Book Review: Fast & Simple Gluten-free

Fast & Simple Gluten-Free by Gretchen F. Brown, R.D. is a must-have for any gluten free home kitchen. Gretchen Brown (check out her blog http://www.kumquatblog.com) published a gluten free cookbook last fall, and is an amazing food blogger, photographer, and now book writer. Her blog work is truly inspirational, and this translates to her cookbook. And even better, she's from Charlottesville, VA (go Hoo's and their fourth seed in the upcoming ACC tournament), a place near to my heart.

Fast & Simple Gluten Free contains over 100 recipes and is worth the cost. I've tried many recipes and cookbooks that claim a meal can be ready in 30 minutes where it ends up taking me 10-20 minutes longer. I love that many of the time estimations for food preparation are accurate and truly 30 minutes or less to make.

She starts the book with a section for those starting a gluten free diet, with some short tips of what to avoid eating, and an explanation of some common gluten free flours. The recipes range from breakfast meals, to main dishes, salads, and desserts. The images are all full color, and are plentiful among the recipes. The beautiful, well lit images illustrate the innovative recipes that are easy for cooks of any expertise level to make.

I made the sweet potato hash with ham, chicken marsala, sweet orange biscuits, and snickerdoodles. The recipes were all easy to make, and are all well written. I recommend this book to anyone looking to add to their collection of gluten free recipes.