So when I decided that I liked a little cucumber salad from Proof, I had to have it again. I went running back just three days later for a second helping. When Gluteneer asked what he could make me as a special Friday night dinner, I didn’t hesitate to tell him that I wanted this salad.

The salad was a symphony of flavors and textures. Crisp thinly shaved slices of cucumber, cherry tomatoes that burst with each bite, creamy avocado, the salt and give of bacon (like the best bacon bites you’ll ever try) and the herbal saltiness of green goddess dressing. What more could it possibly need?

Using basil and cucumbers from a friend’s garden, tarragon and a heap of chives from my own crop, Gluteneer managed to one-up the salad with broiled scallops (seasoned with a bit of bacon grease). Simply put, it was the best dinner I could’ve hoped for.

There will be oodles of leftover dressing. Bottle it up and love it.

Cucumber Salad with Green Goddess Dressing

Dressing
2 cups mayonnaise
4 anchovy fillets, minced
1 green onion, chopped
1 tbs chopped fresh parsley
1 tbs chopped fresh chives
1 tbs chopped fresh tarragon
1 tbs chopped fresh basil
Dash of oil from anchovy bottle.
2 tsp salt

Salad
2 strips bacon
4 scallops
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 cucumbers, shaved with a vegetable peeler into long thin strips
1 avocado, sliced
Mix together mayonnaise, anchovy, green onion, herbs, oil and salt, grinding herbs a bit to release oils or whirring in a food processor. (Can be made in advance and stored in the fridge.)

To prepare the salad, heat a skillet over med-high heat. Add bacon and reduce to med-low. Flip bacon occasionally until cooked to desired consistency (about 4 minutes for me). While bacon is cooking, heat the broiler.
Wash and drain the scallops and dip them into the rendered bacon fat to season (not to cook). Set onto a broiler rack and broil for approximately 8 minutes (could be anywhere from 6-12 depending on the size), until opaque.

Cut bacon into inch-long pieces. Plate cucumber, avocado and tomatoes. Top with bacon and scallops. Drizzle on the dressing.

Needless to say, the real pain is felt in my wallet, but I am not complaining. I couldn’t care less about bread or croutons or dough when there’s so much bounty about.

Sunday’s visit to the Dupont farmers market yielded tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, garlic and more nectarines. We put it to use in a heat-free dinner.
The vampire-conquering garlic touted itself in a pesto of regular and Thai basil, while the tomatoes flashed their ruby goodness in a makeshift caprese using McEvoy Ranch olive oil.

Put it all outside and you’ve got the makings for a song. I was thinking something along the lines of “whoa-oa those suh-hummer ni-hights.” Stupid Grease is always stealing my ideas (racing cars through ravines, piercing ears at slumber parties and so on).

I post my list below. I’m pretty pleased with it. I’ve tried 88 items and am missing things like crocodile, road kill and snake. The items I’ve eaten are in bold.

My favorites have a ♥; the things I love, but cannot eat due to gluten are marked with ♣.

Want to play along? Here’s what to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment on Very Good Taste linking to your results.

Gluten Freebird version of The Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros (With corn tortillas, sunny-side up and fresh guac) ♥
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding (Anyone looking to try some could try CommonWealth)
7. Cheese fondue ♣
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari ♥ (Grilled with pesto, please)
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (they’re not as good as Dodger Dogs)
16. Epoisses ♥
17. Black truffle ♥
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns ♣
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes ♥
22. Fresh wild berries ♥
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava ♣
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (I hate sourdough)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (never had a cigar)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (hello, college)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (Guess I’ve got to try that Oyamel grasshopper taco)
43. Phaal ** (Have to try this someday)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala ♥
48. Eel (please come up with eel sushi minus gluten)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut ♣
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear (Juiced in a cocktail, please)
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone (When it isn’t too chewy, it’s delicious)
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (Not proud of it)
56. Spaetzle ♣
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV ♣
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips (A bag is in my freezer now)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake ♣ (How I miss thee)
68. Haggis (Thank you, Robert Burns)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini ♣
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu (This got me a bit tipsy in Lhasa back in the day)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (Not sad that these are gone from my diet)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum ♥
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate♥
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab ♥
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox ♣
97. Lobster Thermidor (Where can I get some?)
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

My favorite nectarines are the white nectarines at Quaker Valley Orchards, a stand you can find at Mt Pleasant, Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle. It’s all I can do to keep from filling a whole basket with their nectarines each week.

I went a bit overboard last week at the market. (I like to think of my purchases as supporting local industry.) Combine that haul with the brown bag o’ peaches from our CSA and I had fixings for a pie and thensome.

I love to bake pies, but wounded my pride with the failed blueberry pie of last month. So I decided to put myself in the hands of the Gluten-Free Pantry with their Perfect Pie Crust mix.

Part of the problem with gluten-free crusts is that there’s no gluten to hold it as a binding agent. It was nearly impossible for me to stretch the dough to make a lattice, but a bit of patchwork mostly tended to the problem. And the pie? Delicious. It’s probably best out of the fridge than freshly baked because the crust can use the congealed juices (it’s not gross, I promise) to bind it a bit. The gluten-free crust just doesn’t hold together as well, but that’s ok. It’s a summer pie.

Nectarine-Berry Pie with Black Pepper Crust

(adapted from LA Times)
Serves 8
2 pie crusts (1/2 package of Gluten-Free Pantry), prepared according to package instructions
1 sp black pepper, freshly ground
10 nectarines (about 3 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 cups blackberries
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbs cornstarch
¼ tsp salt
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 tbs butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces, divided
1 egg, beaten
1 tbs Demerara or turbinado sugar, could use any large-crystal sugar

Mix the pie crust, adding the tsp of black pepper to the crust. Refrigerate in two pieces (as per package instructions, approximately 1 hour).

In a large bowl, toss together the nectarines/peaches, blackberries and lemon juice. You should have about 4 cups of fruit. Set aside to macerate while you work on the dough.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove dough from the refrigerator and allow it to stand 10 to 15 minutes.

Roll out half of the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a pie plate and gently press it into the bottom and up the sides, leaving excess dough hanging over the edge. If you have trouble getting the crust off the work surface, you a metal spatula to loosen it.

Roll out the second round of dough into a rectangle about 13 by 10 inches and one-fourth-inch thick. Cut the dough lengthwise into eight strips about 1-inch-wide.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Pour the mixture over the fruit, stirring to coat. Then stir in the corn syrup. Fill the pie shell with the fruit, discarding about half of the juices. Top the fruit mixture with pieces of the butter.

Weave together the pieces of dough atop the pie to form a lattice. (Instructions here)

Pinch the edges of the dough together and fold the edges under to fit the pie dish. Pressing the rim of the dough between two fingers, flute the edges. Brush the crust with the beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for about 50 to 55 minutes until the pie is well-browned and bubbly. Let the pie cool to warm before serving.

Note: You can leave in all juices if you like, but the gluten-free crust tends not to absorb juices as well as a regular crust, so it’s best to be careful about extra liquids.

The menu isn’t anything extremely complex, but that’s what I was hoping for. They serve gluten-free crab cakes, grilled cheese, deli sandwiches, and pizza.

The gluten awareness extends throughout the space, with what seems to be the area’s best array of gluten-free beers and a freezer and refrigerator of desserts from Sweet Sin Bakery. (Note: Pay close attention to expiration dates on anything you grab from the bakery - I noticed a few things past their date.)

To continue my unending quest for the best gluten-free pizza, I decided to go ahead and order a pie. The menu includes cheese, veggie, pepperoni, margarita and chicken, but I went for the day’s special of spinach and feta. And how’d it rate?

Overview: Unlike some of its competitors, this pie isn’t trying to be gourmet. It’s just a gooey, no-frills indulgence. It’s big enough to feed three people with prices between $13 and $15 or so.

Flavor: I liked the tang of the tomatoes and the salt of the feta, but the cheese should be higher quality. It tasted like baseball stadium pizza, with that sweet mozzarella that’s a bit too chewy. You would be best off-setting the cheese flavor with heavy toppings.

Crust: The crust had a consistency much like a cornmeal crust. It didn’t harden up like the pie from Pete’s, but it had a bit of a grainy consistency. There wasn’t a lot of crust - it felt almost like a flatbread, which could be a good thing when you think about other gluten-free crusts around. Flavor was good.

Overall: This is probably the closest I’ve found to a Papa John’s. It’s not great pizza, but it’s the kind of pizza I’d want with beer and football. I happily ate it for breakfast the next two mornings.

Here are a few nuggets of advice.

If you have an allergy (gluten or otherwise), it’s probably not the best time to hit up a restaurant, especially for the first time. Restaurants are often operating beyond capacity, rushing patrons in and out, cooking at above-peak levels. Now is not the time to trust that a kitchen will be able to keep your food gluten-, nut-, dairy-, or allergy-free. They’re too focused on getting food out the door.

If you do decide to go, plan to get the most for your money. Try somewhere new and make sure that the tab ($70.16 plus tax, tip, liquor, and any supplemental fees) is actually a deal. Note: To me, this would likely weed out places like Casa Oaxaca, Oyamel, Ulah Bistro, Café Trope, and Rumberos.

Don’t be afraid to go at an off time. Go right at 5:30 and get your choice of items before the menu becomes totally picked over. If you go at the end of the night, relish that you won’t be rushed out like patrons in the prime times.

Be patient and generous with your servers. Summer is always slow in D.C. restaurants, but the economy has made this summer a turtle’s pace. So these servers are going from leisure to mayhem and making significantly less than a regular tab. Tip well.

So, without further ado, my favorite Restaurant Week choices:

Ashok Bajaj’s restaurants consistently amaze me. The restaurateur owns Rasika, 701, Oval Room, Bombay Club, and Ardeo/Bardeo. His restaurants offer full menus of seasonal ingredients with impeccable presentation. I’ve written about Rasika before, but Tony Conte of Oval Room and Bobby Varua of 701 present contemporary flavors that can easily and expertly accommodate dining restrictions.

It’s more tricky to find gluten-free dishes at Passion Food Hospitality’s restaurants, but Acadiana, TenPenh, DC Coast, and Ceiba are renowned for their generosity during Restaurant Week. Ten Penh’s Asian flavors mean ample soy sauce, while Acadiana and DC Coast use a fair bit of batter and frying, so Ceiba is probably the safest option for gluten-free dining.

Kinkead’s is a good choice for lunch with seafood as good as the restaurant has ever turned out.

Vidalia is superlative. I ate there last week (expect a post to come along soon) and loved the tuna in a spicy tomato nage, shrimp and grits and pork, all which could be gluten-free. Also, the garden-fresh mint ice cream is a killer.

Zola is generous with menu offerings, including lamb, skate, and their glutenous lobster mac ‘n’ cheese.

Avoid very limited menus, as with the Prime Rib, Sushi Ko, and Charlie Palmer Steak.

Phew. That should get you through, right?

Gluteneer and I loved that place when it first opened. We could order a few apps and split the arugula-topped ribeye. So, we decided to hit it up again and discovered that much of the magic is gone, though there is a bit of hope.

We sat upstairs and ordered wine from Southern Italy. When the server stopped by, I told her about my gluten allergy and she grimaced before responding that there wasn’t much they could do for me. The steak and the insalata mista would be fine, she told me.

My first thought was to get up and leave. I know that it’s an Italian restaurant, but how could they be so limited in their offerings?

Luckily, she kept talking. It turns out that this server has been following the same Oprah-style cleanse that I recently attempted, so she’s well-versed in lurking gluten. Her time on the diet has helped her see what it’s like to navigate dining challenges and she turned out to be fantastic. She walked me through some options and we were set.

I ordered two apps: a grilled portobello mushroom with goat cheese (on special) and grilled scallops over lima bean puree.

Gluteneer got prosciutto with roasted peppers and a special of papardelle with lamb ragu.

Here’s the kicker: The server asked if I would like a little ramekin of ragu on the side to try his sauce without tainting myself. Are you kidding me? Sauce without having to worry about pasta goo? She totally GOT me. I could see her tip as the words came out of her mouth.

The ragu turned out to be the best part: greasy, hearty and full of flavor. I was so grateful to have had the little dish all to myself, even if I wished I’d brought some bread to sop it up. The scallops were a bit charred and gummy, but the mushroom was decent.

What I discovered was that the food was totally secondary to feeling like this woman understood what I needed.

And I didn’t even miss the pasta, though it did look good.

Here are some snapshots of my bites apart from BabyCakes and Chinese food.

I like to think that the original yogurt at 40 Carrots in Bloomingdale’s launched the Pinkberry craze. I like to have mine swirled with coffee (ideally side-by-side, not swirled) to balanced the tartness. Piled so high! It’s a ludicrously refreshing break from the swelter.

I also want to shout out to Wild Ginger on the Lower East Side. The vegan Chinese restaurant doesn’t specialize in gluten-free, but they’re happy to work with you to provide options.

The portions were huge - each order came with delicious pumpkin, soup or salad, and a heap of brown rice. The woman who took my order talked me through all of the gluten-free options by phone. When I arrived to get my food, she spent 5 minutes making notes on the takeout menu to tell me what I could eat, what modifications would work and what she would recommend.

That sort of care and attention will certainly bring me back next time I’m in the city. (The fact that my tofu and veggies were full of really good, crispy veggies doesn’t hurt, either.)

Next time I visit, I’ll also stop by Risotteria, a West Village Italian spot that offers up all sorts of gluten-free pastas and Italian classics.

If you miss the days of the mom-and-pop market, rejoice in Timor Bodega. It’s probably my favorite shop in D.C. From the outside it looks like any bodega, but it’s more like an organic emporium than a mini-mart, located in an under-loved part of town (Bloomingdale) at 2nd and Rhode Island, NW.

Owner Kim Wee stocks the shelves with a keen eye. He carefully curates a selection of local, health-oriented products. He has pastas, wine, pet food, and cleaning products, but you won’t find major labels. Instead, it’s organic pet food, quinoa, biodynamic wines, and eco-friendly cleaners.

Wee keeps a small selection of produce, often supplied by the USDA farmers market. Sure, you can often get avocados and non-local produce, but he also carries things from local farms.

When it comes to milk and meat, it’s all local. Timor sells Trickling Springs Milk (in the glass bottles) and ICE CREAM (go for the peppermint or black raspberry) and meats from Eco-Friendly Foods.

I was very excited to see some new gluten-free products, including frozen tamales and a line of gluten-free Japanese snacks from a company called Feng Shui (rice crackers, wasabi peas). Does this mean a reprieve from rice cakes?

This is one case where supporting the little guy isn’t just a social responsibility, it’s a pleasure.

NOTE: It’s also right near the Bloomingdale Farmers Market (Sundays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.), so do the two together with some fuel from Big Bear Cafe.

They don’t exclusively do gluten-free, but they have separate cooking facilities for the spelt and gluten-free items.

I’m not sure if it was seeing so many baked treats all at once or seeing them so soon after my no-sweets regimen, but I went nuts.

I bought a chocolate cake topped with raspberries, chocolate cupcake, 2 chocolate chip cookies, corn bread and my favorite, a banana chocolate chip bread.

The cake never made it home (I ate it on the train), but everything else emerged fairly unscathed and delicious. I ate most of my treats the following day.

The cake was fabulous - gooey and decadent; the cupcake was a tad dry, but rich and satisfying; cookies didn’t taste gluten-free at all (hooray!) and the corn bread was meh.

The banana bread? Well, that was heavenly. So good that I had to recreate it here. Without further ado:

Babycakes’ Banana Cinnamon Bread with Chocolate Chips

Serves 10
(Adapted from Food and Wine)
1 cup gluten-free, all-purpose flour (Bob’s Red Mill, Arrowhead Mills or your choice)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (I subbed in 1 tsp gelatin)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 overripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup agave nectar (or honey)
1/3 cup soy milk (original unsweetened)
2 tspvanilla extract
¾ cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly oil a standard loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour with baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, xanthan gum or gelatin, and salt).

In a smaller bowl, whisk the mashed bananas with the oil, agave nectar or honey, soy milk and vanilla. Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake on middle rack for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the banana bread cool on a rack at least 15 minutes before turning it out. Let cool completely before slicing.