I’m part Italian. I love pasta and when asked about my all-time favorite food, I still say “my grandmother’s homemade meatballs.”
Needless to say, giving up pasta dishes was probably one of the hardest things about going gluten free.
Whole grain pasta dishes made up at least a third of my diet. If I’d had a sucktastic day and was too tired to cook what I’d planned on for that night, out came the Barilla Penne. The whole “no wheat, rye, barley, semolina…” thing kicked my go-to dishes out the proverbial kitchen window.
I had to find a new go-to dish, pronto.
Enter brown basmati rice and the rich flavors of India.
I have to credit my husband for my first taste of the goodness that is Indian cuisine. He loves Indian food and I’d always been afraid to try it due to my twitchy stomach. So for one of our first dates two years ago, he took me to this great little hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant here in town. There I got my first, gentle introduction to Chicken Tikka Masala. I still order that same dish every time we eat there.
What was once an occasional culinary treat is my new last minute meal savior. Now when I need a quick meal, I break out my brown basmati rice, a thing of chicken breast, some veggies and a couple packets of Sukhi’s Vindaloo or Tikka Masala sauce.
Dinner is served in less than 45 minutes.
I still miss pasta and someday, I’ll find a brand of gluten free pasta that I like.
But for now, I’ve found a new culinary love: Indian food.
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