Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Jan Tz: so sorry! I totally misread!
Arrowroot and cornstarch have the same properties, and either can be used. I just looked up both on nutritiondata.com and it seems arrowroot is only sightly more healthful. So I'm guessing either one would be fine. [I'm certainly no expert, seems I can't even read a post correctly!!]


Mairead

Since becoming gluten intolerant, I've taken up using brown rice flour to thicken gravy. Prior to that, I used whole wheat pastry flour.

Cornstarch causes gravy to become jello-y and globby. YUK. Using ww pastry flour is similar to using cornstarch in that you have to add it first to cold water and blend. Brown rice flour you can add directly to the pot while it's cooking.

Using the little bit isn't a big deal (my opinion) with MWL program.

One thing about arrowroot is that it's only supposed to be heated once, you're not supposed to re-heat it (I don't know why, though). So it's good to thicken things like salad dressing that won't be re-heated, but if you plan on having leftovers of gravy then I wouldn't use it.

Or, you can try it anyway and let me know what happens when you re-heat it, I'm curious!

singingbird wrote:I'm sure cornstarch would work. I'm a little surprised that cornstarch is allowed but flour isn't...it seems like cornstarch would be forbidden on MWL for pretty much the same reasons flour is - it's ground up into a powder, which would probably have all the same effects on metabolism and insulin levels that flour does. Does anyone know the rationale for this?

I think the reason cornstarch would be allowed and flour isn't is because no one really sits and *eats* foods heavy in cornstarch. You can't eat cornstarch bread or tortillas or pasta ... it's used in small quantities.

But flour, on the other hand, is a staple; you can easily eat a lot of calories in breads, tortillas, etc ... so we don't eat flour products on MWL.

I would think if you limited flour to a minor ingredient such as a thickener, it would be fine. You'd be spreading a few T. over a whole recipe. Very different than bread made with several CUPS of flour, you know?

I thicken gravies either with cornstarch or regular flour. I have not (yet) tried chickpea flour, though. Maybe I will.

I have also read (but not tried) that you can use baby food rice cereal to thicken. This would definitely be MWL okay.

hello all,
You can also use a more healthy alternative for the cornstarch. You can use arrowroot powder or tapioca starch too.

Both thicken with only small amounts used----and low calorie and fat count, no oil needed. Let us know what recipe works best for you!

With the recipe on http://www.recipezaar.com/Punkrock-Chickpea-Gravy-304633

Would it work just as well without the flour at all and instead puree the Chickpeas in a blender?

Oh... take out the olive oil too... and I think I'd leave the nutritional yeast out too...

I don't think I'd use the juice of one whole lemon either! Perhaps I'd change that to lemon juice to taste.

BarbAU