Bulk Grains, part finale

Last time we talked about wheatgrass and other seedlings. BTW, did you know you if you plant leaf lettuce, you can pick off the young leaves as it grows and eat them? Your own baby lettuce leaves right at home.

I digress.

Today, I'm going to talk very briefly about using sprouts in cooking. Why would you use sprouts in cooking? Doesn't that kill the little things and destroy their goodness? Well, if you use a low enough heat, you can still retain many of the benefits of sprouts and yet manage to make them delicious. Or you can cook them as usual (with less water perhaps) and manage to get quite a bit of goodness out of them due to the chemical changes that occur through sprouting. There are many different ways to use them, even in things like muffins and pancakes, without a grinder. I will admit, though, that if you want to use them like that, you'll need a blender.

Now for the different ways of using them.

It's incredibly easy to use sprouts in soups. Just chop them up (if necessary) and sprinkle them in. I've found they work best when added at the end. In fact, I'll often omit the grain the recipe calls for and substitute sprouts.

They can also be low-heated by themselves. For example, take some wheat that's been sprouted for about a day and bring to a boil in an equal amount of water. Cover, turn the heat off and let sit in a very well insulated place to retain heat. When most of the wheat has burst (you'll know it when you see it) it's ready. We've found a double boiler works really well if you want to just keep cooking it at a low heat (think steaming, not simmering and you should get the temperature just right). Or you can put it the sprouted wheat in a thermos with boiling water and let it sit overnight. That should do it. Even most crock pots on a low setting will cook it without killing too much of the good stuff (ours doesn't but that's another story).

As for seasonings... we've used bouillions, broths, and bases (mostly vegetable); we've used cayenne for a "hot" cereal and we've also made almond milk and eaten it like a breakfast cereal. Let your imagination soar! I've even used it to make a pilaf by cutting up an onion, sauteeing the onion and wheat with some garlic and any other seasonings in about 2 T of olive oil, adding broth and cooking it at a very gentle simmer until it absorbs the liquid. I got the idea from Making the Best of Basics which has some pretty good ideas for whole grains (works best as a pantry planner though).

If you have a blender and really want to try out some wonderful recipes with your sprouted grain, I highly recommend Sue Gregg's and Traci Sellers' recipes books (links go to their websites). The recipe I'm about to give you now is my absolute favorite pancake recipe (and is used with permission from Traci Sellers). All the other pancake recipes we knew, I had a horrible time with mucus afterward. Pancakes became a no-no every time we came down with colds. We've also found Traci's recipe treats the kids' tummies much better than regular pancakes.

You need:

• 1 1/2 cups minimally sprouted grain (I, Mrs. V., use stuff that's been sprouted about a day) (we use hard red wheat just because we have a lot of it... you can use other kinds... buckwheat makes it look like you added eggs)
• 1 cup water
• 1 T extra virgin olive oil (I swear I can't taste it at all in this recipe)
• 1/2 t sea salt (optional)
• 2 t baking powder

Here are the instructions as written in her recipe book (note: this recipe can also be used to make waffles):

1. Preheat griddle or waffle iron
2. Blend the first 4 ingredients on high until smooth. Add baking powder while still blending and shut off blender. Batter should begin to fluff, do not re-blend if using a Belgian waffle iron.
3. Pour onto preheated non-stick griddle or into waffle iron that has been sprayed with non-stick olive oil spray (Mrs. V: we just use straight olive oil). Cook until bubbles cover one side and then flip for pancakes, or until steam stops escaping iron for waffles (this may take longer than traditional waffles, usually 2 cycles.)

Hint: If cakes or waffles come out too heavy, add a little more water to the batter.

~@~ End recipe

I also highly recommend Traci Seller's recipe book if you're into health food at all. She bases her recipes on Dr. Christopher's mucusless diet, something that has helped us a lot during illnesses, not to mention with overall general health. If you check out her website you'll find a lot more wonderful recipes, including muffins, desserts and main dishes using grain and legume goodness (not to mention nuts and salads and I'd better stop now before this post becomes too long). We've been using her recipe book for some time now in our attempt to eat better and it has made an enormous difference in our health... mostly because it makes healthy eating delicious! :)

I know I'm gushing, but dang it, I love her recipes.

Oh, and one final thing before I end this series. Once, my husband was canning wheat and one of the guys with him was, in his own words, a "farmboy". My husband said he was hungry and the farmboy told him to take a small amount of wheat and put it in his mouth. After letting it sit for a few minutes, my husband was surprised to find it was soft enough to chew. I swear this really happened, though I've got too many mental blocks to doing that myself. But, if worse comes to worse, that's another way of cooking your wheat. :)

I think that's about it for now. I hope you've enjoyed this trip through using grains without a grinder. Enjoy.