no dairy no soy no wheat

November 24, 2012 3:01 PM

Non-dairy, wheat-free, soyless and quick? I'm eliminating soy, wheat, and dairy from my diet and need really quick ideas for meals and snacks. Obviously hard-boiled eggs and peanut butter will feature, but what are some good combinations? I've seen this askme, but I can still have eggs, and I'm specifically looking for quick things for lunch and breakfast.
posted by yarly to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

Rice or nut (almond, cashew) milk with gluten & wheat free cereals (corn or rice puff cereals too).

Salads with grains and legumes for lunch, you can rotate canned legumes, chickpeas, etc, quinoa, fresh or steamed veggies, nuts, dried raisins or cranberries?
posted by Under the Sea at 3:08 PM on November 24, 2012 [2 favorites]

Oatmeal + dried fruit is a really good breakfast. You can find gluten-free (= processed at a place that doesn't also process wheat) oatmeal without to much difficulty.
posted by wayland at 3:12 PM on November 24, 2012 [3 favorites]

For breakfast, you could make oatmeal (with water/no milk). You can make several servings in advance (esp if you have a slow cooker) and then heat it up within a few minutes. Also, add frozen blueberries to serve - the heat of the oatmeal will thaw them quickly, and they'll help to cool it down if it's too hot.
posted by littlegreen at 3:14 PM on November 24, 2012

If you're near a Wholefoods, they carry a gluten free granola that is really good and not that expensive. I pair it with either a nut milk from Pacifica (their hazelnut and almond milks are amazing) or Wholefoods brand flax milk. I'm really picky about nut milks and some brands just taste watered down to me, Pacifica doesn't, I highly recommend it. I also top it with fresh fruit and nuts or seeds.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 3:16 PM on November 24, 2012

Hummus, grape leaves, grape tomatoes, carrots, olives, gf pita? I eat that kind of thing for lunch a lot. Rice salad or the mix of bean salads, etc mentioned above. I use tortillas in place of bread frequently - with eggs + salsa, w/beans...
posted by leslies at 3:21 PM on November 24, 2012

No dairy, wheat or soy is very similar to the Paleo diet. Google Paleo snacks or fast Paleo and you'll come up with hundreds of goodies.
posted by Paris Elk at 3:28 PM on November 24, 2012 [2 favorites]

I eat rice cakes with peanut butter for breakfast every day, and feel whiny if I don't (I'm trying no wheat myself). I have some oatmilk in the fridge, but I don't really like breakfast cereal, and I don't want eggs every day, so it's rice cakes. Sometimes with a slice of ham instead. I eat mostly nuts for snacks, and I often like a really simple chickpea salad for lunch: cool cooked chickpeas (I use tinned, because I am lazy), dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, and scattered with some cheese (I often omit the cheese, so you could too, and I don't think it suffers). It wants some salt. I also have a tinned tuna and shredded cabbage salad a lot, that has mayo on it, pepper, whatever herbs you feel excited about (chives are good) and salt.
posted by thylacinthine at 3:37 PM on November 24, 2012

Yeah, I basically eat paleo because it avoids so many common allergens and I have various issues with gluten, lactose and blood sugar regulation. There are a lot of recipe blogs out there.

I survived three months in a tiny rented kitchen on an exclusion diet. My meals were mostly meat (homemade burgers, gluten-free sausages, bacon, minute steak) but sometimes fish (baked salmon being idiot-proof) plus sauteed green (kale, spinach, collards, chard, cabbage) plus baked, roasted or mashed root veg (carrots, sweet potatoes, rutabagas etc).

For breakfast, when I got sick of eggs, I'd have tapas (chorizo, olives, salad) or whipped coconut cream with fresh fruit.
posted by dumdidumdum at 3:48 PM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

I eat a lot of hummus as a snack. Any raw vegetable is delicious dipped in it. See also, guacamole, salsa, baba ghanoush.

Also, if you're wheat-free (or gluten-free) but not grain-free, make sure you're indulging in the wide variety of other grains and carbohydrates. Try using rice, potatoes, quinoa, corn, and other ingredients where you would have previously used wheat products.
posted by decathecting at 3:54 PM on November 24, 2012

- Coconut milk yogurt (buy or make) with nuts and fruit.
- I keep dried pineapple at my desk, good and chewy.
- Oats make nice treats when baked with whatever fruits/nuts/etc you want to toss them with (I add protein powder and use agave nectar as a sweetener because I'm a fat vegetarian, but you probably don't need to do that, it's good that way though).
- Definitely hummus and veggies.
- Rice paper rollups as spring rolls.
- Slice and saute a tube of polenta* on low heat with ground cayenne ... you can do it thick so each bite is a mouthful and it makes a good side, or thin so it's browned and crispy and great with salsa. (mmmm.....)

*Polenta: $3.99 a tube in the specialty food-organic vegetarian case. Cornmeal Mush: $1.29 a tube in the generic dairy case. Same thing.
posted by headnsouth at 4:13 PM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

bacon
pork rinds
alternative nut butters such as cashew or almond
pepperoni or salami slices
deviled eggs
sliced ham, beef or turkey around a pickle
olives
1/2 avocado drizzled with fresh lemon juice, olive oil and salt
seaweed
beef jerky
smoked salmon on cucumber rounds
small salad with dressing of choice
coconut oil chocolate bark (Google for some Paleo recipes)
tuna or egg salad (with pickles and mayo, and any veggies you want)
shrimp with cocktail sauce
bell peppers and cucumbers with hummus or guacamole

I also make a "muffin in a minute" variation that might work.

1 tablespoon coconut flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 egg
1 tablespoon baking Truvia (or sugar equivalent), or more to taste

Mix well. Microwave for 1 minute or longer in a ramekin or mug, until cooked through.
posted by kathryn at 4:31 PM on November 24, 2012 [2 favorites]

I've only heard about it and not tasted it yet, but Lundberg has a line of couscous made from roasted brown rice; it cooks up in 15 minutes or less with various seasoning packets (review and serving modifications here). Sautee some garlic/onion and a couple of your favorite veggies while the couscous is couscousing and then toss together. Nice advantage: it stores and keeps easily for a few days and is great for a quick microwaved breakfast or lunch. I sometimes add an over-easy egg on top of my couscous for extra protein, so there's that, too.
posted by mediareport at 4:43 PM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

Fried rice without soy sauce? Rice with miscellaneous vegetables, egg and bits of some kind of meat. You can cook the rice with a smallish amount of lentils to make up for the lack of meaty taste and protein you get from leaving out the soy sauce. (I've tried this a couple times when I've wanted fried rice, but forgotten to buy soy sauce. It comes out OK.)

Fried rice can be refrigerated and reheated or eaten cold for lunch. Sausage will work for meat bits if you don't have leftover chicken, pork or fish for that.
posted by nangar at 5:08 PM on November 24, 2012

The Lundberg rice couscous is good.

Here's a good recipe for a soyless sauce to use in stirfrying, etc. It keeps as long as soy sauce.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:48 PM on November 24, 2012

One of my favourite breakfasts: rice with an egg or two scrambled through when the rice is just about ready. Delicious with hot sauce (I also add cheese, though that wouldn't work here).
posted by third word on a random page at 10:02 PM on November 24, 2012

Bananas.
posted by oceanjesse at 5:23 AM on November 25, 2012

Roasted chick peas: drain and rinse a can of chickpeas. Sprinkle with spices (try curry powder to start) and roll around with olive oil on a baking sheet. Pop in a 450° oven for 10-15 minutes until crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside.

Kale chips: Put dry washed kale leaves on a baking sheet. Spritz with spray oil, sprinkle with salt, put in 450° oven for 10-15 minutes until crunchy. You can also do low and slow, but I find high and fast works too, you just need to keep an eye on them.

These both make awesome snacks to put in baggies and bring with you.

I'd also consider getting a rice cooker with a timer feature. I love waking up to steel-cut oatmeal. It'll do quinoa, lentils, beans, polenta/grits and perfectly cooked brown rice.
posted by fontophilic at 7:31 AM on November 27, 2012