In 2014, caterer and entertaining expert Heather Christo and her two young daughters were diagnosed with severe food allergies following years of unresolved health problems.

For a classically trained chef and food blogger (heatherchristo.com), it was a strange situation. “I had built a career on goopy cakes and creamy pastas,” recalls Christo during a recent interview in her home at the top of Queen Anne. “I felt like I had to come out to my readers that I no longer ate or cooked with gluten, dairy or eggs.” Since then, Christo has redirected her passion for food into creating wholesome, allergen-free recipes that taste like nothing is missing. She chronicles her journey in her new cookbook, Pure Delicious: 150 Delectable Allergen-Free Recipes (Pam Krauss Books, $30), which debuted in May and features breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes: everything from beer-braised brisket to waffles and, yes, chocolate cake.

In conjunction with Heathermade, her line of certified gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, egg-free, tree-nut free, peanut-free and vegan baked goods available at Costco, Christo hopes to help educate her followers and make the transition to allergen-free eating as free of challenges as possible. Sounds tasty to us.