Like other cookbooks on the market, there is an extensive, though not exhaustive, introduction to different grains and ingredients in the gluten-free pantry. What is different is that this isn’t a baking book – the recipes are for all meals – including stews, meats, and vegetables. The Soups, Stews and Chilis chapter incorporates grains where you wouldn’t necessarily add them. i In that way, this book does rethink how we eat, and helps gluten-free cooks not just replace gluten, but cook in a different way.

Take Amaranth Beet Soup (p. 83) – the combination of garam masala, beets and amaranth means this isn’t just re-worked borscht. Parsnip, Millet and Ale Bisque (p. 93) is yet another unusual soup that focuses on the sweet taste of parsnips and the mellow flavor of millet. Mujaddara (Lebanese Lentil, Rice and Spinach Soup) (p. 101) is usually a side dish, but here prepared as a soup with the addition of mint, and lemon juice to lighten up the flavor. And to brighten up a winter day, Lime, Coconut and Millet Chicken Soup (p. 114) is a fresh take on a Thai soup with ginger, fish sauce, and coconut milk. The chilis range from Greek Chickpea Chili (p. 128) to Tex-Mex Beef and Teff Chili (p. 130) a more straightforward chili with teff added to thicken the stew.

This isn’t a fancy book, but it is a very useful one. After all, if you invest in a bag of a new grain, you want to have more than one go-to recipe in which to use it. You’ll find plenty of ways to incorporate new grains into your meals – and you won’t miss gluten at all.

For those who are searching for a Valentine’s Day Chocolate Treat – Everyday Gluten-Free Cookbook has plenty, including this one.

Recipe: Olive Oil Cake with Cherries and Dark Chocolate Chunks

Ingredients

1 cup millet flour
2/3 cup sorghum flour
2/3 cup potato starch
2 thsp chia seeds , ground
2 tsp GF baking powder
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup fine crustal cane sugar
1 cup olive oil
3/4 cup milk or non-dairy milk
4 oz. GF bittersweet (dark) chocolate cut into chunks
2/3 cup dried tart cherries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
9-inch springform pan, greased

1. In a large bowl, whisk together millet flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, chia seeds, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs until very well blended. Whisk in sugar, oil and milk until blended.
3. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Gently stir in chocolate and cherries.
4. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan on wire rack.