This guest post is courtesy of the fantastic and talented Rachel Edidin.  Many thanks, Rachel! ~L

Food allergies make cooking a challenge–all the more so if you’re dealing with more than one.  It’s not too hard to find information on cooking without nuts, or eggs, or wheat, or dairy, but for anyone who’s allergic to all of the above–or any other combination of common ingredients, especially one that includes both a common allergen and one or more of its most common substitutes, i.e. peanut and soy–cooking becomes a balancing act of substitutions and exclusions to challenge even the most versatile of culinary mavens.

“Culinary Maven” would be a modest description for Shannon Long of Food Allergy Support. Over the course of a conversation, I challenged her to design a meal that would be safe for everyone in both our households, with no obvious allergy-based substitutions (i.e. soynut butter or rice pasta).  That meant a full meal free of peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, shellfish, sesame, sunflower, garbanzos, and lentils–and vegetarian-friendly.  What I had in mind was maybe a main course, a vegetable dish, and a dessert. What she came up with was a multi-course feast, complete with multiple options for each dish–and a menu you’d never guess was designed to work around allergies unless someone let you in on the secret.

These recipes have been chosen with a casual summer dinner party in mind.  Enjoy!

(In addition to being free from Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Eggs, Sesame, Sunflower, Shellfish, Soy, Garbanzos and Lentils, most items also flexibly accommodate gluten-free and milk allergic guests. Amazing!)

Main course options

Grilled Salmon

Ingredients

Local farmed salmon (best purchased through a Kosher fishmarket or from a direct source in order to avoid shellfish contamination)

For marinade/glaze:

Orange juice concentrate (or fresh)
Olive oil
Minced garlic
Salt and pepper (to taste)
a dash of Tabasco or Chipotle (optional)

Directions

Note: You can also add alder or apple wood to coals for additional ‘smoky’ flavor.

2 hours prior to grilling, place salmon fillets (skin on or off) into a large freezer bag containing marinade. Turn the bag about every twenty minutes.
Place a sheet of aluminum foil over the grill rack, to protect both the grill and allergic guests.
With tongs, gently transfer salmon from bag to the grill.
Grill 5 minutes per side over indirect heat; fish should be firm and pink, with light caramelization from the glaze.
To add additional flavor, fish can be brushed with excess marinade during last two minutes of grilling.

Chipotle Buffalo Burgers

Ingredients

1 pound ground buffalo (can use grass-fed natural beef if preferred)
Dash of Tabasco (Chipotle)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon finely minced onion
Salt and pepper

Directions

If substituting grass-fed natural beef for the buffalo, omit the olive oil. The additional fat is necessary for grilling very lean meats like buffalo and poultry.
With your hands, combine the meat with salt, pepper, olive oil, onion and Tabasco, if using and allow mixutre to rest ~ 1 hr before grilling.
Gently form patties with the meat —1 pound should make four very good sized burgers, and the recipe can easily be doubled.
Grill burgers over direct heat, medium hot coals, as desired, keeping grill covered during grilling.
For precision, use a meat thermometer to judge done-ness and remove burgers from grill when they are approx. 2-4 degrees Fahrenheit from desired doneness, as they will continue to cook after removal.

Serve with condiments such as mustard, relish, sweet onion slices (also excellent when placed on the fire for a minute) and blue cheese.

Particularly excellent with sourdough rolls, but they can be enjoyed by themselves, too.

Grilled Portobello Caps

(Perfect for your vegetarian friends who want to enjoy savory grilled fare.)

Ingredients

Portobello mushrooms (caps 3-5” diameter should be good)
olive oil
minced garlic
salt and pepper

Directions

Remove stems and brush clean.
Brush mushroom gills and cap with a mixture of olive oil, minced garlic, and salt and pepper before placing on the grill.
Turn only once, after about 2 minutes over medium coals, and remove after another 2 minutes or so.

These are also excellent when topped with a local blue cheese. We enjoy Rogue Creamery’s classic blue for a real splurge.

Sides

Flame-roasted Summer Vegetables

Good candidates for fire roasting include zucchini, small heirloom tomatoes (which can be done whole), sweet peppers, onions, eggplant, green beans, fennel, cauliflower, small carrots, mushrooms, asparagus spears, and pretty much anything else that your farmer’s market has to offer that is reasonably firm and/or fleshy.

Directions

Chop mixed summer vegetables into ~1” chunks.
In a large bowl, toss together 2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar, 3 Tablespoons olive oil (use a good quality oil for this), and 1/2 teaspoon kosher/sea salt with the vegetables.
Allow the vegetables to rest for 30-90 minutes before grilling.
Using a ‘grill pan’ or grill BASKET, grill the vegetables about five to seven minutes over medium-high direct heat.

They should be lightly charred and tender-crisp, and may be seasoned lightly with salt and pepper to taste.

Foil-Packet Red Potatoes

Ingredients

2 pounds small red potatoes, scrubbed
Handful of fresh chives, snipped into small pieces
1 Tablespoon minced sweet onion
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Blue and/or Sharp Cheddar cheeses from the region such as Rogue Creamery Blue/Cougar Gold (optional topping)

Directions

On a double thickness of foil about 24” X 14”, pour ~1/2 teaspoon of olive oil, add about half of the potatoes, sliced into ~1/4” thick slices, and add more olive oil, salt, pepper, and about half the chives.
Top with the remaining potato slices, onion, and more olive oil.
Fold the edges of the foil together along the long edge of the foil, enclosing the potatoes, then fold the ends over repeatedly (at least three times) crimping the edges carefully.
Turn the packet over a few times to distribute the seasonings and oil within.
Roast on indirect heat for ~25 minutes (as burgers and fish are cooking).

Bruschetta

This is an ideal appetizer for a casual gathering, as the tapenades are suitable for vegans and can be prepared ahead of time, and the bread can be grilled and set on the patio near the grill while the coals are being prepared for the slower-cooking food. (Gluten-free guests may appreciate corn tortilla chips prepared ahead of time, and separated stocks of the tapenades that haven’t been used with bread.)

Slice a robust day-old bread such as sourdough, Italian or French bread thickly (~ ½ inch slices are ideal) and grill lightly over VERY hot coals for a few seconds, topping with one of the following tapenades:

Olive Tapenade

In a food processor, combine 1 can black olives with a handful of sun-dried tomatoes, basil or oregano leaves and about 1 c of green olives with pimiento. Process VERY lightly, so that the mixture is still chunky.

Roasted Pepper and Garlic Tapenade

With a fork, mash together 2 roasted red bell peppers, 4 roasted garlic cloves, and 1 can diced tomatoes (or 2 medium garden fresh tomatoes, chopped with juice), and salt and pepper to taste.

Fire Roasted Corn on the Cob

Remove only the outer layer of husks only soak ears briefly before placing on a tray near the grill.
Place directly on grill over medium coals.
Allow to roast about 6 to 10 minutes, then remove to a tray/cookie sheet.
When corn has cooled enough to handle, allow guests to shuck the cooked corn and silk into paper bags for composting.

Salt and pepper near the Bruschetta tapenades means that guests can enjoy these as appetizers as they wish while the host grills.

Desserts

Black Forest Trifle (Parfait)

Ingredients

1 recipe of a very intense chocolate cake
2 cans cherry pie filling
1 can whipped cream

Directions

First, make the cake.

Mix cake as directed (except as noted below for egg substitution; milk may be substituted with water).
Replace eggs in a boxed cake mix with 1 egg = 1/3 c applesauce or preferably 1/3 pureed plums/baby fruit. The Cravings Place, Namaste, and Betty Crocker all have good examples of prepared cake mixes that will meet a variety of allergy needs and have good labeling practices.

In a greased, foil-lined jelly roll pan, bake until cake is distinctly firm to the touch and feels dry.
(A boxed mix will fill a 12 X 24 pan quite easily.)
Be aware that egg-free baked goods may require some additional cooking time.

Cool on a rack, then cut the cake into cubes about an inch square.
The cubes should feel quite stiff for cake—if they are too soft, you may return them to the jelly roll pan and crisp them in the oven on low heat.

To assemble the trifle:

In a tall glass bowl or other container (to show off the layers), place about 1/3 of the cake cubes, then spread about 2/3 of one of the cans of pie filling on top, then add more cake, then more pie filling, then more cake, then more pie filling.

The middle layer may also be saturated with a small amount (a tablespoon or so) of a cherry liqueur such as Kirsch.

To serve, top the trifle with whipped cream as desired, and chocolate syrup or shavings of fine chocolate (Scharffenberger, for example).

Sparkling foil picks/other décor may be used to embellish the trifle when serving as a birthday cake (though it won’t support candles).

Do not assemble the trifle more than about an hour before serving, and top with whipped cream just prior to serving (If using real whipped cream, note that it does not behave as Cool-Whip does in a structural sense).

Other variations on this parfait/trifle include lemon cake with blueberries, angel food cake with strawberries, blackberries/marionberries/raspberries with vanilla cake, etc.

Watermelon Sorbet

1 med ‘personal’ watermelon (the seedless round types)
approx. 1/2 cup cane sugar
1/4 cup canola oil

Scoop watermelon into blender, add sugar and oil, and liquify.
Chill very thoroughly in the freezer, until the texture of soft-serve.

Can be eaten immediately, but is best when frozen hard for another couple of hours.

The oil will prevent it from freezing rock solid.

Lemonade Sorbetto

1 can pink lemonade concentrate (or regular lemonade concentrate)
2 c crushed ice
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbs canola oil
1 tbs heavy cream/1 tbs soy coffeemate/tbs Vance’s DariFree or Rich Whip* {optional– if omitted, increase oil to 3 tbs}

Liquify in blender, then freeze in ice-cream maker, according to directions.

Peach Gelato

2 packages frozen sliced peaches (about 6 c)
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c cream/soy creamer/DariFree/Rich Whip

Liquify in blender (be patient, as extra smooth texture is very important), then freeze in ice-cream maker, according to directions.

Party Sangria

1 liter box wine (cheap and red with no ‘foxy’ taste are about the only criteria here)
100% juice frozen juice concentrates: we like Welch’s pineapple juice and White-grape Raspberry, about 1/3 c each
½ c brandy (optional)
1 L sparkling water or soda, VERY lightly sweetened if at all.

Stir and pour over ice in water goblets or sangria glasses.

May be garnished with citrus or other fruit.

All the recipes provided were developed or adapted by Shannon and Greg Long of Oregon.