Meet Nutritionist and Gluten Free Author Emily Kerrigan + a FREE recipe from her new book 👩🏻‍🍳

About the Author 👋🏻

Meet Emily Kerrigan, author of The Gluten-Free Kitchen! Emily started out as a journalist writing for food magazines like Olive & BBC Good Food and reviewing restaurants for The Good Food Guide, Time Out and Mr & Mrs Smith. When her young family moved from London to Oxfordshire, Emily sometimes used to take her toddlers to reviews with her – no-one ever suspected that the mum with the double buggy was an undercover restaurant reviewer!

Then, when Emily’s daughter was diagnosed as coeliac, she retrained as a nutritionist and completed a cookery diploma at Leiths. Now she contributes nutrition features and recipes to the likes of Waitrose Weekend and specialises in gluten-free.

Unpacking the Cookbook: A Conversation with Emily 💬

In the world of gluten free cooking, Emily Kerrigan stands out not just as a nutritionist but as a passionate advocate for flavourful, accessible meals that the whole family can enjoy. Her latest cookbook ‘The Gluten-Free Kitchen’ is more than just a collection of recipes - it’s a guide to living gluten free for either yourself or loved ones.

We sat down with Emily to learn more about her inspiration, favourite recipes, and top tips for anyone looking to embrace a gluten free lifestyle.

What made you write the book?

The internet is home to a lot of gluten-free recipes that use pricey ingredients from health food shops and take hours to make. Too many of them don’t work, which is really frustrating when you’ve spent time and money on a new recipe, only for it to fail. So I set out to write a book of simple, accessible recipes that would work for everyone first time, use every-day ingredients and taste every bit as good as standard versions. I also just wanted to nail an easy reliable bread recipe and a really good birthday cake to bake for the kids’ birthdays. The first gluten-free cake I ever made was from a random recipe I’d Googled. It was just after Chloe was diagnosed and it was basically inedible. After that I got into the kitchen and I learnt how to do it properly!

How do you ensure that your gluten-free recipes are both nutritious and delicious?

You’ll find both chocolate and leafy greens in my book. Good nutrition is about balance. Of course, a salad with lots of fibre, lean protein, veggies and healthy fats will nourish you more than a slice of cake but it’s best to try not to think of foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ because in a balanced diet there’s room for everything. My book outlines all the nutrients you should concentrate on and does include lower-sugar versions of foods like granola and energy bites… but it also contains all-out celebration cakes and ice-cream waffle sandwiches.

Can you share some tips for beginners who are transitioning to a gluten free diet?

My book lists all the ingredients you can still enjoy, those you must now avoid and includes an A-Z glossary of GF ingredients. It also talks you through decontaminating your kitchen, hidden gluten and gluten-free ingredient swaps, standbys and SOS snacks. I’ve also included tips to help you save money and plan your weekly meals. If you’re living with people who will carry on eating gluten, then you will need to label all your gluten-free food – I have some stickers that can really help with this which are also perfect for labelling packed lunches and snacks when you’re out and about.

How has your background as a nutritionist influenced the recipes and content of the book?

One of the biggest switches you can make for your health today is to cook more often from scratch and cut down on processed foods - and the book has everything you need to plan, including recommended kitchen kit, meals to make in 15 minutes and easy food you can pull together from either a quick trip to the supermarket or by raiding your kitchen cupboards.

I’ve used my knowledge to create recipes that maximise nutrition but in easy, every day ways. For example: freezable seeded oat bread or make-ahead smoothies for breakfast; rainbow veggie bowls that you can cook for dinner with leftovers for lunch the next day, or pasta veggienese that you can batch cook and which switches up traditional spag bol by replacing red meat with lentils whilst adding in extra veg (alongside gf pasta, of course!).

Are there any common misconceptions about gluten free diets that you address in your book?

Yes! Gluten-free cooking doesn’t need to be complicated or take hours. Neither do you need to necessarily buy specialised free-from products. A lot of these are overpriced and pretty tasteless. I really want to encourage people on a gluten-free diet to get into the kitchen and cook from scratch. The planner in my book lists lots of options that are ready in 15 minutes or less or can be made ahead or cooked from frozen. Once you know the tricks, it’s easier to eat gluten-free without relying on packets or snatching at the only available gf option when you’re out and about.

How can you make your kitchen gluten free after a family member has been diagnosed?

The safest kitchen for a coeliac is an entirely gluten-free one and I talk you through all of this in detail in the book. If you want to carry on cooking with gluten for some family members, you’ll need to label coeliac-only foods to avoid mix-ups – my stickers are designed just for this!

What is your favourite recipe from the book?

My coffee cake is a favourite – it has a frosting that espresso lovers will find pretty addictive. My daughter loves sushi but so much of it contains gluten so my sushi poke bowls are an alternative and very easy to make. I know they don’t sound easy at all but they literally take about 10 minutes and are made from a pouch of rice, frozen edamame beans, chopped avo and cucumber and ripped up smoked salmon.

What is your go-to quick mid week meal

You can make my raw pinwheel salad in minutes – just plate-up chopped peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, shop-bought cooked chicken and a can of lentils and dress with olive, oil, salt, pepper and maybe a squeeze of lemon. From the book, I also like veggie fried rice, extra-green pesto pasta or my halloumi burger – all ready in under 15 minutes and using ingredients you can easily grab from any supermarket on the way home.

Ice Cream Waffle Sandwiches Recipe 🧇

It’s not always easy to get hold of gluten-free waffle cones – and chocolate flake cones tend not to be gluten-free, either. This recipe is designed to fulfil the role instead. You’ll need a mini, inexpensive, round waffle iron to make them. Look for one that’s 12 cm (5 in.) in diameter. This is because most leading brands of ice cream sold in small round tubs are 12 cm (5 in.) in diameter too, making it really easy to slice rounds of ice cream to match the waffles.

Makes 5 | Takes 25 minutes plus freezing

INGREDIENTS

• 40 g (1½ oz) unsalted butter

• 125 g (4½ oz) gluten-free self-raising flour

• 1 tbsp caster sugar

• 175 ml (6 fl oz) milk

• 1 egg

• 100 g (3½ oz) gluten-free chocolate chips

• gluten-free vanilla ice cream

• a handful of gluten-free sprinkles

METHOD

Begin heating the waffle iron. Meanwhile, melt the butter. Combine the flour and sugar in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Whisk together the milk, melted butter and egg then pour into the dry ingredients and whisk again to form a smooth batter. Cook 10 waffles according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Leave to cool. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips gently in a bain-marie.

Use baking parchment to line a baking sheet that will fit in your freezer. Once you have all your waffles ready, take the ice cream out of the freezer and get a chopping board out. Use a sharp knife to slice off a round of ice cream, right through the paper packaging. Peel off the paper and sandwich together two waffles with the ice cream disc. Repeat to make all the sandwiches. Drizzle or spread melted chocolate over each one, top with sprinkles and freeze again until needed (or the chocolate is set).

Where to buy the book? 🛒

The Gluten-Free Kitchen by Emily Kerrigan is published by Summersdale, £10.99 - click here to buy the book!