Best Cooking Classes for Dietary Restrictions
/Three years ago, I was living la dolce vita in Italy eating all the pasta, cheese, and gelato my stomach could desire. I’ve since returned to the States and have had to adopt a low-FODMAP lifestyle. (Fancy talk for, “Apparently, I have a lot of food sensitivities.”) As a passionate gastronome, I thoroughly enjoy exploring dietary alternatives as I learn to blend the worlds of food as medicine for my body and nourishment for my soul.
My favorite cooking classes for dietary sensitive eaters with minimal substitutions required
(Each of these classes can be easily modified for vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free diets!)
Tom Kha Gai photographed by Carly Dela Cruz
Three Flavors of Mochi - Contrary to popular belief, even though the mochi uses "glutinous rice flour" it actually doesn’t contain the gluten protein that is often ingestible for some. You can have the satisfaction of glutinous texture without the symptoms of eating it! For any all-purpose flour requirements, substitute with regular white rice flour.
Tom Kha Gai & Pad Thai - Thai food is naturally great for those who have gluten and dairy insensitivities because the cuisine heavily relies on rice noodles and coconut milk! If you're vegetarian you can easily swap the fish sauce with coconut aminos to maintain the umami, replace the chicken stock with veggie stock, and omit any proteins (i.e. salted shrimp or chicken) without altering the integrity of the dish.
Tamales - To make this dish vegetarian I would replace the protein with hearty vegetables whose texture will stand up to stir-frying and steaming - like sweet potatoes or jack fruit (although not a vegetable) and replace the lard/butter with coconut oil. No other substitutions are needed here!
Tomatada - Omit the side of bread entirely or replace it with slices of your favorite GF bread. This is my favorite recipe by my GF baking hero, Aran Goyoaga.
Ravioli photographed by Carly Dela Cruz
Favorite cooking classes requiring substitutions that take a little more effort, but are SO worth it
Radicchio Risotto & Prosecco Risotto - To make risotto dairy-free, I often replace the butter with olive oil and leave out the cheese entirely. (You don't actually need cheese to make risotto creamy and our chefs will teach you how! )
Pasta classes - For most recipes that involve flour, you can use a cup-for-cup GF flour. However, I've found that using a mix of different types of gluten-free flours also works just as well.
Gnocchi & Gnudi - I like to experiment using brown rice flour or oat flour as my base, and mix in a touch of potato starch, cassava flour, or tapioca flour to mimic the elastic texture that comes from using wheat flour.
Pesto Lasagna - Sometimes we like to make life easy, and in this case, I would definitely rely on a cup-for-cup GF flour for consistent sheets of lasagna that will hold the dish together. Then, I like to replace the cheese in the pesto with nutritional yeast for some umami.
It's definitely a life of trial and error and believing in yourself, but I'm all about the process!
Blog Post & Photos by Carly Dela Cruz, Operations Manager, Inside Japan Tour Host,
& Blogger at Eat. Drink. Cozy
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