Healthy Restaurant Owner Shares Her Best Low-Glycemic and Gluten-Free Recipes

Cookbook Cover

Author and former restauranteer Debbie Johnson set out to create a cookbook with a specific purpose: to provide people with delicious gluten-free, low-glycemic, and allergy-friendly recipes.

Sounds like a great endeavour, and the result is fantastic.

In her cookbook, Fun With GF/LG Food! (published by Deborah Johnson Publishers), Johnson offers nutritious and tasty recipes for those with Celiac disease, diabetes, low blood sugar, food allergies, or those who simply want to eat healthier.

As a collection of healthy recipes and general health information, this cookbook is sure to prove an invaluable resource.

Gluten-Free, Low-Glycemic Cooking

In the informative introduction to the book, Johnson identifies that up to 60% of people have Celiac disease or a form of gluten intolerance. It is also a widely-know fact that the rate of diabetes in children is increasing. Doctors are continuously discovering links between Celiac disease and diabetes.

Gluten-free and sugar-free diets have proved themselves effective in many forms, including as prescriptions for conditions such as ADD, autism, or schizophrenia. Johnson notes that she herself looks and feels great after eating food from this diet, and encourages others to experience the same transformation.

The Fun with GF/LG Food! Cookbook

Quiche That is Gluten-FreeThe cookbook contains about 100 gluten-free recipes—including starters, dips, soups, side dishes, main dishes, desserts, breads, and snacks—all of which Johnson went to great lengths to ensure were safe (no soy, corn, etc). The ingredients used in the low-glycemic recipes are nutritious and are considered to be healing foods. Johnson also includes for each recipe easy substitutions for some ingredients to adapt for any specific dietary concerns.

It’s not just a collection of recipes. Throughout the book, Johnson has added “Success Secrets,” tidbits she shares from her own experiences. These morsels of information range from choosing organic ingredients, to emphasizing tasting your own dishes, to healthy and efficient oils to cook with.

There are two appendices also included: one listing ingredients Johnson omits from her recipes and why; and the other a list of ingredients Johnson likes to use and why. Readers will also enjoy a bonus section, in which Johnson talks about eating out in restaurants or while traveling.

To Cook or Not to Cook?

While I consider myself a plain-Jane eater—one not on the lookout for gluten-free, low-glycemic, allergy-friendly recipes—I was overcome with how delicious Johnson’s recipes sounded

All the recipes use delicious, nutritious, and ordinary ingredients: vegetables, spices, creams, meats, and more. The steps involved in preparing the food are simple—in fact, I believe any novice chef can easily prepare one of these meals.

A few of the recipes that caught my eye include: Black Bean and Squash Soup, packed with some of my favorite veggies; Sweet Wasabi Dressing using raisin sauce as the sweetener; Ginger Sesame Salad with Marinated Chicken using an easy-to-prepare marinade; and Golden Chalice Carrot Cake with a sweet cashew cream.

Fun With GF/LG Food! a Great Resource

Cookbook CoverWhat I most appreciated in Johnson’s cookbook is the adaptability of each recipe. She also encourages readers to taste their creations and adjust according to their preferences or to what they might have on hand. When presented this way, there is really no wrong way to prepare these recipes.

Anyone in search of gluten-free, low-glycemic, or allergy-friendly recipes will benefit greatly from this resource put together by Debbie Johnson. Packed with mouth-water recipes, Fun With GF/LG Food! is thorough cookbook to take on for a taste test.