15 Unique Grains You Should Be Eating
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There’s a good reason your parents pushed you to eat your breakfast cereal or oatmeal starting at a young age. Consuming whole grains on a regular basis has been found to reduce the risk of type two diabetes, colorectal cancer, heart disease, and obesity. Whole grains provide a tremendous amount of important nutrients, from fiber to vitamin B12, to several minerals. One of the most important parts of a whole grain is the outer coating, which contains all of the fiber. Unfortunately, when you eat “white carbs” like white rice, bread, or pasta, that bran has been removed during the refining process, which is why such foods can lead to issues like bloat and constipation. Whole grains need to remain intact in order to deliver all of their benefits.
There is a whole world of whole grains beyond brown rice and oatmeal. Familiarizing yourself with it can help inspire you to try new recipes, and can give you some interesting side dishes, bases, and add-ons to some of your already favorite foods. During a time when so many are cooking most of their meals at home right now because of a pandemic, we can all use a little help finding new inspiration in the kitchen. Here are unique grains you should be eating more of.
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Bulgur
You’ve likely encountered Bulgur in the Mediterranean dish Tabbouleh – a grain-centric salad containing lemon juice, parsley, mint, and other spices. It also makes a nice thickening agent for homemade veggie patties or tastes great as your stuffing in stuffed peppers. It’s an excellent source of manganese, iron, and magnesium, as well as fiber.
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Sorghum
The culinary community recently picked up on how great Sorghum is – for a long time it was mostly fed to livestock. But it’s beloved in the gluten-free community, and a good alternative to couscous. You can also pop it, like popcorn. It’s rich in phosphorus, zinc, and antioxidants. Half a cup of the uncooked stuff provides 10 grams of protein.
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Farro
You may not have noticed the last time you ate Farro, since it’s often hidden away in sausage. Sometimes it’s added to vegetable soups, too. It makes a nice base for your risotto, or as a simple way to bulk up a kale salad. One cup of the stuff delivers seven grams of protein and seven grams of fiber, in about 200 calories.
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Kamut
Kamut offers 11 grams of protein per cup, along with 30 percent of your daily recommended value of fiber, and 20 percent of your DRV of phosphorus. It’s rather bulky when cooked, so it’s a nice addition to things like cucumber salads, but it’s also often used to make cheesy casseroles, porridge, or broth-based soups.
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Rye berries
You’ve likely come across rye in rye bread, but you aren’t limited to eating its flour – you can also eat the rye berries. When cooked, it goes well in pilafs and soups. It’s also loaded with fiber, as well as antioxidants. If you really love rye, you can add rye berries to baked goods using rye flour.
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Teff
Teff is actually a type of millet, and those with Celiac can enjoy it because it’s gluten-free. It’s very rich in calcium and iron. Small but fluffy when cooked, it makes great pilaf or porridge because it goes equally good with sweet and savory ingredients. It’s also the base of Indian Injera bread and goes great in homemade energy bars.
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Freekeh
Freekeh has four times the fiber of brown rice and is also rich in immunity-boosting selenium. Its prebiotic properties help your gut develop healthy bacteria for better digestion, too. Due to their slightly nutty taste, they taste great in soups and stews or can be added cold to salads. They’re good in most recipes that you’d traditionally use rice or barely in.
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Whole-wheat couscous
You likely already knew about couscous – the problem is that when you get it at restaurants or find it in most grocery stores, it’s white couscous, meaning it’s been refined and stripped of its best nutrients. Whole-grain couscous is high in fiber and great for blood sugar regulation. It’s delicious with just some simple olive oil, mint, and lemon juice as a side dish.
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Amaranth
Like Teff, Amaranth grains are very small, which makes them quite versatile. You can use it to make porridge, use it as a thickening agent in meatballs, or use it instead of Bulgur in Tabbouleh. Some consider this gluten-free grain to be a superfood because it’s so rich in several vitamins and minerals like vitamin B6, iron, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc.
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Red rice
You know about white rice, brown rice, and possibly black rice, but did you know about red rice? Red rice is rich in anthocyanin – the same stuff that gives blueberries and black rice their dark color. It’s a good source of soluble and insoluble fiber, and some cultures use it in holistic medicine to treat digestive disorders. It tastes great in most recipes you’d use brown or white rice for, so it’s an easy new grain to try.
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Triticale
Triticale is admittedly lab-made. It’s a hybrid of wheat and rye and often found in breakfast cereals. You can either eat the triticale berries whole, or you’ll find it in flour form. It has 50 percent more fiber than either of its parent grains, and significant levels of iron, copper, and folic acid. Its thick, nutty berries are good in soups, salads, and stews.
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Fonio
Fonio is another type of tiny millet. It’s loaded with amino acids, particularly cystine – which your body uses to build your skin, hair, and nails. Light and fluffy when cooked, it’s often used in meatballs, as well as porridge. It’s gluten-free and has an earthy flavor, as well as a texture similar to couscous, which also makes it a good side dish.
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Spelt
You’ll either eat spelt berries if you’re looking for a way to eat it pure, or you may find the more refined version of it in spelt flour. Its rich flavor and thick shape make it good to add to burger patties or meat stews. If you do buy spelt flour, just one-fourth a cup will give you five grams of protein and four grams of fiber.
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Buckwheat groats
When we think of Buckwheat, we may think of the Buckwheat flour found in pancakes. But the groats are the hulled seed of the plant that you can cook and eat whole. Buckwheat groats are high in fiber and free of gluten and contain something called rutin, which strengthens blood vessel walls. They go well in a stir fry or can be soaked overnight in milk for no-cook oat bowls.
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Einkorn
Einkorn is allegedly the oldest type of wheat. It’s extremely rich in riboflavin, vitamins A and B6, zinc, iron, potassium, and antioxidants. To cook it, you use a two to one water to grain ratio, just like with rice. Its flour is quite versatile and is just as good for pie crusts as it is for waffles, while its bulky berries make a good base for grain bowls.
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