so free

Gluten free for some is just the latest dietary trend, for others it is a necessity to maintain a pain/allergy free digestive experience.  My friend Julie is of the latter type with the addition of some other allergies like yeast and dairy so I have been exploring allergy free options for her (this only happens when she visits, I like my allergens otherwise).

Gluten free is tricky enough but dealing with multiple food allergies is a complicated creature I find rather intimidating.  If I didn't know Julie I would guess gluten free consisted of not eating bread, crackers, pasta and drinking beer (unless tempted by the devil who I've been told can be awfully charming at times).  I have since discovered it involves things I love to use in my cooking, things like soy sauce and even some sausages.. there's lots more I'm sure and I'll be learning the rest of the list slowly.  

My first Julie friendly recipe is salad dressing.  It's not because I wasn't feeling inventive it's because I love salad.. I don't diet, I don't live on rabbit food.. but I do love a brilliant colored pile of uncooked veggies every once in a while.  It's good for your body and it's great for your tongue.  If you're wondering what allergen I had to avoid for a Julie friendly dressing the answer is ~ vinegar.  That's right yeast allergy sufferers beware, yeast is used in the fermentation process that gives us yummy vinegars like balsamic and apple cider.  

Sadface, it's another no picture post.  My phone crashed and I lost my picture of the beautiful salad that the delicious dressing got to grace (salad dressing doesn't seem to be very photogenic in my re-purposed maple jug).  

Gluten Free, Yeast Free Lavender Lemon Salad Dressing... say that 5 times fast

Ingredients:  (Remember I live in Alaska far, far from fresh ingredients.  Feel free to substitute fresh for dried any time)
One lemon makes approximately enough dressing for two small salads.  

1 Lemon 

1 - 2 cloves of garlic

Dried Lavender (a little bit goes a long way)

Dried Thyme

Dried Summer Savory
Pinch of Salt

Honey (just a little to tame to tart lemons, yeast loves sugar and the body has some already so don't feed the yeast, but I like it a lot sweeter... so it's up to you)

Olive Oil (Do not skip out on the oil!  The human body needs fat to digest and you rarely get any from uncooked rabbit food besides it tastes better)

Directions:
Juice Lemon
Smash Garlic
Mix all ingredients to taste and let set for at least ten minutes.