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National Grain-Free Day

Food · February 21

A food day for grain-free cooking, from almond flour cakes to cauliflower rice, built from roots, nuts, seeds, vegetables and eggs.

National Grain-Free Day falls on Sunday, February 21, 2027. That is 117 days away.

Grain-free cooking leaves out the cereal grains that fill most pantries: wheat, rice, corn, oats, barley and rye. What remains is a surprisingly roomy kitchen of roots, nuts, seeds, beans, eggs, vegetables and fruit.

Much of the interest is in substitution. Finely ground almonds become a flour that bakes into tender, slightly dense cakes and cookies. Cassava, a starchy root, is dried and milled into a flour that works well for tortillas and flatbreads. Cauliflower chopped small stands in for rice, and thin planks of sweet potato can go in the toaster, though they never fully agree to be bread.

Plenty of ordinary meals are grain-free without anyone planning it. A vegetable frittata, a pot of chili, roast chicken with potatoes, a bowl of fruit with yogurt. Many cuisines lean on potatoes, plantains or lentils as the filling part of the plate, so a grain-free dinner can feel familiar rather than like a project.

Some names are misleading. Buckwheat is not wheat and not a cereal grain at all. It is the seed of a plant related to rhubarb and sorrel. Quinoa is also a seed, though it is cooked and served much like a grain. Cooks draw the grain-free line around these two in different places, which is why a buckwheat pancake can start a friendly argument at breakfast.

Ways to celebrate

• Try baking a simple cake or cookies with almond flour.
• Make cassava flour tortillas for tacos at home.
• Cook a pan of cauliflower rice to serve under a stir-fry.
• Toast sweet potato slices and top them like bread.
• Share a favorite meal that happens to be grain-free already.

Dates

All national days on February 21

Also on February 21

• National Sticky Bun Day
• National Boiled Peanuts Day

Categories: Food days