Caroline Byron - Gluten-free Naturally: 100 Gorgeous Recipes that Will Transform Your Diet

I have been eating gluten-free food on and off since the age of 14, and I cannot emphasise enough the positive impact it has had on my life. In the years since, my health has improved immeasurably, and I have spent many enjoyable hours in my kitchen developing the recipes that Im now sharing with you.

There is, of course, a lot of debate over gluten free is it a fad or a fact? All I can tell you is that when I removed the gluten from my diet, many of the health issues I was suffering with disappeared. Going gluten free has helped me, and while it may not be for everyone, its a lifestyle choice that I, along with many millions of people around the world, have chosen and will continue to follow.

If you have picked up this book, its likely that you are considering adopting, or already follow, a gluten-free lifestyle. Whether you are gluten intolerant or coeliac, or you are just looking to cook for a friend or family member who is, or, perhaps, you have Lyme disease, like I did, I hope that my journey might inspire you to try going gluten free and show you that you dont need to deprive yourself of your favourite foods to do so.

The recipes and ideas in this book are all about offering a third way: the happy middle of cooking delicious, satisfying food that also happens to be gluten-free. Life is not black and white. I want to show that there is a way where we can all still have a little of what we love a little bit of indulgence but combined with the things that we know are good for us. I know everyone seems to be free from something at the moment when it comes to food but you know the main thing I am free from? Guilt. And I want you to be guilt-free too even when you eat my amazing gluten-free fried chicken!

This book is about forgiveness, great food and, of course, having fun eating it and cooking it. I call it guilt-free living. So forgive yourself and be healthy but dont make food a stick to beat yourself with!

Caroline xxx

I recently moved to London to study nutrition. But in a previous life I was a model in New York, after which I trained in classical French cuisine a slightly unusual career change but it made perfect sense to me at the time, as I hated modelling and have always loved eating!

As youll see I was first introduced to gluten free back in my teens when it was one of the things that helped me with the effects of my illness. However, like most teenagers, I abandoned the healthy lifestyle when I got better and almost forgot about it. A few years later, when I left the world of modelling, where everything was eaten on the run if anything was eaten at all and I lived instead on a diet of sandwiches and fizzy drinks, I decided to return to my first love, and so I trained in French cuisine at the French Culinary Institute in New York (now known as the International Culinary Centre). I learned how to cook from the French masters, and so began a magical adventure in food from deep smoky bouillabaisses to the silky gravy of the perfect coq au vin and, of course, all that yummy ptisserie. I lived the whole, Oui, Chef! Non, Chef! lifestyle. I was learning so much and I absolutely loved it! However, as well as learning to cook, I also learned to eat with a typical Gallic abandon and excess. All those delicious hot, buttery creations; all that rich pastry, cream and sugar; the eclairs, macarons, petit fours they all had to be tested, didnt they?

But as the quantities of delicious gluten increased, so too did my weight. I was having terrible problems with my gut, my skin was out of control, my mood was all over the place and my sleep was erratic. This very high-gluten, classic French diet led me to discover I was gluten intolerant. Frustratingly, no sooner had I mastered the entire French culinary repertoire, than I found I couldnt actually eat any of it!

When I left culinary school, I knew I had to make a change because my health was so terrible almost as bad as it had been in my teenage years. Initially, I began to wean myself off sugar, replacing that oh-so addictive stuff with Medjool dates and raw cacao.