Whole Buckwheat Recipes

[nama shivaya]

Hi Out There:

Can/will anyone tell me the best way to prepare buckwheat? I'm trying to keep my digestive system running smoothly and want to eat some things that will help. I have been eating a very selective elimination diet (only meats and veggies) and have found that I need to add some grains, so bought some quinoa and buckwheat but don't really know how to make it tasty. I boiled some buckwheat groats this morning, adding a little butter, salt & pepper with it, but it tasted bad to me. Maybe it's just an acquired taste?

Thanks!!!!!

[miles2go]

Hi Nama,

It may well be an acquired taste. I remember the first time I tried it so long ago, I thought it was a little strange too, but then I was served it another time by someone else who was cooking and I realized that I loved it. So...fwiw, here's the recipe that I use when making kasha at home. It's from my tattered The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas:

1 c. dry buckwheat groats

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 c. boiling water

2 T. butter

salt and fresh-ground black pepper

Stir together the buckwheat groats and the egg. Transfer the mixture to a hot skillet and stir over a high flame until the grains are separate and dry. Add the boiling water, butter, salt and pepper to taste, and stir once more. Cover tightly, lower the flame to a tiny one, and leave to steam for 1/2 hour.

Serves 3 to 4.

My notes: good with maple syrup and milk in the morning.

I think the key for me is toasting the buckwheat before cooking it.

Now, the key to quinoa like I told Marcus, is rinsing it thoroughly before cooking as you need to get the bitter saponins off of the grain. There are lots of recipes for quinoa on the web...and I can't resist plugging my latest favorite cookbook The Splendid Grain by Rebecca Wood. Granted, there are a lot of gluteny recipes in there, but once you learn how to substitute what you can eat with what you can't, the whole cookbook is accessible.

Best of luck and welcome to the board!

Margaret

[nama shivaya]

Thanks!!