Dining Out on a Gluten-Free Vegan Diet
Being a gluten-free vegan isn’t difficult … when you’re in your own home and can prepare your own food. But once the opportunity comes about to leave your safe nest and venture into the real world, finding cuisine to suit your needs (and tastes) may become more of a challenge. With a smidgen of practice and a splash of preparation, you can learn to find something to satisfy you at almost any restaurant.
Restaurant Selection
Under usual circumstances, you should be able to contribute to the decision regarding which restaurant you will frequent. Of course, there are times—like weddings or business meetings—when you find yourself plopped in front of a rough terrain of a menu, buffet, or plates of food with nothing appealing screaming your name. The only sound you may hear is the rumbling of your empty stomach. Either way, you can generate a meal to admire and take pleasure in. Let’s approach both situations the same way.
Your goal is to identify the items or dishes that will not only nourish your body and meet your criteria of containing zero animal products or gluten, but also be enjoyable. That is not too much to ask for and anyone that tells you otherwise is simply challenging you. But, let’s show that person how a bit of creativity and detective work can enable you to benefit from the best meal at the table. Yes, you can be the one whom is the envy of all of your tablemates. In fact, this is the normal result once they see how delicious your choice will be.
Scrutiny with a Mission Possible
If you have the luxury of selecting a restaurant for the meal, take this job seriously and do a bit of homework. Ideally, you can find a place containing a couple of delicious-sounding and appropriate choices for you to eat as well as items that your friends or family will enjoy as well. Granted, you may be the limiting factor, so focus on finding gluten-free vegan first.
Most restaurants now display their menu on their website, enabling you a sneak peek into what you have to choose from. If not, you can always call ahead and either have them fax you a copy of the menu or ask them what they may offer a guest with your parameters. Simply select the location with the friendliest options.
Generally speaking, ethnic restaurants offer the most gluten-free vegan bang for your buck. Most countries beyond the West are well-tuned into the decadence and wholesomeness of legumes, whole (gluten-free) grains, vegetables, and fruits. Combine nourishing goodness of foods like lentils, beans, rice, and veggies, and the world is your vegan oyster. Seek out Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, and Mexican cuisine as these native foods are abundant with delicious plant-based and gluten-free options. In these countries, whole grains and legumes are the focus of the meal as opposed to the standard American diet, which centers around meat.
Once you have selected a restaurant, you are golden. Make sure you ask all the right questions to prevent accidentally ending up with an unwanted hidden ingredient. If you end up in one of the circumstances without choice-making ability in restaurant selection, rest assured that you can still find something to enjoy.
Avoiding Animal Products
Obviously animal flesh is easy to spot on a menu. Likewise with dairy and eggs, if spelled out in the description. For example, eggs benedict or crème brule clearly have eggs and dairy in their title. Beyond that, however, animal products have very sneaky ways of finding themselves on your otherwise herbivorous food. Many restaurants use animal-based broths or fats to cook their grains and legumes. For instance:
- Most Mexican eateries use chicken broth to cook their rice and use lard or pork in their beans and tortilla chips.
- Most Chinese noodles contain egg, so ask for rice noodles; and thereès typically egg in the fried rice, so choose steamed rice instead.
- Indian cuisine is usually prepared with ghee (clarified butter).
- Japanese miso soup uses fish broth as a base. Actually, most soups start with an animal-based broth.
Just be sure to ask specifically whether each item contains these items. You can simply ask if there are any animal products in each of the items you are considering ordering. Identify the meaning of “animal products,” however, because most people don’t know how to interpret that.
Evading Gluten
Restaurants that are usually easy for vegans to feast, offer very little for someone omitting gluten from their diet. Gluten is ubiquitous and you really need to stay vigilant to ensure you don’t accidentally ingest it—especially if you have celiac disease or and allergy. Here are some tips to help you avoid gluten when eating out:
- Focus on finding whole grains, legumes (all beans, peas, and lentils), veggies, and fruits. Gluten-free whole grains include: brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, amaranth, millet, buckwheat, teff, and sorghum.
- Emphasize the veggies. Grilled, steamed, baked, and raw salads are always fabulous. Potatoes of any type help boost the taste and density of a meal. Just be wary that any sauces and dressings don’t contain dairy or wheat.
- Ask for wheat-free tamari instead of soy sauce and rice noodles instead of soba or egg noodles at Asian restaurants.
- When eating Mexican, request corn tortillas over flour.
- Look closely at all the side dishes or ingredients speckled throughout the menu. If they offer something, it means they have it in the kitchen. With some creativity, you can concoct a combination of ingredients to tickle your preference.
- For desserts, stick to fruit sorbets and fresh fruit. Unless you are at a specialty eatery, it will be tough to find a gluten-free vegan dessert (but that doesn’t mean you can’t stop for one on the way home or have something delicious pre-made or store-bought awaiting you when you arrive).
Help Me Help You Help Me
Although somewhat un-vegan, remember the adage that you will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Allow your server to be your BFF while sitting at his or her table. Imagine how annoying it could be to have a customer like us if we are demanding and picky. Instead, switch it up and make it a team effort. You have specific requirements and desires, so communicate them clearly and see if you can bring out the support of your server. Emphasizing the fact that you are “allergic” seems to up the ante in terms of priority. Thus, clarify that for your server so he or she realizes you are not just being fussy.
Oftentimes, a talented chef enjoys a challenge and a break from the mundane. Gluten-free vegan is a pretty out-of-the-ordinary creative opportunity. Thus, if you present it as such and get lucky with the restaurant team, you may end up with the best meal of your eating career!
Following a gluten-free vegan lifestyle does not mean you have to be a hermit, eating all of your meals in your own home. Truth be told, you may not always have a decadent gourmet meal to meet your culinary fantasies each time you hit up a restaurant. But there is always something you can find to please your palate and fill your belly.
by Julieanna Hever, M.S., R.D., C.P.T., author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Gluten-Free Vegan Cooking
