When I looked at the calendar on Monday to see what the week had in store for me, I realized I’m actually in the midst of a very special occasion. It was exactly five years ago this week that I went gluten free! Five years since I made what seemed like a drastic change to my diet in exchange for a drastic–and wholly beneficial–change in my health. And knowing what I know now–that the foods I choose to eat can either make me sick or they can make me healthy, I would never turn back.

The biggest problem for most people (myself included) when they go gluten free is figuring out what to eat. I’ve always been a huge proponent of cooking foods that are naturally gluten free, but I never want that to mean boring. Take the simple potato, for example. You could make mashed potatoes or baked potatoes, but that’s fairly pedestrian. How about a classic potato salad? Meh. Well what if you took the more unusual fingerling potatoes, roasted them with some garlic cloves, and then tossed them together with a Greek-inspired combination of olives, red pepper strips, oregano, and lemon vinaigrette for a warm potato salad? Now we’re talking! The ingredients are all very basic, the technique straightforward, but together they create an interesting dish.

Five years ago I vowed that just because I was gluten free didn’t mean I’d settle for food that didn’t taste great. I hope you’ll do the same. Tap into your creative side. Look to other countries for inspiration on ways to use your favorite ingredients. And by all means, get in the kitchen and start cooking!  Cheers ~LbR

Note: In the photo, I failed to follow my own advice and tossed the feta with the potatoes while they were still hot. This isn’t a problem per se, it just causes the cheese to melt and coat the potatoes instead of staying in nice chunks. Who knows, maybe you’d prefer it that way…