

This is the time when family and friends gather to share a traditional meal—and some of them bring their not-so-traditional diets along.I am often asked by friends or clients what they should do when they have a guest with a certain dietary restriction: vegan, gluten free or dairy free. I find any meal can be adapted for our loved ones with challenging diets, and the food can be delicious and enjoyed by everyone.Let's consider a few simple steps:

• Butter can easily be replaced with extra virgin olive oil.
• Gluten can be replaced with rice flour.
• If you want to thicken your gravy, use basmati organic rice flour. I clean out my coffee grinder and make my own rice powder.
• Any squash stuffed with a mushroom and rice blend and seasoned with sage and thyme to be just fabulous.

How do we make a delicious stuffing for the gluten free diet? Our mushroom stuffing with corn bread, wild rice and sage is one killer recipe that can easily be dairy full or dairy free! In case your guests are sticking to their ketogenic diet, here are a few ideas that are super keto friendly:

• Deviled eggs with chives and bacon
• Celery filled with either cream cheese or sour cream and leeks: Mince some leeks and a few olives and fold into either sour cream or cream cheese and spread into celery sticks.