grain

Get a New Grain: Millet

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Lia Huber — 1 Comment ↓

I love millet, so it throws me when, more than with any other grain it seems, people scrunch up their noses when I mention it. In an effort to remedy this, I’m going to wax on a bit about why I adore it. First off, it’s a quick-cooking grain; on your plate in just 20 minutes. Second, it’s like vanilla ice cream: good on its own, yet still a blank canvas for whatever you want to make it. Third, its texture is lovely—and versatile; you can make it fluffy like a pilaf, or sticky like sticky rice. And last but not least, it’s incredibly nutritious, packing a good dose of protein and vitamin B along with minerals like iron and manganese.

Those four reasons should be enough to inspire you to read further. After you do, let me know what you love about millet!

millet-whole-grain

What it Looks Like: Millet looks like butter-colored—the really intensely yellow of French butter–beads.

What it Tastes Like: Taste-wise, I find millet to be about the same “neutral but with a pleasing flavor’”as a basic brown rice. Texture-wise, as I mentioned above, millet can vary from fluffy and almost poppy (as in it sort of bursts to the bite) to somewhat dense and sticky.

How to Cook it: As with many grains, millet takes on a deeper flavor and retains its integrity better if you toast it in a bit of fat in the pot before boiling (skip this step, though, if you want to the millet to be sticky). Then add 2-1/2 cups liquid (with millet, I like to use some sort of flavorful broth) to 1 cup millet. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Finish by letting the millet stand, covered, for 5 minutes and fluffing before serving.

How to Use it: I like to use millet as a stand-in for rice in baked one-pot dishes, like the Cuban-Style Millet con Pollo below. Sticky millet makes a fun crust for savory pies and casseroles.

Additional Notes: Like many whole grains, millet can go rancid quickly in the cupboard. It’s best to buy it in smaller quantities (from the bulk bin is fine … although sniff it to make sure it doesn’t smell bitter) and keep it in the freezer. Another big note—millet is gluten free.

Get a New Grain: Bulgur

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Alison Ashton — 2 Comments ↓

I’m always looking for quick-cooking whole grains I can whip on even the busiest evenings. In that regard, bulgur has become my new best friend. You’d be hard-pressed to find a whole grain that cooks up faster (though quinoa comes close).

Bulgur is a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine and a standby in Greek fare, too. You could think of it as the grandchild of wheat berries and the child of cracked wheat. Wheat berries are whole wheat kernels. Cracked wheat is nothing more than wheat berries broken into smaller fragments that cook a bit more quickly.

But just as each generation should improve on the previous one, bulgur speeds things up even more. It’s made from wheat berries that have been steamed, dried and crushed. The result: a whole grain that looks similar to steel-cut oats but cooks in as little as 10 minutes. That’s why some refer to it as “Middle Eastern pasta.”

What It Tastes Like: Bulgur can be made from durum, hard red, hard white or soft white wheat. The stuff made from durum and white wheat varieties has a golden hue with mild nutty flavor and tender yet chewy texture. Bulgur made with hard red wheat is a tawnier shade and has a heartier consistency and more assertive taste with slightly bitter undertones.

How to Cook It: Bulgur is available in grinds from fine to extra-coarse. The finer the grind, the faster the it cooks. Fine- and medium-grain are what you’ll find most commonly. Prepare fine- or medium-grain bulgur the way you would couscous: bring liquid (water or stock) to a boil, add the bulgur, cover, remove from the heat and let it stand 10-20 minutes. This allows the grains to steam and get tender but not mushy. Many cooks use 2 parts liquid to 1 part bulgur. At , we prefer a 1:1 ratio for cooking fine and medium grains, which creates delightfully fluffy results. For coarser grains, bring liquid to a boil, add the bulgur, cover, reduce the heat and simmer 20-25 minutes or until it’s tender; drain any excess liquid. One cup of uncooked grains yields about 3 cups cooked bulgur.

How to Use It: Bulgur is a great speedy side dish that you can dress up with chopped herbs, vegetables, nuts, dried fruit or whatever else takes your fancy. It’s the basis for the traditional Middle Eastern herb-flecked grain salad, tabbouleh (Greek cuisine has its own version). Middle Eastern cooks also combine it with ground meat for kibbeh (try our version in Spiced Lamb and Bulgur Sliders). You can cook it risotto style, too, and enjoy it for breakfast, which I discovered after accidentally grabbing an unmarked container of bulgur that I thought was steel-cut oats. (It was a happy mistake, since the bulgur cooked much faster.) It’s also a surprisingly good fit with desserts like our Plum Parfaits with Bulgur and Vanilla Yogurt.

Additional Notes: You’ll find bulgur in packages (either near the flour or with other whole grains) at supermarkets and in bulk bins at health-food stores.

Along with convenience, bulgur has some serious nutritional cred. A 3/4-cup portion (the serving size in our lamb tagine recipe here) has 113 calories, a whopping 6 grams of fiber and 4.5 grams of protein. It also offers more than 40% of your daily need for manganese, a humble trace element that helps regulate your metabolism and build bone. That makes bulgur one mighty little grain!

Healthy Made Convenient

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Alison Ashton — 8 Comments ↓

By Alison Ashton

After Hurricane Katrina rolled through the Gulf States five years ago, a friend headed to his family’s home in south Mississippi to clean up the damage. While he was there, the military came by, distributing MRE (meals ready to eat) like they were edible Mardi Gras beads. My friend accepted some and passed them along to his wife, who was my coworker. She brought them to work, where several of us gathered in the communal kitchen to sample some guv’ment fare. It was OK–and probably very welcomed by thousands of overwhelmed souls busy setting up house in FEMA trailers. When time and resources are tight, your definition of “good” broadens” considerably.

At NOURISH Evolution, we advocate cooking from scratch with fresh, whole, seasonal foods. But we also live in the real world, where long days can make getting healthy food on the table for dinner challenging. We’ve offered cook-ahead strategies to stock the freezer, shared speedy recipes that come together faster than ordering a pizza, and suggested equipment like pressure cookers that make quick work of cooking beans and grains.

Sometimes even those are a stretch, though, and it helps to have some of the work done for you. Lately, I’ve notice a wider range of steamed, shelf-stable, refrigerated or frozen legumes, grains, and vegetables that make healthy cooking convenient.

healthy-convenience-post Legumes. I’ve become a fan of vacuum-packed, steamed, ready-to-eat black-eyed peas, lentils, and various kinds of beans distributed nationwide by Melissa’s (I’ve also found refrigerated and shelf-stable varieties at Trader Joe’s). They typically have less sodium than their canned counterparts (rinsing canned beans washes away only about a third of the sodium) and much nicer texture. These steamed legumes are firm and hold their shape.

Whole grains. We’ve sung the praises of Village Harvest’s line of frozen, cooked grains, including quinoa, brown rice, and wild rice. These have terrific texture, and you can pour out what you need and put the rest back in the freezer. (I’ve used the quinoa to speed up preparation of Curry Quinoa Cakes.) Trader Joe’s also has its own label of frozen cooked grains, as well as shelf-stable versions.

Veggies. While I prefer using fresh beets with a big bouquet of greens still attached to make something like Mama Kourtesi’s Beet and Green Salad, there are hectic evenings when I appreciate the convenience of peeled and steamed baby beets that I can add to a salad or slice over pizza. Items like steamed, sliced carrots also are a fast way to add color–and nutrition–to salads and side dishes.

Products like these make it a lot faster to eat healthily on crazy days, but there are some caveats. You’ll pay a premium for the convenience. For instance, a 20-ounce bag of frozen cooked brown rice is $5, which would buy you a 32-ounce bag of uncooked rice (uncooked rice from the bulk bins costs even less). And while many of these items have little or no added salt, others may have more. If salt’s a concern, check the sodium tally on the Nutrition Facts label.

This Mississippi “Caviar” isn’t quite an MRE, but with the help of some ready-to-eat components, it’s close. And it tastes a heck of a lot better, trust me.

A longtime editor, writer, and recipe developer, Alison Ashton is a Cordon Bleu-trained chef and the Editorial Director for NOURISH Evolution. She has worked as a features editor for a national wire service and as senior food editor for a top food magazine. Her work has appeared in Cooking Light, Vegetarian Times, and Natural Health as well as on her blog, Eat Cheap, Eat Well, Eat Up.

Get a New Grain: What is Quinoa?

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Lia Huber — 8 Comments ↓

What the heck is quinoa? You’ve probably heard about quinoa at some point by now—in a magazine, by a chef on a show. But is it really up to the hype? In a word: Yes.

whole-grain-what-is-quinoa-post What it Looks Like: Quinoa kernels look like little flat, ivory beads (red quinoa is a lovely burgundy hue). When cooked, the germ detaches from the grain like a little tail, making the quinoa look like a bowl of tiny commas.

What it Tastes Like: Quinoa is flavorful enough to be interesting, but mild enough to be versatile. It has a nutty note and slight “pop” when you bite into it.

How to Cook it: Unless you buy a box that’s labeled “pre-rinsed,” be sure to rinse the grains well to wash off the bitter saponin coating (a naturally-occurring insect repellent). Just swish them around in a fine-mesh strainer until the water runs clear and there are no suds. To cook, bring 2 cups water or liquid to a boil. Stir in 1 cup quinoa, cover, reduce heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

How to Use it: Quinoa makes gorgeous salads, but it also works as a pilaf, a morning porridge or even in crispy quinoa cakes (see ours below).

Additional Notes: Quinoa is unique in that it’s a “complete protein.” What that means, exactly, is that it contains all seven essential amino acids in correct proportion for our bodies to use effectively, just like it does the proteins in meat or eggs. It is native to South America and was the major source of protein for the ancient Incans.

(For more information on whole grains, see Gotta Get Your Grains.)