Is Your Diet Gluten-Free and Soy-Free? Veganism with Restrictions

Gold Rush Chili from the FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am that I can eat anything I want. I come from a line of beanpoles with absurdly high metabolism, and I don't have any food allergies (that I'm aware of), so I'm not very restricted in what I can eat. As an ethical vegan and as someone who cares about the environment and her health, there are things and beings I choose not to eat, of course, as well as other food and ingredients I try not to eat much of, but my body doesn't outright reject anything I try to put into it. (That may not be entirely true; if I tried to eat animal flesh or dairy now, there's a very good chance my body would reject that, but that's obviously not a theory I'll be testing.)

But that's definitely not the case for everyone. I know a number of people with food allergies, including a relatively new but good friend who maintains a dairy-free vegetarian diet but who, in addition to being lactose-intolerant, is also allergic to a lot of the foods and ingredients I take for granted. Other such people include a vegetarian I met a couple years ago who'd just found out she was allergic to soy and dairy in addition to already being allergic to gluten and who was feeling dismayed about her food choices.

[Photo: Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies from Sugar Plum Vegan, which sells on Etsy. Have you checked out Vegan Etsy yet? You must!]

So for those of you who may be interested in giving animals a break and going vegan, but who may not be able to eat all the foods I take for granted, I have suggestions:

• Check out the blog Gluten Free, Soy Free, Vegan. From the About page:

  I find that being gluten-free, soy-free, and vegan is not very difficult, but there aren’t a lot of cookbooks or blogs dedicated to specifically these types of recipes. To take matters into my own hands, I am collecting recipes and listing them as a resource for all you out there who, like me, like to eat gluten-free, soy-free, vegan food.

  The author has the recipes categorized for easy browsing in the sidebar--for example, Baked Goods, Dinners, Breakfasts, Desserts, Dips, and so on. And just as helpful, she has populated pages titled "Convenience Foods," "A Typical Day," and "Menus" with loads of invaluable information and tips. It's a really fantastic resource not only for vegans who can't eat gluten and soy but also for vegans just interested in great recipes in general. She hasn't updated in the last month, but you have lots of archived posts and tips to wander through first anyway.

• See also the many, many recipes labeled gluten-free at the FatFree Vegan Kitchen blog, which features some of the best recipes (and most gorgeous photos) in the vegan blogosphere. For those with soy allergies as well, lack of a "soy-free" label on this blog does not, of course, mean that there is soy in a recipe. If you scan the ingredients, you'll see that many--if not the majority--of these are soy-free as well. Also, no, these recipes are not all really fat-free in the way you may be thinking; visit the FAQ for the answer to the question "What's this 'fatfree' business all about?" as well as other question-and-answers. But the author, who includes nutritional facts with her recipes (yes, she is that awesome), does add the "higher-fat" label to recipes when appropriate. Check out the uber-helpful searchable and categorized Recipe Index while you're there.

• Cookbooks
  Check out the The Gluten-Free Vegan. Though I haven't seen this cookbook myself, it reportedly has lots of soy-free recipes too. An Amazon.com reviewer wrote that the cookbook includes only a limited number of recipes "that use corn, soy, and sugar, resulting in food that is low glycemic index, allergy-free, vegan and gluten-free."

  The must-have tome Veganomicon, subtitled "The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook," includes prominent soy-free and gluten-free icons (among other helpful icons) at the top of recipes that fit such categories, and even better, there is a "Recipes by Icon" appendix at the back of the book, where you can find all the book's many gluten-free recipes and soy-free recipes listed in one place (you'll have to cross-reference if you're looking for both gluten-free and soy-free).

  I also just came upon the Food Allergy Survival Guide, and though I don't know much about it beyond what information is available on the Web site (and there is plenty of information about it there), it definitely seems worth checking out.

Have further resources for gluten-free and/or soy-free veganism? Do share.