It all started with CJ’s discussion about sprouted wheat pasta. You know it doesn’t take much for me to get started down a rabbit hole. Maybe I’m just intrigued by anything from a bygone era. I’ve been reading recipes and history and nutritional information and have ordered several grains I’ve never tried before and have ordered several that I have tried before but want to give a second look. Of course, I will write about my experiments. Maybe I will take one grain per week or a couple per month and we’ll do an extensive “study” on each grain. Sound boring? No . . sounds intriguing to me.
So far, I’ve ordered:
- Emmer wheat
- Spelt
- Kamut, which is a trademarked brand name for khorasan wheat
- Rye
- Amaranth (not a true grain but we’ll pretend it is)
- Teff
- Buckwheat
Grains that I have here and want to use more:
- Quinoa
- Barley
There’s plenty of hard red wheat berries, and some amount of soft white wheat berries around here and I want to use those more for items other than whole wheat bread.
What other grains/seeds should I be considering?
Some of the grains are gluten free, some are not. Some have benefits that outweigh the gluten content and since we are not gluten intolerant, though we both feel better off gluten, we’re going to give them all a try and see what we think.
Have you used any of the lesser known ancient grains? Would you share your experience?
Tina in NJ says
My mother was raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and always rhapsodizes about buckwheat pancakes. They have a nutty, crunchy texture and flavor, a little courser than what most are used to. They go great with blueberry syrup/preserves. Personally, I have a special fondness for buttermilk rye bread. Wonderful as a grilled tuna sandwich!
Linda Mincher says
I’m very curious how you like the Emmer wheat. I’ve read a bit about it recently as well and have thought of buying some. I’ve used buckwheat in pancakes MANY years ago and I’ve used rye more recently in breads. It works out OK. I’m not a huge fan of it, but it gives a different texture/flavor to bread. We are not gluten intolerant either, but I’ve cut way back on grinding grains and baking breads since I’ve read Grain Brain and Wheat Belly. I’m more concerned about the potential for diabetes later on since my husband is borderline pre-diabetic whenever he has a glucose test (though he is thin and exercises daily and rarely eats sweets). However, he does not want to give up his daily homemade English muffins! I do really appreciate all the information you are willing to share here!
Julie in WA says
You can pop teff like popcorn, except without the oil. Just put it in a hot dry skillet. Fun! I have read that you can eat it popped like cereal with milk, but I don’t think I would like that…
JudyL says
Didn’t know that! I’ll try it in the hot air popcorn popper. Thanks!
liz says
Have you tried rice flour? I recently bought some but I haven’t tried to make anything yet. I recently tried quinoa and I like it, though I need to get some more recipes for using it.
JudyL says
The only time I use rice flour is to dust oysters, then I dip them in beaten egg, then fish fry (the pre mixed stuff) before frying oysters. I’ll have to take a better look at rice flour. Thanks!
Helen Koenig1 says
Also there is millet (NOT a favorite of mine!) and, of course, rice. Quinoa is something I have and a neighbour used to use as a staple (her family is vegetarian and quinoa has a LOT of protein in it. FTM – almost all grain has some protein in it – oats have 12% protein which is higher than wheat which I don’t remember how much protein there is in that).
I’ve raised most of the grains – rye, millet, barley, buckwheat, oats, wheat, corn (flunked out on the rice though! and at the time didn’t know of quinoa or kamut or amaranth). Farmers around my hometown have raised spelt.
Barley has a beard which MUST be removed – which has to be done by mechanical method – and honestly, I don’t know how. When I used it, I had a hand grinder and lightly cracked it, then winnowed in front of a window fan – and hoped I got rid of the lighter barb as well as the husk (the grain won’t swell if it is still in the husk). Barley’s nutritional value is not the greatest. It can be roasted, and fermented however and used to flavour beverages, generally beer. Other than that, I’ve used it in soups, as a gruel for dd or myself when we had a REALLY bad case of tummy upset – it digests easier than most other grains.
Buckwheat forms with tight brown husks surrounding each seed. This has to be removed before you can get the grain to swell. Again, my hand grinder on VERY coarse setting and a screen and window fan to winnow out the chaff and also get rid of the teeny tiny ones I missed with the grinder helped. To use – I made Kasha (a family favorite – I use both the hot oil as well as the beaten egg to coat the grains, and stir until dry – then cook the grain until fluffy and soft – great to replace rice, also I love it as breakfast cereal with butter, brown sugar, and some yogurt! Also can be further ground down into flour for pancakes or really anything that you use flour for.
Wheat, corn are pretty straightforward except corn is a royal pain to grind – takes me usually 3 grindings to produce meal – starting with coarsest setting and then down to eventually fine.
Rebecca in SoCal says
That reminds me…I used to drink mugicha (roasted barley “tea”) iced in the summer. It’s a nice, caffeine- and sugar-free cooler! It also reminds me of “barley water” in Victorian, or earlier, novels, although that’s apparently made from unroasted barley.
Ruth says
A bit of rye in rye bread. I use approx 3/4 of a cup and 2 1/4 cups of bread flour. More rye and it really gets sticky. Gives a very different taste to bread. I like it a lot.
Wendy says
I have an old shortbread recipe that uses rice flour. Delicious!
Barbara says
I have a lot of allergies, so I stopped using wheat and all gluten grains many years ago.
I used white buckwheat flour because it is so much milder than regular buckwheat.
I used it in baking muffins, pancakes, waffles etc.
I used teff flour to make pancakes, waffles, muffins.
I also love quinoa and millet.
Rice flour for dusting chicken when I want to bake it with herbs.
I rarely eat junk food or sweets and I’ve never had a problem with high blood sugar, but at my age my blood sugar seemed to be slowly creeping up…
so I cut out all grains and my numbers took a nose dive (from 95 fasting to 78)
so I know to stay away from all grains no matter how healthy some of them may be.
I still use rice flour to dust the herb chicken that I bake, but that’s all.
Grains are as bad as sugar for someone like me.
Penny says
Last wkend as I was driving home I heard the tail end of a news report/interview re: gluten and a report that it really wasn’t gluten thus encouraging gluten free diets after all causing many people health issues. Supposedly the Dr/man that was being intervied had discovered or originated the idea that gluten causes such health issues but now his further studies & research indicate that it’s wheat, barley & rye that are the problem.. I can’t remember his name & of course couldn’t write it down while driving on the freeway but hope to research this further on the internet later today!
JudyL says
I heard it too but totally blew it off because Vince and I ate totally gluten free for about 4 months and both of us could really tell a difference in how we felt. We don’t have any medical issues that prevent us from eating gluten but we are convinced that we felt much better without including gluten in our diets.
Melissa says
This will be interesting. I haven’t tried anything other than quinoa and my family was not amused! I probably cooked it wrong. I know a lot of people who use kamut I. Their daily baking.
Carolyn says
I’d be interested in how people make Quinoa, when I have fixed it tasted like I boiled some bird seed. So not a real fan, as it wasn’t very tasty. Suggestions would be appreciated.
Dar in MO says
This comment made me laugh out loud “tasted like boiled bird seed”. Many times I’ve wondered what bird seed would taste like fixed like steel cut oats. 🙂
Joyce says
I haven’t tried many other grains like Teff or Kamut. I do use barley and quinoa. I read that quinoa tastes much better if you rinse it thoroughly (multiple times) before cooking. I haven’t made any since I read that, so I don’t know how much of a difference it makes.
Connie says
Don’t forget the farro. I buy it whenever I see it. I cook it and add chopped herbs and veggies, lemon juice, and olive oil. It makes a great cold salad
JudyL says
My understanding, and I could be wrong, is that “farro” is another name for emmer, spelt and einkorn, and the manner in which it is eaten, as well as what it’s called, depends on the region in which it is grown/eaten.
CJ says
Well I’m fascinated and will enjoy reading about grains! I’m afraid I’m old fashioned, and use the common grains extensively; wheat (hard and soft), rye, oats and barley. the barley I use mainly as a soup thickener by flaking it in my FlicFloc. Sometimes I use it whole in soups, but more often flaked.
I will say that I’ve tried sprouted wheat flour 3 times for bread and intensely disliked it each time, but I QUITE enjoyed it in my pasta.
Years ago when I was still a vegetarian I made quinoa quite a bit, but it doesn’t have a lot of flavor and I’ll take a potato slathered in butter any day over quinoa 🙂
Joyce Barham says
This has been very interesting. I use rye and wheat berries, but not together. I cook rye berries and use them in a brown rice salad with beans and other vegetables. I dress it with oil & vinegar and some herbs. Love this salad in the summer. Don’t love quinoa, but I do eat it once in awhile. I’ve heard of several of the grains that you mentioned.
NancyB from Many LA says
Here’s a recipe – it’s diabetic friendly, doesn’t even need icing!
*********************
Quinoa Chocolate Cake
Not only does this cake contain no wheat, it contains no flour – made with cooked quinoa (rather than quinoa flour), it has a dense, moist texture and intense chocolate flavour. Excerpted from Quinoa 365 by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming (Whitecap)
2/3 cup white or golden quinoa
1 1/3 cup water
1/3 cup milk
4 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups sugar**
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the covered saucepan on the burner for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and allow the quinoa to cool.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round or square cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Add 2 cups cooked quinoa and the butter and continue to blend until smooth.
Whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add the contents of the blender and mix well. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans and bake on the center oven rack for 40 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely in the pan before serving. Frost if desired. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month. Serves 8-16.
** I have used 1 cup stevia (made for baking) and ½ cup sugar and it turned out fine
Rebecca in SoCal says
I think the first time I had quinoa was in a salad from the local “health food?” organic? store. It was an edamame salad that also had corn (and probably other vegetables) that I thought my DH would like because there was NO sweetener in it, but like Melissa’s family, he was not amused! (Couldn’t handle the different texture). I liked it, though. I AM amused by the little pearls with a swirl that is quinoa.