do you want spelt with that?

recently i was in a car with a friend who was eating some fast food onions rings.  since i can't eat wheat (or soy, corn, or preservatives), fast food is usually completely off my radar.  but as the car filled with the (oddly) intoxicating scent of fried onion rings, i became filled with an emotion i can only describe as a mixture of sadness, anger and longing.

most of the time i succeed at keeping a pretty positive outlook on all this food allergy/intolerance crap.  i keep telling myself that i feel better now that i've eliminated so many possible offenders from my diet.  the truth is that i do physically feel better than i have in years.  but it is also true that it hasn't always been easy.  i miss the easy camaraderie of eating out with friends.  of grabbing a slice of pizza and a beer just because.  more than anything, i miss participating.  

part of what keeps me coming back to this little blog is that it makes social the inherently solitary pursuit of puttering around the kitchen fussing over new ingredients.

so, from my kitchen to yours,

spelt onion rings (makes roughly 16 rings)

1/2 large sweet onion
1/3 cup white spelt flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup spelt bread crumbs (i used leftover spelt toast)

salt
pepper
red pepper flakes

preheat oven to 400
line baking sheet with parchment

slice onion into 1/4-1/2 inch rounds and separate into rings

set out three shallow pans or plates. 
add flour to one pan, eggs to the next and breadcrumbs to the third

(i added seasoning to both the flour and the breadcrumbs)

dip the onion rings into the flour, then the egg and lastly the breadcrumbs
place on the parchment lined baking sheet

bake for 15-20 minutes, turning once

serve with corn-syrup free ketchup!