I’ve mentioned before how Aran Goyoaga, the beautiful writer and chef behind blog Cannelle et Vanille, and I met online. We connected via our shared issues with thyroid disease. We’ve never met – she lives in Florida – but we write to each other on Twitter and emal. A modern pen pal kind of thing.

Zucchini, Quinoa & Goat Cheese Tart (recipe below)

A while back Aran went gluten-free. Which made me happy, not just for her health, but for the planet. It meant some pretty special recipes were going to come our way.

And they did. Aran sent me her cookbook last week and I’ve shown it to a few people. Like me, they’ve been floored by just how creative her recipes are. And how pretty she can make the simplest of dishes look. It’s not lavish, nor holier-than-though food. It’s elegant and nutritious and you’re left wanting to have what she’s having. It was all good timing: Small Plates and Sweet Treats is out this week in Australia, with Hachette.

Many of her sweet treats contain sugar…but I reckon they’re easily able to be converted to sugar-free by substituting with stevia or rice malt syrup. Just watch me try…and I’ve almost convinced Aran to quit sugar, too! For now, I’m going to share three of her summery quinoa recipes, so you can get a feel for her style and flavour.

Gluten’s got a grimy name just now. I’ve previously outlined my thoughts on going gluten-free (who should, why it’s not a “fad” etc). It’s worth a read if you’re a little unsure about the whole debate. If you’ve already made the move, or have contemplated it, then you might learn a lot from this rundown of the tricky things that might stump you in your tracks along the way.

image via food delights

Steph Osfield is a great freelance writer who used to write for me at Cosmopolitan eons ago and she sung out recently to say she’d had all kinds of dramas going GF and offered to share her thoughts. She and her family went GF due to broad-based health issues, not due to celiacs per se.  I very much appreciate what she outlines here. It’s clear, concise and has helped me with my own dance around the pesky little protein:

I was prepared to become a Lego Grand Master and tadpole wrangler when I became a mother, but I didn’t count on becoming a medical expert too. My gorgeous kids (son 12 and twin girls aged 10), have been sick so often over their young lives that our doctor says they are working their way through the medical dictionary. Whole terms often pass with only a week where they are all at school.

Our household ailments read like a medical dictionary; anaphylaxis to peanut, vulvadynia (stinging, sore vulva), multiple food sensitivities, a virus called molloscum contagiosum (four years and counting) and the last two years – nocturnal epilepsy and a sleep issue called periodic limb movement disorder. But in their younger years it was the eczema, glue ear and diagnosis of asthma that led me to take the quantum diet leap to a gluten free diet. Out went the rye bread and porridge and wholemeal pasta and in came the big surprise – we didn’t then live happily every after. Several weeks into eating gluten-free, health issues like their eczema got worse. So I become a foodie super sleuth and here’s what I learned about going gluten-free:

1. It’s not just gluten…

Corn, corn, corn – when you’re swearing off gluten, corn-based options like polenta and tacos shells and corn tortillas are usually on high rotation. Bear in mind that people sensitive to gluten are often sensitive to corn as well. If you do have this issue then increasing your corn intake may ramp up your health symptoms, which will then counter any benefits you might be getting from eating gluten free. This was the case with my kids.

Tip: Make up your own mix of flours for baking with tapioca, brown rice and buckwheat flour to avoid corn.

Here’s some other foods. You may also have a problem with:

Paleo is the new Atkins. I don’t actually think this. But it’s what everyone likes to say. It certainly is a way of eating that’s attracting a lot of attention…and with it some terribly hysterical mis-information.

infographic mages via greatist.com

Wondering what the hell I’m talking about? How about I give a bit of a Paleo 101 rundown…with some pointers to how I’ve chosen to interpret this way of living. Because, as hopefully you know, I’m not into doing “diets” or being strict and draconian with my eating, or doing what I’m told I should do (this extends well beyond food, I’m afraid) or getting caught up in a fad.

I like to eat my way… and gently. And so: the below is not a guide to how I think YOU should eat. I’m simply sharing my experiences experimenting, which perhaps might prompt you to experiment, too.

To be honest, I’ve resisted writing too much about it previously, although a lot of you who quit sugar are asking whether you “should also be quitting carbs”. (Should, should, should.)

I’ve resisted in part because I’ve been wary of boarding too many bandwagons and becoming a dreary bore who tells other people what to do. And in part because I’ve wanted to distance myself from the Paleo bores. And there are many. And they are vocal!

But mostly I’ve resisted because I like to try things fully before I buy it and share it (although I’ve written about it briefly here and shared recipes here.).

I’ve now tried out the caper fully – for about five months. So, time to share:

The elevator pitch answer: what is the Paleo diet?

Also called the cave man diet, it’s about eating in a similar way to the way our ancestors – up until the agricultural revolution about 7-10,000 years ago – used to eat.

This equates to: meat, saturated fats (from animals, avocados, nuts etc), non-starchy vegetables, nuts, eggs and a little low-sugar fruit.

It means not eating: anything that arrived on the scene since farming and processing began (grains, sugars, vegetable oils, Dunkin’ Donuts).

But Paleo peeps vary their take on the details (see below). To this end it’s an approach, not a diet (there’s no manifesto or original author who cashes in on the idea).

Why would you do such a thing?

Because we evolved to eat this way – and metabolise this way – over millions of years. Grains and other “processed foods” require radically different metabolic and digestive processes. Our bodies simply haven’t adjusted to these different processes (evolution is a damn slow process) and so we struggle with these “new” foods  at every mouthful. Our genes are 99 per cent the same as they were 10,000 years ago.

We haven’t changed genetically; our diets sure have. Ditto our waistlines and health…