‘My wife has just been diagnosed with coeliac disease.  I do most of the cooking for the household.   How can I make sure she’s getting what she needs now she’s gluten-free without making everything boring?’

Kath Fouhy, Coeliac New Zealand chairwoman (2018) and Senior Performance Nutritionist for High Performance Sport New Zealand, answers:

Although the gluten-free diet can seem restrictive, there is no need to endure bland or boring meals. Here are some simple tips and tricks to making your gluten-free meals tasty and enjoyable.

1. Start with what you’ve got

Start with the meals you would normally cook, rather than trying too many new ones to start with. Read through the recipe and identify which ingredients contain gluten and swap them out for a gluten-free alternative. For example, it you are making lasagne, you could swap out the pasta for gluten-free pasta, and plain flour for rice flour. Just be mindful that there may be gluten added to ingredients that you would least expect so it’s important to read food labels and know what is in your food.

2. Embrace naturally gluten-free dishes, using whole unprocessed foods

Rather than searching supermarket isles for gluten-free takes on traditional ingredients, try using foods that are naturally gluten-free. Continuing to include a wide variety of foods from the main food groups is important to ensure your wife is still getting all the nutrients she needs. Including plenty of colourful vegetables, fruits, lean meat, nuts, seeds, eggs, legumes, lentils and root vegetables is a great place to start!

2. Pump up the flavour

If you are worried your meals are missing flavour, try adding extra herbs. Fresh herbs are a great way to pump up the flavour in a dish and can add extra nutrients and great colour as well.

4. Try something new

Following a gluten-free diet provides a great opportunity to try new foods that you perhaps wouldn’t usually.  Grains like millet, quinoa or sorghum are nutrient dense and a great way to add variety to your meals. You can also try using more familiar ingredients a different way. For example, have you have thought of having zucchini fettucine? Changing the way you slice and dice your vegetables can be an easy way to include more of them in your meals and make them a little more interesting.

For more information about being gluten-free, please visit www.coeliac.org.nz.