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I was to start out with a big thank you to Isabella who walked me through the bulk food and the deli areas at Outpost, answering all my question for the vegan experiment today. My friends sent me a ton of links and such yesterday when I announced my intention for my health sake to attempt to make my diet more vegan. Well see if this change of diet will have me feeling better than I have been. I’m thinking about making my vegan experiment a separate blog so I don’t bore folks here…what do ya’ll think?
Isabella gave me a pamphlet on some grains, and so I thought I'd discuss some of these grain options. I was in fact surprised how many of these I was familiar with already, more than I’d thought I would be.
1) Amaranth which is high in protein, iron, zinc, and calcium is said to have a nutty taste and is often used in muffins, bread, and porridges. It’s listed as a grain often found in Aztec foods, but I know I ran across it in my research in precolinized Africa for my WIP Path of the Huntress. I found this fun video on making a “Summer Berry and Amaranth Crisp” from Urban free range. Now I’ll likely not be toasting up raw amaranth myself, but getting it at the store if I can, but this is still interesting. On its own 1 cup of dry amaranth and 3 cups of water cooked for about 25 mins makes about 2 ½ cups at 122 calories. This seems to have less gluten then many of the other grains.
THE RECIPE
Summer Berry Amaranth Crisp
serving size: 8 servings
prep time: 20 minutes + 1 hour to macerate berries
baking time: 30-45 minutes
Berry mixture:
2 pints summer berries ( alone or a combination of blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, or black currant )
½ -1 teaspoon finely minced lavender leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
Crisp mixture:
1 stick or 8 tablespoons, cold unsalted fresh butter
3/4 cup organic rolled oats
6 tablespoons unbleached flour
3-5 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon wheat germ
3 teaspoons flax seed
1/4 -½ cup chopped nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts)
2 teaspoons toasted amaranth, or green pigweed seed*
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/4-1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
Gently combine the ingredients of the berry mixture in a non-porous bowl, and set aside for an hour. If pressed for time, just allow berries to macerate in the sugar/lavender combo while preparing crisp ingredients.
For the crisp mixture, using clean fingers, combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, being careful to evenly distribute all ingredients.
Fold berries into a buttered baking dish or baking crock. Crumble crisp topping over the berry mixture, making sure to evenly cover the berry mixture.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until the berry mixture bubbles and the crisp topping is a deep, golden brown. Cool slightly and serve with homemade vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
* To toast amaranth seeds, place in ungreased/unoiled iron skillet over medium heat until the seeds crackle, or pop
2) Whole barley is a great source of fiber, less so with the pearled variety. I can personally attest to this being great added to soups and stews. Yummy. 1 cup of barley in 3 cups of water takes about 55 mins to cook well (less if you soak it overnight) and yeils around 3 cups of grain at 117 calories. I found a nifty vid on cooking barely that makes it easy to follow, and even mentioned toasting it a bit before adding the liquid (I’ll be using veggie stock with some of my fav spice in it). Here’s also a great page that talk about barley.
3) Buckwheat groats is also something I’ve tried before I remember liking. I was surprised to learn instead of being a grain, it’s a member of the rhubarb family. Because of this it has no gluten. It’s also very high in protein. The toasted grouts are called kasha and are nummy. You use twice the water as the dry grouts and it takes 15 – 25 mins to cook. The end result is 2 ½ cups at 103 calories. Here’s a great link.
4) Corn is one of my favs but it hard for me at times to remember it’s a grain, not a veggie. It’s also a great source of vitamin A. Blue corn has more manganese and potassium then white and yellow. Most of the corn I use it on the cob, or the kernels added to food, but I do use the cornmeal at times.
5) Kamut is supposed to be less allergenic than other forms of wheat, though I have never personally tried it. It’s supposed to be good in cereal, baked goods, and as a snack in trail mix. I’m thinking about looking into trying kamut bread. I found a recipe, though will have to alter a few ingredients to stick to the vegan diet.
Kamut Bread Recipe
Ingredients:
1 c hot water
2 c white bread flour
1 ½ Tbs Butter (maybe use a nut butter instead?)
2 Tbs Powder milk (no clue on this one unless I can get powdered soy or rice milk)
1 ½ tsp salt
¼ c packed brown sugar
1 c kamut flour
1 ½ tsp quick rise yeast
2 Tbs Blackstrap molasses
In the Bread Machine:
Place hot water in bread machine first, then place dry ingredients, except quick rise yeast, in a bowl and mix.
Put the dry ingredients in the bread maker.
Make a little well in the dry ingredients and place yeast in well.
Make on the whole wheat setting.
6) Millet is another grain I’ve had before that it liked and seem to remember not having gluten in it. I’ve also come to find it’s not only low in allergens, but it’s high in iron and protein. One cup in 3 cups of water cook in about 45 mins, and makes 3 12/2 cups of grain at only 85 calories. Not bad at all. It can be added to baked good, stews, or even as a cereal by itself. Here’s a great link I found about millet use.
7) Then there are oats. Now I’ve been eating variants of oats all my life and often use oat flour for baking, but I doubt I’ve had a lot of whole oats or what is called oat groats. Steel cut it’s said are good for cereal, and the grouts added cooked to stews and soups. I like the taste of oat in general, even oat milk. From the chart I have it looks like oat groats need half the water to cook (2 cups water instead of 4 per cup of dry) and need to be cooked about 45 mins to an hour. For steal cut the cooking time is 40 - 45 mins. They both yield about 3 cups. Cooking times can be reduced by an overnight soak.
8) Today I had my first taste of quinoa (keen-wa) and it was pretty nice. I liked the texture. It was cute, all curly looking among the green and almonds of my spinach quinoa salad. For cooking twice the amount of water from dry grain is used and the cooking time is only 15 mins to yield 3 cups. At 159 calories it the higher of the grains I’m looked at, but it’s very high in protein. It must be rinsed well before cooking or it’s bitter. Here's a useful page on this.
9) When I think of rye, I think of bread only, but it’s more than that. The berries are high in manganese and can even be added to stir-fry. They are best soaked overnight to lesson cooking time which is around an hous for one cup of dry in 4 cups of water. Rolled rye which can be used to make cereal, take about half the water and 15-20 mins to cook. It make 2 1/3 cups of grain and is only about 71 calories.
10) Spelt is a high in protein hybrid wheat that has more fiber than regular wheat. It can be used in equal parts to replace wheat for folks with wheat allergies. One cup of dry and 3-4 cups of water make 2 cups of spelt at 145 calories. I find myself wondering how this might work in a fry bread situation. Even though wheat can be rough on me I don’t want to give up my beloved fry bread.
11) Maybe it’s just me but the name triticale sound like some creature out of the original Star Trek. In fact triticale it is a man-made grain, somewhere in taste it’s said between rye and wheat. Triticale is most commonly found in flour, but can be also used in flakes or berries.
12) I’ve heard of couscous before, might have even tired it, but didn’t know that much about what it was. It’s high in protein and cook quickly in about 15 mins. Two and a half cups of water to one cup dry yield about 3 cups of grain. It’s higher calorie, about 180.
13) Lastly is wheat which it seems has many variants. Bulgar, also made from whole wheat berries that have been steamed, dried, and cracked to be used in stuffing and even burgers. Cracked wheat are wheat berries coarsely milled. Most variations of wheat can be used in bread, or other recipes that come from grain, though many people like be are sensitive to it.
There’s my list of grains from the very very useful pamphlet Isabella gave me today. I learned a lot and have many option of things to try and use to add more healthy grains to my diet. Yum! I noticed the sheet didn't say anything about rice, so I guess that's mote research for another time.
Isabella gave me a pamphlet on some grains, and so I thought I'd discuss some of these grain options. I was in fact surprised how many of these I was familiar with already, more than I’d thought I would be.
1) Amaranth which is high in protein, iron, zinc, and calcium is said to have a nutty taste and is often used in muffins, bread, and porridges. It’s listed as a grain often found in Aztec foods, but I know I ran across it in my research in precolinized Africa for my WIP Path of the Huntress. I found this fun video on making a “Summer Berry and Amaranth Crisp” from Urban free range. Now I’ll likely not be toasting up raw amaranth myself, but getting it at the store if I can, but this is still interesting. On its own 1 cup of dry amaranth and 3 cups of water cooked for about 25 mins makes about 2 ½ cups at 122 calories. This seems to have less gluten then many of the other grains.
THE RECIPE
Summer Berry Amaranth Crisp
serving size: 8 servings
prep time: 20 minutes + 1 hour to macerate berries
baking time: 30-45 minutes
Berry mixture:
2 pints summer berries ( alone or a combination of blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, or black currant )
½ -1 teaspoon finely minced lavender leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
Crisp mixture:
1 stick or 8 tablespoons, cold unsalted fresh butter
3/4 cup organic rolled oats
6 tablespoons unbleached flour
3-5 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon wheat germ
3 teaspoons flax seed
1/4 -½ cup chopped nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts)
2 teaspoons toasted amaranth, or green pigweed seed*
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/4-1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
Gently combine the ingredients of the berry mixture in a non-porous bowl, and set aside for an hour. If pressed for time, just allow berries to macerate in the sugar/lavender combo while preparing crisp ingredients.
For the crisp mixture, using clean fingers, combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, being careful to evenly distribute all ingredients.
Fold berries into a buttered baking dish or baking crock. Crumble crisp topping over the berry mixture, making sure to evenly cover the berry mixture.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until the berry mixture bubbles and the crisp topping is a deep, golden brown. Cool slightly and serve with homemade vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
* To toast amaranth seeds, place in ungreased/unoiled iron skillet over medium heat until the seeds crackle, or pop
2) Whole barley is a great source of fiber, less so with the pearled variety. I can personally attest to this being great added to soups and stews. Yummy. 1 cup of barley in 3 cups of water takes about 55 mins to cook well (less if you soak it overnight) and yeils around 3 cups of grain at 117 calories. I found a nifty vid on cooking barely that makes it easy to follow, and even mentioned toasting it a bit before adding the liquid (I’ll be using veggie stock with some of my fav spice in it). Here’s also a great page that talk about barley.
3) Buckwheat groats is also something I’ve tried before I remember liking. I was surprised to learn instead of being a grain, it’s a member of the rhubarb family. Because of this it has no gluten. It’s also very high in protein. The toasted grouts are called kasha and are nummy. You use twice the water as the dry grouts and it takes 15 – 25 mins to cook. The end result is 2 ½ cups at 103 calories. Here’s a great link.
4) Corn is one of my favs but it hard for me at times to remember it’s a grain, not a veggie. It’s also a great source of vitamin A. Blue corn has more manganese and potassium then white and yellow. Most of the corn I use it on the cob, or the kernels added to food, but I do use the cornmeal at times.
5) Kamut is supposed to be less allergenic than other forms of wheat, though I have never personally tried it. It’s supposed to be good in cereal, baked goods, and as a snack in trail mix. I’m thinking about looking into trying kamut bread. I found a recipe, though will have to alter a few ingredients to stick to the vegan diet.
Kamut Bread Recipe
Ingredients:
1 c hot water
2 c white bread flour
1 ½ Tbs Butter (maybe use a nut butter instead?)
2 Tbs Powder milk (no clue on this one unless I can get powdered soy or rice milk)
1 ½ tsp salt
¼ c packed brown sugar
1 c kamut flour
1 ½ tsp quick rise yeast
2 Tbs Blackstrap molasses
In the Bread Machine:
Place hot water in bread machine first, then place dry ingredients, except quick rise yeast, in a bowl and mix.
Put the dry ingredients in the bread maker.
Make a little well in the dry ingredients and place yeast in well.
Make on the whole wheat setting.
6) Millet is another grain I’ve had before that it liked and seem to remember not having gluten in it. I’ve also come to find it’s not only low in allergens, but it’s high in iron and protein. One cup in 3 cups of water cook in about 45 mins, and makes 3 12/2 cups of grain at only 85 calories. Not bad at all. It can be added to baked good, stews, or even as a cereal by itself. Here’s a great link I found about millet use.
7) Then there are oats. Now I’ve been eating variants of oats all my life and often use oat flour for baking, but I doubt I’ve had a lot of whole oats or what is called oat groats. Steel cut it’s said are good for cereal, and the grouts added cooked to stews and soups. I like the taste of oat in general, even oat milk. From the chart I have it looks like oat groats need half the water to cook (2 cups water instead of 4 per cup of dry) and need to be cooked about 45 mins to an hour. For steal cut the cooking time is 40 - 45 mins. They both yield about 3 cups. Cooking times can be reduced by an overnight soak.
8) Today I had my first taste of quinoa (keen-wa) and it was pretty nice. I liked the texture. It was cute, all curly looking among the green and almonds of my spinach quinoa salad. For cooking twice the amount of water from dry grain is used and the cooking time is only 15 mins to yield 3 cups. At 159 calories it the higher of the grains I’m looked at, but it’s very high in protein. It must be rinsed well before cooking or it’s bitter. Here's a useful page on this.
9) When I think of rye, I think of bread only, but it’s more than that. The berries are high in manganese and can even be added to stir-fry. They are best soaked overnight to lesson cooking time which is around an hous for one cup of dry in 4 cups of water. Rolled rye which can be used to make cereal, take about half the water and 15-20 mins to cook. It make 2 1/3 cups of grain and is only about 71 calories.
10) Spelt is a high in protein hybrid wheat that has more fiber than regular wheat. It can be used in equal parts to replace wheat for folks with wheat allergies. One cup of dry and 3-4 cups of water make 2 cups of spelt at 145 calories. I find myself wondering how this might work in a fry bread situation. Even though wheat can be rough on me I don’t want to give up my beloved fry bread.
11) Maybe it’s just me but the name triticale sound like some creature out of the original Star Trek. In fact triticale it is a man-made grain, somewhere in taste it’s said between rye and wheat. Triticale is most commonly found in flour, but can be also used in flakes or berries.
12) I’ve heard of couscous before, might have even tired it, but didn’t know that much about what it was. It’s high in protein and cook quickly in about 15 mins. Two and a half cups of water to one cup dry yield about 3 cups of grain. It’s higher calorie, about 180.
13) Lastly is wheat which it seems has many variants. Bulgar, also made from whole wheat berries that have been steamed, dried, and cracked to be used in stuffing and even burgers. Cracked wheat are wheat berries coarsely milled. Most variations of wheat can be used in bread, or other recipes that come from grain, though many people like be are sensitive to it.
There’s my list of grains from the very very useful pamphlet Isabella gave me today. I learned a lot and have many option of things to try and use to add more healthy grains to my diet. Yum! I noticed the sheet didn't say anything about rice, so I guess that's mote research for another time.
From:
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I say don't start another journal unless you plan to write as much about food as you do everything else. However, your journal = your decision.
IIRC, milk powder added to bread dough is meant to increase the amount of protein. Not sure what to substitute for it. You can buy vegan (soy) margarine, though.
Excellent resource: the Vegetarian Resource Group.
From:
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