What fun food is!

Every Tuesday I spend a couple of hours with some wonderful women culminating in lunch at Whole Foods or a similar eating establishment. Yesterday many of us enjoyed grains one form or another, most often quinoa, cous cous or wheat berries. It was great fun.

I had a quinoa mixture that included spinach, pepper, onion and of course quinoa cooked in a vegetable or chicken broth with pine nuts added for additional texture. It was fabulous. At home I would have added basil or rosemary for an additional flavor but even as is it was terrific.

I continue to be impressed with the availability of alternative grains to the general population. While many of my friends are not "foodies" they are familiar with things such as quinoa, kasha, millet and cous cous and love them. We also often gravitate to polenta and whole wheat pasta as well. Our experience has been to consume a combination of quinoa, chick peas, cous cous and other grains with vegetables such as garlic, peppers and tomatoes both hot and cold. Cheese is often a welcome addition.

If you think any of these grains are difficult to either cook or eat you are mistaken. Cous cous is simply a form of pasta, typically it is not a whole grain but recently you can get cous cous in whole grain form. That simpy means that all three parts of the grain are included in the milling of this food. For those not familiar cous cous is a small circular pasta like shape and yes it is wheat although the gluten free folks have developed a similar product

I love polenta! While I can't say my family agrees, polenta based on corn and corn type products is wonderful. I add onion, garlic, peppers and whatever else is available. Remember that corn and anything made from it is gluten free. However cornbread is half corn and half wheat so that doesn't. comply. Let me know where you and your family falls and I'll be happy to give some suggstions as well as recipes that meet your needs. Many of the alternative grains including quinoa and wheat berries are available on line. Try googling the name of the grain (quinoa, wheat berry, millet, buckwheat groats, etc) as well as bobsredmill.com as they provide a number of products that might meet your needs.

In the meantime experiment with cornmeal and wheat berries to achieve wonderful whole grain alternatives. One of my favorites is wheat berry chili. http://wheatfoods.org/Wheat-Berry-Chili.177.1.htm) The recipe is available on the Wheat Foods Council website. The only precaution is to prepare the wheat berries so they are ready to be included. But it is worth it. By far this is the best chili recipe around and not only whole grain but really really whole grain with lots of fiber, bran and other phytonutrients. Enjoy!

Happy Healthy Eating!
Marcia