Wine Guide and Guest Blogger Cassie Fercodini is back this month with her tips on how to “chip and dip” gluten-free. From what you mix into the dip to the “dippers” that deliver all the deliciousness. Here are her gluten-free dip tips!
Know Your Gluten Tolerance Level
Preparing food for someone who has to live a gluten-free lifestyle can be challenging. All ingredients need to be reviewed before using them. Cross-contamination is a huge factor with someone who has celiac disease. A person with celiac disease cannot have any contamination with wheat (gluten). A person who has a gluten intolerance, can handle a little cross-contamination depending on the severity. For example, a shared fryer may be okay for someone with a gluten intolerance but not for someone with celiac. While making food for someone with celiac disease, it must be prepared with separate bowls, silverware, countertops, etc.
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When it comes to homemade dips, you can substitute ingredients with gluten-free options. Prepackaged dips are harder because there can be hidden ingredients that are not gluten-free.
GF Dippers for Gluten-Free Dips
The big thing when it comes to dips, is what you are using as the “dipper.” Traditional “dippers” like hunks of bread and crackers often contain gluten. While using the traditional dippers, they will need to be placed on a separate plate from the dips. However, there are gluten-free substitutes for these items. If both dippers are used, the best suggestion is to put aside dips for any gluten-free guest so there so no chance of cross-contamination.
Put Gluten-Free Tips to Work
At Traveling Vineyard, we chose three favorite March Madness dips: Baked Ricotta Dip, Million Dollar Dip, and Cookie Dough Dip. I took a look at how you could adjust these to make them gluten-free.
The Baked Ricotta Dip and Million Dollar Dip are naturally gluten-free with the ingredients being used, but the Cookie Dough Dip contains oats, so the gluten here depends on the oats being used. Some oats could potentially have gluten in them. For your dippers and chip options, you would need to replace the bread, graham crackers, and crackers for gluten-free options. A company called, Schär has all three options and would be a perfect replacement! You can also visit the gluten-free section of your supermarket or search on your favorite brands online to see if they have released a gluten-free option for your favorite cracker, for example. Some options, like raw veggies, are a perfect solution, too.
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Please note, if you are still concerned about gluten in your wine and/or food products please do your own research, contact a health provider and/or reach out to the vineyard to confirm their winemaking process.