Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Trader Joe's Brown Rice Tortillas




I've read some negative things about these on various sites, but I really want to champion them. You don't get to eat many "chewy" breads when you are on a gluten-free diet. Gluten is the elastic that gives bread it's resiliency and when you use gluten-free flour to make bread, it doesn't have that chewability unless you add Xantham gum, (which isn't the same!). But rice has a glutenous quality and when used to make a tortilla, it can be quite tasty.

I think what might bother people about the brown rice tortilla is that they don't fold so well. They aren't for burritos, that's for sure. But when they get to lie flat in a quesadilla -- oiled up and pan grilled, for instance -- they really shine. You need to think about them as a bread sub for a grilled cheese sandwich or panini, rather than as an enchilada vehicle.

Here is a link to Trader Joe's Gluten Free food list.