You Won't Believe It's Gluten-Free!: 500 Delicious, Foolproof Recipes for Healthy Living [Paperback]

Roben Ryberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2008

A pioneer in gluten-free cooking, Roben Ryberg has worked with gluten-free flours for over 15 years. Now, in You Won’t Believe It’s Gluten-Free!, she vastly simplifies the challenges of this special diet-while perfecting the flavor of everyone’s favorite foods. Completely comprehensive, You Won’t Believe It’s Gluten-Free! offers 500 recipes for all kinds of breads and baked goods, plus easy appetizers, soups, entrees, and salads to win over any crowd. It also features desserts for special occasions-even wedding cakes! Unlike the standard use of three or more flour blends, these recipes often call for just one flour, and many recipes include corn, potato, rice, and oat flour variations. This is an essential cooking bible for anyone with celiac disease, wheat allergy, IBS, or other gluten sensitivities.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Even devoted low-carb dieters have it easy compared to those with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, who have no choice in giving up many foods. Ryberg (The Gluten-Free Kitchen) aims to make their sacrifices easier by recreating favorite dishes, from fried chicken to lemon pound cake, with alternative ingredients. For every meal and course, she offers a wide range of crowd-pleasing recipes (mini meat loaves; Caesar salad); those that are normally gluten-heavy get several versions using different flours for different effects. The first chapter discusses stocking the gluten-free kitchen and converting recipes, and helpful notes about preparation accompany many recipes, but her extensive experience doesn't always translate to the page, particularly with baked goods, which are the trickiest to make. Though she provides extra details about baking, there is still not enough guidance about what to expect with these unusual batters and doughs, and the results may not live up to her claims. Fortunately, her constant enthusiasm and encouragement will keep people trying, and the growing gluten-free community will be thrilled to have this massive resource of ideas for making their meals more enjoyable. (July)
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Review

Publishers Weekly, 6/2/08
“The gluten-free community will be thrilled to have this massive resource of ideas for making their meals more enjoyable.”

Kliatt, November 2008
“This is a must-have resource for anyone with gluten-intolerance.”

Living Without, 1/09
“Introducing an innovative approach to special diet cooking. You won’t believe how good gluten free can be!”

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; Original edition (June 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569242526
• ISBN-13: 978-1569242520
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 1.3 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #143,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible book! September 10, 2008

By Robert Jones

Format:Paperback

Before Celiac, I was an avid baker. I baked all of our breads (my children never knew what store brought bread was), and that is one of the hardest things that I've had to deal with. The smell of fresh baked bread, the way it feels when you're making it, etc. With this book I have been able to get back some of that nostalgic feeling of being in the kitchen and creating something truly wonderful. I use this cookbook almost daily and share it with anyone I can. I have tried many many other cookbooks and got so discouraged that I didn't want to try anything new. The smell of garbanzo bean flour was enough to make me stop using it. Not to mention the lead weight that came out of the oven every time I tried to bake with 4 or even 5 different flours. Thank you Roben for simplifying baking but while still providing my family with delicious treats from our kitchen. This book is truly a treat for anyone with gluten intolerance, celiac, or various other food allergies. Yeah for being back in the kitchen!!! Heather Jones

76 of 89 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Disappointing October 28, 2009

By Sara J. Lutz

Format:Paperback

Since being diagnosed with celiac over the summer, I've bought over a dozen cookbooks with varying rates of success. I don't expect EVERYTHING I make to be a homerun the first time out - but this is the only cookbook I've purchased that I'm batting 0 out of 12 tries. In a few cases, I've made each incarnation of a recipe - thinking that if the cornstarch version didn't work than I might have better luck with the rice. Not so much. Everything I've tried has ended up in the trashcan. Heavy, brittle, sandy texture - and as those who are learning to deal with cooking know, the ingredients aren't cheap, so having to toss batch after batch is not encouraging me to continue to bother with this cookbook.

Sadly, I think the fact the author doesn't HAVE to eat gluten free herself comes out loud and clear. Frankly, I've had such bad luck I'm even reluctant to bother dropping this book off at the used bookstore - if someone really needs to learn how to cook gluten free, this would be a terrible way to start.

I'm surprised at all the good reviews this book has gotten, as I've heard through the gluten-free community that I'm in no way the first or only one left with a bad taste in my mouth over the recipes. I'm glad others have found success - but I'll never be able to recommend this book to anyone. It's harsh to say - but the only reason I give this cookbook even ONE star is because it isn't possible to give it none.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful book to add or start your collection June 27, 2008

By J. Biver

Format:Paperback

I have this book, and this is the best book that I have. The recipies are easy to follow, and adapt if you have other allgeries (like dairy). With in the first three days of recieving this book I made seven things from it. My favorite was the crackers...I could have crackers that have salt on them. YEA!!!! Get this book you will love it

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Variety, ease, a pretty darn good book! November 20, 2008

By R. Kasper

Format:Paperback

This is a great book for finding a recipe that is quick, easy, and not as expensive. I have tried several of Roben's recipes, and I don't think I have had a bad experience with any of them! Granted, I wish there were more cookie recipes (I had to buy a different book with Christmas coming and all) but this is a top notch book if you enjoy preparing quick and easy dishes from scratch. If you have ever made biscuits from scratch, gluten or not, you know how much of a joy it is to be able to make them in 30 minutes, start to finish!

Try the cinnamon rolls, coffee cake, rolls, biscuits (my favorite!!), muffins, soups.. just try them all! It's exciting to see that you can make nearly anything, using one flour that matches your dietary needs (I'm addicted to potato starch now) and have fun with it!

Not as thorough as Bette Hagman's series, but for a busy family person who is looking to mimmick gluten-filled foods, this is the PERFECT book for you!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Simpler (and CHEAPER) Gluten-Free Eating October 25, 2008

By Cecily G

Format:Paperback

I'm thrilled to have finally found recipes that don't require lots of special flours and extra steps, yet yield delicious results. I made the corn-based banana bread this week, and it was as good as any I've ever tasted. In fact, when my mom stopped by and tried some, she wanted the recipe. (And she can eat gluten!)

The hamburger rolls turned out great, too. One batch made 8 rolls, (using cornmeal and cornstarch.) That recipe alone will save us a small fortune, as I have been buying the pricey frozen ones at the health food store.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Yet another gem September 9, 2008

By Tyrailia

Format:Paperback

My copy of Roben Ryberg's first book is well worn and quite messy. When the new book arrived in the mail I tap-danced all the way back from the mailbox. I immediately devoured the book reading all the recipes cover to cover. It only took a few hours and I marked each recipe I wanted to try. By the time I was done the book was full of little post it note markers! I have now made over 50 of the recipes corndogs, cheese crackers, and my favorite, cheese sticks! What I like best is the fact that most of the recipes use one or 2 flours and multiple recipes are offered for each item. This is very important to those of us that have more than one intolerance. I highly recommend this book.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must-have for the Gluten-free! July 16, 2008

By GFsinger

Format:Paperback

This is absolutely the best gluten free cookbook available. I highly recommend it, especially to those new to the Gluten-free life.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars It's like the author didn't taste test the recipes. August 9, 2010

By M. Filtz

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was very disappointed in this cookbook. It's a great concept to be able to covert recipes using different "flour" bases, but if you don't taste the end results, you have a failure. I tried only 2 recipes, first were the brownies made with oat flour and then the peanut butter cookies using potato starch. They were just horrible! The brownies were very thin and dry and the cookies weighed almost nothing and you needed a large glass of milk to wash down because it would stick in your throat that bad. Not only that, the tastes were very bland.