For lunch this week, work served up a Thanksgiving inspired menu, with turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing (not GF), and sweet potatoes.  It put everyone in the holiday spirit and inspired me to talk about  gluten-free Thanksgiving.

I’ve mentioned before that I was diagnosed with celiac disease last year before Thanksgiving.  I contemplated not going gluten-free until after the holiday. but decided against that.  Some people don’t really understand why I didn’t just wait it out, but for me, it was important for my health and my mind to take on the challenge of a gluten-free Thanksgiving immediately.  My family was entirely on board and I made my first and only gluten-free pie crust which turned out well and some sugar cookies, which didn’t.  I missed out on the stuffing, but I was able to enjoy the potatoes, veggies, turkey and the flour-less gravy.

In fact, a gluten-free Thanksgiving meal is pretty easy to accomplish.  Most of the stars are naturally gluten-free (turkey, veggies, sweet potatoes) and those that are not (stuffing, gravy, pie) can be easily.  The couple behind Friedman’s Lunch in Chelsea have some pretty good advice for adapting the traditionally gluten filled Thanksgiving to gluten-free, including using Udi’s bread for stuffing and going for naturally gluten-free desserts like pumpkin creme brulee.  Read more about their gluten-free Thanksgiving here.

This year, we going a non-traditional route of celebrating at a restaurant.  While this seems odd and even sacrilegious to some, it is actually a common occurrence in New York City.  If you are going out for Thanksgiving this year, the following gluten-free friendly restaurants will be open and ready to serve:

Café Blossom

Bar Breton

Nougatine

Pure Food and Wine/One Lucky Duck

Wallse

For a full list of restaurants serving Thanksgiving Dinner, see Open Table. And if you’re brave enough to tackle Thanksgiving yourself, but want some help, the following fine establishments can help you out!

babycakes – This vegan/gluten-free bakery is offering an extensive menu of Thanksgiving goodies

Friendman’s Lunch – They will cater your entire Thanksgiving meal!  Gluten-Free!

Tu-Lu’s – My favorite gluten-free bakery has pies available, but you must call ahead to order/make sure they’re available.

Oh, and NYT has a Well Post on a gluten-free Thanksgiving- how amazing do those pumpkin dumplings look!?

And finally, if you have nowhere to go on Thanksgiving, don’t fret!  The fabulous gals of NYC Celiac Meetup are organizing a gluten-free thanksgiving dinner at one of their homes.  Check out the website for details and RSVP information: NYC Celiac Meetup.

Happy Thanksgiving!