Chia seed puddings are all the rage these days, and for good reason. When stirred with water, juice, or milk, the seeds gel up and thicken, creating the most delightful tapioca-like texture. It's easy (no heat required!) and contains all the nutrition of chia seeds, which taste neutral enough that you can play with your favorite flavors. In my case, that means a sweet spring combo of strawberries, coconut, and lime. 

Jammy pink rhubarb, coconut custard, and a honey-rose water drizzle! Who needs gluten (or dairy or nuts or refined sugar, for that matter) when you've got all this going on?! 

A simple puréed soup is something I turn to often, usually relying on a creamy tomato, but lately I've been relying instead on a lightly-spiced cauliflower soup. Cauliflowers are easy to come by and quite inexpensive at the markets (in Seattle anyway), so as you sit and wait for true spring produce (peas, favas, asparagus!), this is a good recipe to tide you over. 

Whether you choose the toppings or let your guests join in on the fun, pizzas and flatbreads are great crowd pleasers. I'm especially fond of socca, a chewy, crispy, gluten-free flatbread made from chickpea flour. As an appetizer or main course socca can be served plain or topped, like this one for spring. It features an herby, lemony pesto and fresh salad — plus it should even satisfy the worst dinner guest ever! 

Since going gluten-free, I've had lots of fun expanding my arsenal of flours. My latest discovery? DIY sunflower seed flour. I discovered "sun-flour" while developing my recipe for Fruit Crumble with Oats & Dates and have started using this wonderful ingredient in other baked goods, too. 

Fruit crumble is usually pretty straightforward: combine flour, sugar, and butter and you've got a perfect streusel topping, right? But what happens when you can't eat regular flour, sugar, or butter (or nuts)? Suddenly, making a really good fruit crumble might not be so simple after all. Faced with such a predicament, I started experimenting with gluten-free and vegan ingredients (and eating many, many servings of crumble in the process!) until I finally came up with my new go-to, allergy-friendly crumble recipe. 

Q: I cannot eat dairy and love to bake. But the recipes I usually find without dairy are often vegan (without eggs/honey which are fine for me) or gluten-free (which contain a lot of ingredients I cannot get). Do you have any good baking recipes that just do not contain dairy?

Sent by Janelle

Q: How do you organize dinners with a wide variety of eaters? (As in, vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free, etc.) Do you have a decent method to plan the food?

Sent by Peter

For individuals and families with food allergies, going out to eat or ordering takeout is not always an option, even if the cook is busy or tired. Cybele Pascal's Allergy-Free and Easy Cooking offers a solution with recipes for homey comfort foods and restaurant favorites that can be on the table in 30 minutes or less. More

Most energy bars, whether store-bought or homemade, include nuts as a primary ingredient. That's why I was thrilled to discover The Good Bean's Fruit & No-Nut Bar, a wholesome snack for the nut allergic or those looking for something different. More