Grains!
"Smiles, rainbows, and a grain of rice. I could survive on that!"
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-Anthony T. Hincks
Honestly, I feel bad for grains. They've gotten a bad rap over the past few years. With the rise of low-carb diets, many grains have been nearly vilified and others are seen as a "filler" food, not the star of the show. What often falls by the wayside, however, has been the importance of grain throughout the course of human evolution. Because I feel so strongly about this, I first want to present some information on grains. What they are, how they've helped us, what they offer us now, so on and so forth. If you're not interested in all of this and just want the recipe, no problem. You can use the menu to the left of the page to jump straight down to the recipe and skip all the fluff.
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What Are Grains?
According to Dictionary.com, which had the most straight forward definition for reference, a grain is "a small, hard seed, especially the seed of a food plant such as wheat, corn, rye, oats, rice, or millet (1)."The two main types of grains are cereals and legumes. Cereal grains are grasses that are grown for their edible components - botanically speaking, the part we eat is a special kind of fruit called a caryopsis (2). The commonly accepted major cereals are corn, wheat, rice, barley, sorghum, millet, oats, and rye, with corn, rice, and wheat being the most commonly grown (3). In addition to cereals are pseudocereals, which are any of the non-grasses that are used in the same way as cereal grains (4). Pseudocereals include our good friends quinoa, chia, and buckwheat. There seems to be some discontent in the scientific community about lumping all pseudocereals together, as they are not closely related to each other, and even less so to true cereals (5), but we'll leave that argument to the experts. To avoid wordiness, for the rest of this entry, I'm simply going to refer to cereal grains and pseudocereals collectively as "grains." Oh, yeah. Also, we'll touch more on legume is over in the basic pot of beans recipe.
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One thing that is absolutely imperative to understand about grains and their importance is that they're grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop (6), with wheat and rice alone accounting for over 50% of the world's cereal production (7). In many parts of the world, grains comprise the bulk of what communities eat. And that brings me to the next part of this entry...
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Grains and Our Evolution
You may recall from middle school social studies that the region referred to as the Fertile Crescent is considered to be the "Cradle of Civilization (8)." This region curves from the Persian Gulf, through modern-day southern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Isreal, and into northern Egypt and has been long recognized for its vital contributions to world culture. Numerous ancient civilizations stemming from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant survived and thrived thanks to the Fertile Crescent. Some names that most of us recognize include the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, and Phonecians.
First populated from around 10,000 BCE, the Fertile Crescent offers the earliest known archaeological evidence of developments in agriculture, urbanization, writing, trade, science, organized religion, and history (9). Now, as an archaeology nerd I could go on for days about all of the amazing things that have come out of the Fertile Crescent, from the Sumer to Cuneiform, from Eridu to Uruk, but we're not here to learn about our amazing origins. We're here to talk about grain.
To get to the beginning, though, we have to go back a bit further. Like, around 95,000 years further. We all know that bread has been a staple food for basically every civilization as far back as we know, but somewhat recently scientists discovered that our Upper Paleolithic ancestors were eating starchy, cereal-based snacks as early as 105,000 years ago (10). Grass seed residue found on ancient African stone tools helped us add cereal grains to the early prehistoric gastronomic picture. That makes it far less surprising that our ancestors eventually ushered in the neolithic era by eschewing their long-standing nomadic hunter-gatherer bands and transitioning into agricultural settlements. There are several theories about what sparked the Agricultural Revolution, such as the end of the last Ice Age, around 14,000 years ago, driving the change (11), but one of the strongest is that grain convinced ancient humans to settle down and build their life around agriculture (12). A quick aside, here: there is ample evidence that early grain harvesting was motivated not in order to bake bread, but to brew beer (13)!
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Recall, if you will, that that grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop. Is there any question, then, how newly settled civilizations proliferated from small troops to enormous metropolitan regions in such a short period of time (speaking in human evolutionary terms)? By tapping into this nutrient- and energy-dense resource and eventually developing the necessary knowledge to store the grain for use during less productive seasons, we significantly reduced the strain put on ourselves that came with foraging and hunting.
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So, what's the point of all of this? Just to help everyone remember that grains are our friends. Without them, we quite literally would not be the people we are today.
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Nutritional Benefits of Grains
Having now established that grains have played a major role in bringing humans to the point we're at today, I'd like to discuss a bit about why they're still an essential part of a healthy diet. First, though, a caveat: I begrudge nobody their food choices, particularly if they are making educated, informed decisions. Diets such as the Atkins Diet and its more recent mutation, the Ketogenic diet, have done wonders for lots of people, though there is ample evidence that they are difficult to sustain long-term and may come with some pretty severe risks, high cholesterol, renal issues, kidney stones, and osteoporosis among them. I don't like when people judge my dietary choices, however, and I do my best to not judge others'. Nonetheless, it is important to always consult with a doctor or nutritionist before making a dietary change since, as we all know, food very much affects your health.
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It is very worth saying, though, that low-carb vegan can quickly become detrimental and boring. Many great vegan proteins are also high in carbohydrates, and lots of these, as you may expect, are some form of grain. I'll do a post on high-protein, plant-based options in the future, but just to name a few: quinoa (70% carbs, 16% protein), oats (66% carbs, 16% protein), lentils (67% carbs, 30% protein), garbanzo beans/chickpeas (68% carbs, 21% protein), edamame (35% carbs, 35% protein), green peas (75% carbs, 25% protein) and tempeh (30% carbs, 45% protein). Is it possible to cut carbs and still get everything else you need on a vegan diet? Sure. Is it easy, sustainable, or fun? Personally, I'd say no.
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That said, grains - especially whole - come with a mess of nutritional benefits. Grains are an important source of many nutrients, including fiber; the B vitamins thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and folate; and minerals, to include iron, magnesium, and selenium (14). Fiber helps reduce blood cholesterol, helps keep you feeling satiated for longer, and may lower the risk of heart disease. B vitamins are necessary to assist the body release energy from protein, fat, and carbohydrates - the three macronutrients that can make or break you. The included minerals are also essential: iron is used to carry oxygen in the blood, magnesium is used in building bones and releasing energy from muscles, and selenium is important for proper immune functions. Grains such as flaxseed and oatmeal also contain phytochemicals that are thought to have additional health benefits when part of a balanced diet.
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Whole Grains
Now, I'm sure every reader has heard the phrase "whole grains" and most of y'all have probably heard that health experts advise everyone to eat at least half of their grains as whole grains. But what the fuck are whole grains?
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According to the Whole Grain Council: "All grains start life as whole grains. In their natural state growing in the fields, whole grains are the entire seed of a plant. This seed (which industry calls a 'kernel') is made up of three key edible parts - the bran, the germ, and the endosperm - protected by an inedible husk that protects the kernel from assaults by sunlight, pests, water, and disease (15)."
Whole grains contain all three parts of the kernel, whereas grains that have been refined have had the germ and bran removed, leaving only the endosperm. By removing the bran and the germ, however, about a quarter of the grain's protein is lost and up to seventeen key nutrients are greatly reduced. Generally, processors will add back in some vitamins and minerals to enrich the refined grains, so they still contribute valuable nutrients to your diet, but whole grains are overall healthier, provide more protein, more fiber, and more vitamins and minerals. The Whole Grain Council offers this graphic to show what's lost during the refining process, and this one that specifically addresses rice.
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So, which grains are whole grains, then? Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, whole grains currently make up less than half of all grains on supermarket shelves, though that's slowly changing. Our good friends at the Whole Grains Council have put together this handy Whole Grain Product Finder that you can always use for reference, but for when you can't whip out the internet, here are some basic guidelines to help you determine if something is a whole grain.
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First, and definitely the easiest, look for the whole grain stamp! Packaging, as many of us are well aware, can be confusing or misleading - just because an item says it contains whole grains, doesn't necessarily mean that's the case. Fortunately, the Whole Grain Council (yeah, they're back again!) took the time to research and develop this stamp which indicates that a food contains whole grains, as well as providing a little bit of additional information. According to their website, this stamp appears on over 11,000 products and is in use in at least 56 countries around the globe.
There are a few different stamps that you'll see - the 100% stamp, the 50% stamp, and the basic stamp...
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If a product has the 100% Stamp, which has an extra banner that says "100%", then all its grain ingredients are whole grain. These items must have at least 16 grams of whole grain per labeled serving.
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If a product has the 50% Stamp, which will say "50%" in the banner, then at least half of its grain ingredients are whole grain. These items must have at least 8 grams of whole grain per labeled serving.
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If a product has the Basic Stamp, it contains at least 8 grams (half a serving) of whole grains but may contain more refined grains than whole.
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Easy enough, right? You can find more information on the stamps here.
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Not every whole grain product will necessarily bear this stamp, however. In cases like these, turn to the ingredients label. If you see "100% whole wheat," you're good to go. Other language that indicates the product contains all parts of the grain include:
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Whole wheat
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Whole [name of grain]
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Stoneground whole [name of grain]
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Brown Rice
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Oats, oatmeal (including old-fashioned oatmeal and instant oatmeal)
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Wheatberries
Some terminology can be a bit confusing, so be aware that the below list of words, while accurate descriptions of package contents, do not always mean that an item contains all parts of the grain. They may be whole, but without clarification, these items may lack the benefits of whole grains:
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Wheat, or wheat flour
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Semolina
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Durum wheat
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Organic flour
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Stoneground
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Multigrain (may describe several refined grains, or a mix of both)
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Some foods, such as bread, may contain more than just grain products. In these cases, you can check the order of ingredients. Packaging labels list ingredients in the order of their proportion in the product. That means that if the first grain ingredient (if there are multiple) is listed as "whole [name of grain]" it will be predominantly whole grain. If, however, the second grain ingredient is listed as a whole grain, that means the product may contain as little as 1% or as much as 49% whole grain. On this tip, the good folks over at Treehugger provide a note that "[t]he only problem with the advice above is that something could have a variety of whole grains that comprise most of the product, but individually they might not make it as the top ingredient. So for example, a multi-grain bread could have 70 percent mixed whole grains and 30 percent refined flour – but if none of the whole grains individually comprise 30 percent, the refined flour would take the top spot. Which is why hopefully this product received a stamp from the Whole Grains Council to clear up the mystery (16)."
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The Method
Now, I'll admit, my technique for cooking grains is a bit, shall we say, avant-garde. Most directions you'll find call for fancy things like "specific measurements," but ain't nobody got time for that. Quite honestly, I was never able to get the results I wanted by following ratios and proportions, so I set out to find something I was less likely to ruin. The first few times I tried the below technique I was just waiting for something to go awry but after using it over and over with desirable results each time, I decided this was going to be my go-to. The best thing about this technique is that it can be used for nearly any grain without having to remember ratios or proportions ("wait, this is long-grain brown rice, do I need more or less water than short-grain?") and as long as you keep time and half an eye on the pot, you'll get the same results that more-skilled-than-myself grain cookers get on the regular.
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So, what's the deal? It's easy, really! By using this super simple formula, you can get fluffy rice, tender kamut, and perfect quinoa.
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Grains + big ol' pot of salted, boiling water + time = new star of the show.
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What's the definition of "big ol' pot?" Exactly what it sounds like. Just take a big ol' pot, fill it with water, salt that sucker, and bring it to a strong, rolling boil. I'm talking stock pot-sized here. Way more water than you'll find in any reasonable recipe. Once you get the big bubbles, toss in your grains, bring the heat down to a simmer, and let them go for the package-recommended amount of time. No need to cover the pot, just let it go, and check on the grains every now and then. Usually, I'll check after about 50% - 75% of the recommended time, depending on how long the boil is, just to make sure things are in good condition. Older grains sometimes take longer to cook and some brands seem to go faster than others, so checking periodically helps you make sure you're on track and really alleviates nervousness and skepticism the first few times using this technique or trying a new grain.
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"Now wait a minute," you might be thinking, "that sounds an awful lot like boiling pasta!" Well, guess what? Bingo! Think about it, how many times have you tried your basmati after letting 1 cup of the stuff boil with 1.75 cups of water for 15 - 20 minutes only to find that it's still crunchy in the center? Or, worse, gummy but with no extra water to drain off? Maybe you could let it sit a little longer, but then it will probably just burn on the bottom, and what if it's still weird at the end? Should you just throw it all out and start again? Well, worry no more! The lovely thing about boiling your grains in a whole mess of water, you will never need to add more, and once you get the mouth feel you're looking for you can drain, fluff, dry, and chill (more on this below). I used to have a lot of trouble with white rice and quinoa sticking together and being gummy, but there's enough space in the pot with this technique that this is no longer an issue. The grains have extra room to expand, move about, and make new friends, so they're generally happier by the end.
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There are a couple of things you can do to your grains to add a little more jazz to 'em.
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Try toasting your grains, for example. This is so super easy, adds an incredible depth to the dish, and doesn't have to take a whole lot of extra time. If you're in a pinch, just toss your grains in a pot over medium heat and stir them about for 2 - 5 minutes. You can tell when they're good to go because they'll begin to smell a bit nutty. Be careful to not burn them, though, as that will certainly mess up your dish. If you're trying to cut back on dishes, no problem. Use the pot you're going to boil the water in, and transfer the grains to a dish when you're done toasting - I just use whatever I'm planning to serve on. Alternatively, and if you have a bit more time, spread the grain out on a rimmed baking sheet (you don't want a single buddy to go rogue and start an issue by hopping off the sheet into the bottom of your oven) and toasting them at 350 degrees for 10 - 15 minutes until lightly browned. If this just doesn't seem like your jam, no problem, you can certainly skip it.
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Include aromatics. Grains will notoriously suck up anything that you throw at them. Try adding woody herbs like rosemary or thyme, or true aromatics like bay leaves, onion, or (my favorite) garlic. Just let them boil along with the grains and use a slotted spoon to pull them out before draining - or don't, sometimes that can be fun, too.
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Chill your grains before serving. I'll openly admit that I rarely do this, but chilling your grains for around 30 minutes before serving helps them stay fluffy and keeps them from sticking. Once you drain the grains, just lay them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pop them in the fridge. Beyond saving you from mushy grains, allowing them to dry helps sauces stick. It takes a little extra planning, hence why I don't often do it, but it really does make a delicious difference.
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