You’re also able to customize your own fruit blend if you so desire!

Vegetarian and vegan wraps are offered as well.  Gluten-free brown rice wraps or nori are available for those of us needing gluten-free, however, I suggest you call ahead as the brown rice wraps are a hit or miss item, but the nori is always plentiful in supply. Or, you can forgo the wrap and have the fixings in a salad form instead.  There is one item on the wrap menu that is available in a raw form, the Nori Wrap.  It is made with rice, carrots, red cabbage, sprouts and avocado and is served with gluten-free tamari soy sauce.

This cozy cafe is the perfect place to enjoy healthy food on a warm summer day. Don’t wait too long before you visit~they’re only open seasonally from April to early November.

Delicious, healthy foods are available at Sol Bean Cafe  in Middleton, Ma. Soups, salads and sandwiches are served and the latter can be made with gluten-free, dairy-free bread!

Soups vary each day but there is often a gluten-free choice. Some of the gluten-free varieties include the Lentil (dairy-free too), Roasted vegetable (vegan), White Chicken Chili, Chipoltle Sweet Potato (vegan) and the Tomato Feta.   

On our visit we tried the very popular Meg Melty sandwich. It was made with avocado, grilled chicken, tomato, jack cheese and honey mustard. Unfortunately, there is not a dedicated toaster or panini press for these sandwiches, however, they will double wrap the sandwich in foil before pressing in the panini grill. I was hesitant but this worked out very well for us.  Still, I can see how this may not sit well with some people.  Another option is to just have the bread thawed (wrapped in microwave) for your sandwich. 

If you are a practicing vegan, you might enjoy a sandwich called the Vegan Style a la Sarah. This includes tomato, spinach, vegan cheese (contains soy), avocado and onion. There are also other items that can be made vegan by omitting cheese or substituting with the vegan cheese.

There are also gluten-free bars, muffins and other sweets brought in from a local gluten-free baker. We  purchased a gluten and dairy-free Craisin Oatmeal Bar (contains eggs) which was big enough to divide by four and it was like a big ole soft oatmeal cookie!

Also featured are raw, vegan treats for dessert. Try the chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate mint vanilla or  raspberry chocolate cookies.

Closed Sunday & Monday

There are many vegetable toppings to pick from and some of these are even grown in Hillside’s own  garden!  “Savory” items include meats that are free range  and also chemical and preservative free.

Gluten-free desserts are sold here as well.  These are sourced from a local gluten-free baker and vary in selection. Call ahead to discover what’s being offered on the day of your visit!

South Deerfield location open Thursday through Saturday.  Hadley location open Thursday through Sunday.

Recently, we had the opportunity to tour the plant of the soon to be opened ALLCANEAT FOODS, LTD.  Baker and owner George  has been creating tempting dishes at Fresh Start for years and has now formulated delicious recipes to allow people living with diet restrictions to feel like regular folk.  This plant is a dedicated gluten, soy, nut and sesame-free facility!  In addition, they will offer dairy-free and sugar-free products too!  I was also glad to hear that they will have no GMO ingredients, artificial flavorings or colorings in their products. 

To decrease the risk of outside cross-contamination, they have a strict employee policy of no outside food containing allergens allowed (for example, no peanut butter sandwiches on gluten containing bread for lunch) and they will have an on-site lab for product testing as they are commited to coming in under the pending FDA standard of 20 ppm gluten. 

Kindhearted (and business savy) George does not have any food restrictions but met many customers with special dietary needs so he took it upon himself to formulate incredibly tasty treats to fill the needs of this customer base.  He plans to offer breads, cakes and sweets as well as an extensive amount of dishes including fresh pasta, parmesans, meatballs, meatloaf and croutons.  The full list runs the gamut from breakfast foods through dinner.  He will also have weekly meals available for purchase so you can load up on dinners for the week. Wouldn’t that make life easier!

We sampled cookies, brownies, pound cake, flourless chocolate torte and sandwich bread.  The rice flour/tapioca based sandwich bread tasted great whether plain or toasted.  Offered in the future will be quinoa and multigrain loaves.  All were wonderful tasting and very much “too good to be true”.  My kids kept whispering to me, “Is this gluten?” And when I told them repeatedly that the food was safe to eat, my daughter proclaimed “This is the best day of my life!”      

ALLCANEAT FOODS, LTD will house a retail store, online mail order as well as a cafe!  I am so eager to return this spring to try more of the fantastic edibles from this enterprise.