Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

erOck, if you have been reading, this column is called, "If It Doesn't Have Gluten in It, I'm Eating It." Being gluten-free is about eating foods that don't have gluten in them.

There's more to eating well, gluten-free, than finding substitute flours and making cookies. Being forced to go without gluten means you might find more foods than you knew were out there in the first place. I'm writing pieces about foods I learned to love after I gave up gluten.

Knitter, those tikkis sound fantastic.

Thanks, everyone. These really make a wonderful mouthful.

As far as the price goes, we bought these (and photographed them) at the farmstand down the road from us. The folks who grow them also run a Montessori school, and the produce they sell helps to run the school. We don't mind paying a bit more to support our local farms, and we love their delicata. But if you can find them at 69 cents a pound, go for those!

Hey Karlynne, I do normally return to answer questions. Life has been too full these past few weeks, because we're doing the final edits for our cookbook. No time for much of anything else! But now I'm here, so....

Avaryne, you asked where to find whole-grain teff? Here in the Seattle areas, it's available at PCC stores, as well as Whole Foods. Our local health food store carries it in bulk! So co-ops and "crunchy" places, where you'd find other unusual grains, tend to be your best bet.

(Those of you who are gluten-free, be careful with bulk bins, however, for the cross-contamination problems. The bins that are separate units, where the food comes spilling out of the shoot, rather than an individual scooping it, is a better bet.)

Knitter, teff and bulgur have entirely different textures and consistencies, so I'm afraid this wouldn't be a good substitute.

The few of you who didn't like injera or the taste of teff? Well, to each his own, of course! But I'd encourage you to try again. It's a new taste. And teff flour, added into quick breads or pancakes in small portions, can really add an interesting texture.

Are there any injera recipes that are wholly teff? I've seen them, even though I haven't tried making them yet. And I've also seen recipes that use millet or buckwheat flour plus club soda to mimic the texture. As I wrote, I've been told that it's the water that makes the difference, although I haven't found out exactly what the water should be like! Of course, if you are gluten-free, you can use other flours to substitute for the wheat flour in the recipes that use both injera and wheat.

As far as those of you who doubted the 30% number? I'm going to go back and edit. I read that statistic a few years ago, when first doing research for my book, on some literature from the Whole Grains Council. But since I can't find my original source, I'll back off on that statistic. However, if you think about it, there really are many, many people who go without eating whole grains. Frankly, my husband was one of them when I met him! Peekpoke, many people don't eat oatmeal at all. It's hard to think of movie theater popcorn as a whole grain. And many people really do go weeks or months without eating grains that haven't been pummeled and processed. Most of the rice eaten is white, the oatmeal is instant and comes in a packet, and granola bars contain white flour too. It's getting better. But still, many people don't eat real grains.