Going With Gluten-Free Whole Grains
When I transitioned my household to gluten free, a funny thing happened along the way. My gluten-intolerant son, Isaiah, had been the classic white foods eater—pasta, pizza, potatoes, pie. You name it, the only food he would eat on his plate was white and lots of it was bread.
So when he was diagnosed five years ago, it was slim pickings at the supermarket for a white bread substitute. Needless to say we tried them all, but they all fell short of his expectations. Turns out that the answer was easier than I would have ever guessed. He was no longer looking at color, but texture and flavor. I was still feeding into his white foods cravings when he was clearly over them. Slowly, Isaiah’s food choices opened up and to my surprise, he ventured beyond the white and into healthier, whole-grain choices.
This casserole is made with millet-chia bread, a combination we might not have tried if not for Isaiah's allergy.
If you want to make this recipe the night before serving, prepare the casserole through step 1, cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, just bake for about 40 minutes.
8 slices bread, crusts trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups), such as Udi’s Millet-Chia bread
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese or nondairy substitute, such as Daiya
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 2-quart baking dish. Layer the bread, ham, 2 cups cheese and 2 tablespoons chives in the dish. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Pour into the dish and top with the tomato slices in an even layer.
2. Bake the eggs until nearly set, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup cheese and 1 tablespoon chives on top and bake until golden.
Silvana Nardone is a food lifestyle expert, magazine editor and motivational speaker. She is the editor-in-chief of the all-digital, gluten-free magazine, Easy Eats. Silvana is also the author of Cooking for Isaiah: Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Recipes for Easy, Delicious Meals and publisher of Silvana’s Kitchen, a blog that takes the guesswork out of how to feed a family with food allergies. Previously, she was the founding editor-in-chief of Every Day with Rachael Ray.
