Everyone’s Welcome: The Art of Living and Eating Allergen-Free by Amanda Orlando

If you or someone you love has severe food allergies and dietary restrictions, Amanda Orlando’s new cookbook is for you. Most of the recipes are free of the “Big Eight”—peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish. These are North America’s top eight allergens, and Orlando colour codes each at the bottom of every recipe and underlines the importance of her suggested ingredients with charts at the back of the book showing each recipe’s Big Eight breakdown plus coconut, vegetarian, and vegan designations.

Everyone’s Welcome is definitely a book for kitchen novices as well as more experienced cooks with dietary conditions to consider. But Orlando’s offerings transcend the book’s allergen-free focus, underlined by the subtitle: The Art of Living and Eating Allergen Free with an emphasis on the art of living and eating.
Orlando’s recipes have a light, playful, artful touch, whether she is reinventing familiar pasta dishes (Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes and Bitter Green Orecchiette; Lemon and Dill Wheat Bulgar), simple salads (Berry and Avocado Summer Salad, Apple and Kale Slaw), or meat dishes (Slow Roasted Lamb with Cranberry Sauce, One-Pan Roast Chicken Dinner). The recipes are fast and easy to make, and most importantly, delicious. There is an extensive collection of bread, desserts, and nutritious drink recipes too.

From the very personal insights of Orlando’s chatty introductory chapter with suggestions for allergen-free travel, restaurant meals, and picnics to the short concluding chapter of “NotEvenRecipes Stuff to Nom On”, Everyone’s Welcome is a delight.

Everyone’s Welcome: The Art of Living and Eating Allergen-Free
Amanda Orlando (Touchwood Editions) 220 pages $40

Grilled Blade Steak with Chopped Tomatoes, Herbs, and Green Onions

2 cups roughly chopped cherry or cocktail tomatoes
10 large leaves fresh basil, julienned (approx)
5 green onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped dill
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp avocado or olive oil + additional olive oil for brushing
Salt to taste
1 lb blade steak
1 garlic clove

The salad
Toss the tomatoes, basil, green onions, dill, vinegar, oil, and salt. Set aside to marinate while you prepare the meat.

The steak
Use a charcoal grill for the best flavour! Rub the steak all over with a garlic clove cut in half. Brush with oil and salt to taste, and sear on a hot grill for a few minutes on each side. If you don’t have a grill, you can use a frying pan, but beware: It can be messy. Let the meat rest for 5 minutes before slicing into strips. Serve warm over top of the tomato salad.

Serves 2

Free of:
Peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, coconut

Recipe excerpted with permission from Everyone’s Welcome by Amanda Orlando © 2019, TouchWood Editions.