As a chef and educator, I get asked all the time about healthy grains. Some of the healthiest grains are amaranth, barley, buckwheat, corn, kaniwa, millet, oats, quinoa, rice, teff, and wheat.
Speaking very generally, there are two schools of thoughts about grains: one believes that grains can be a healthy part of a plant-based or clean-eating diet. But the other school believes that grains are terrible for our body and we should avoid grains at all costs.
While I’m no doctor and I definitely encourage people to eat what feels best for their body and/or what their medical practitioner recommends, I’m firmly in the camp that thinks grains areawesome!
Below we’ll look at 11 grains you can add into your diet, why they can be really good for you, and some cooking tips about each.
What Are Healthy Grains?
A grain is the edible seed of a grass: wheat, oats, corn, rice, barley, kamut, and spelt all fall into this category. These cereal grains are harvested, dried, and stored until they make their way into bulk bins or are ground into flour to make bread, pasta, cornmeal, polenta, oats, and so much more.
Then there is a class of foods namedpseudo-grains种子像谷物一样被食用,但它们来自不同的家族——它们不是草。这种非植物类食物包括藜麦、荞麦、苋菜和奇亚籽。
Generally speaking, pseudo-grains are gluten-free, so those living without gluten can (usually) safely consume these foods without issue. These can be eaten whole, or ground into flours and processed into other foods, like buckwheat noodles or quinoa flakes.
Qualities That Make For A Healthy Grain
As long as you don’t have any food allergies – including an allergy to gluten – all of these grains in their whole form can be considered healthy. Almost all whole grains and pseudo-grains arean excellent source of fiber,这是整体健康的关键。
Many grains are alsoan excellent source of minerals, vitamins, and are an often inexpensive way to add bulk to your meal. And perhaps surprisingly, all grains (and especially pseudo-grains)contain high amounts of plant-based protein.
Below we’ll share some details about healthy grain options, along with their specific health benefits, basic cooking directions, and a few recipes to get you started!
Amaranth
Amaranth is a pseudo-grain that produces edible leaves and seeds. It’s a huge family of plants, with edible, ornamental, and ‘weed’ varieties.
The kind that you find in the bulk bins of your natural food stores is an easy-to-cook food that can be a standalone grain or used as a replacement for quinoa or oats in porridge,congee, or pilaf recipes.
I personally find the flavor a bit grassy, and like a lot of pseudo-grains, amaranth has mucilaginous properties that make it a bit gooey, so I think it’s most delicious mixed in with polenta or quinoa.
To cook amaranth, mix 1 part grain with 2 parts water with a pinch of salt in a saucepan; bring to a low boil, then cook for 25 minutes or until soft. You can use amaranth grain in thisAmaranth with Miso Glazed Greensor try these7 other amaranth recipes.
Barley
Barley has long been a staple crop, although it’s mostly consumed in edible form as beer. Barley is a hearty gluten-containing grain related to wheat. Barley is super high in minerals like manganese and molybdenum, and it’s quite high in protein and fiber.
Barley can be served as a standalone grain, alongside greens and other mains, or it can be used insaladsorsoupsto add bulk and creaminess. It’s very filling, so a little barley as a side dish, in a pilaf, or stirred into soup goes a long way. Due to its creaminess, it can also be cooked into a warmingporridge吃早餐。
Buckwheat
Buckwheat is one of my favorite pseudo-grains. It’s got a really unique shape, has a delightfully nutty, grassy flavor, and is delicious as flour and in whole-grain form. Buckwheat is an excellent healthy grain, as it contains 8 amino acids, including lysine, and is really high in manganese, magnesium, copper, and fiber.
Buckwheat can be purchased whole (usually called buckwheat groats) or roasted (often called kasha). Buckwheat flour is a delicious, richly-colored flour that can be used in baking. Buckwheat flour is also used for Japanese soba noodles. Most brands are mixed buckwheat and wheat flour, so be careful if you don’t eat gluten.
My absolute favorite recipe for buckwheat is my gluten-freeBuckwheat Granola. It’s a delicious alternative to regular oat-based granola and is perfect for those on a gluten-free diet. Here are a bunch of otherrecipes for buckwheatwhole and as flour.
Corn
Corn is often thought of as a sweet summer vegetable, but technically it’s a grain. I like to think of the fresh corn as a veggie, but the dried stuff as a grain, whether in cornmeal, corn flour, or polenta (grits), or popcorn form.
干燥的玉米通常是玉米粉或玉米粥(粗粉)。奶油干酪玉米粥是我最喜欢的冬季食物之一,所以我很高兴看到它是一个相当健康的选择。它不像其他谷物那样营养丰富。
One-quarter cup dry has 3 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber. To enhance the benefits of the polenta, you could mix half polenta and quinoa, or add in some brown rice to up the fiber, mineral, and protein content.
Kaniwa
Kaniwa is relatively new on the alternative grain scene, and it’s a nice alternative to quinoa.
I found its flavor and texture to be a cross between teff and amaranth, but it was awesome in thisKaniwa Coconut Soup. It’s an excellent source of iron – one of the best in the plant kingdom!
Millet
Millet is a common East African grain that’s a staple crop elsewhere in the world, but often used in birdseed here in the US or grown for fodder. But don’t let that distinction deter you from trying this fun pseudo-grain. Much like amaranth, it’s another tiny seed that I prefer it mixed with other grains, but it can be a fluffy, light grain as a side dish too.
Like other grains on this list,millet is a source of lots of important stuff: it has 15% protein content, a good amount of fiber, and lots of vitamins and minerals. My favorite millet recipe is thisMillet Fried Rice.
Oats
Oats are an awesome food to add to your diet. Their high fiber content helps keep you super healthy, and the heartiness of these filling grains means your belly is full. Oats are full ofminerals, fiber, and protein, and are generally anutritional powerhouse with lots of health benefits.
I find that oatmeal is best for me when paired with protein for slower digestion, so I really like it in thisHigh-Protein Granola(which also features buckwheat), but my very favorite way to use oats is in thisgluten-free breadthat I originally adapted fromMy New Roots. Andsavory oatmealis totally a thing now, and it’s a great alternative for lunch and dinner.
Quinoa
Quinoa took the health world by storm a few years ago, and with good reason. This quick-cooking and versatile seed is nutrient-dense and delicious and can be used in a lot ofdifferent meals.
Quinoa is celebrated for having really high amounts of protein and acomplete amino acid profile.
Rice
Rice is the most common staple crop in the world, and comes in an array of varieties (pink, black, brown, and more). Brown rice, the whole grain form of rice, contains a high amount of protein and fiber. White rice is the same plants, but has the outer, fiber-rich hull removed and has less nutritional value.
Related Post:Cultivating And Harvesting Wild Rice
Whole Grains Councilsays, “Brown rice is a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, thiamin, niacin and vitamin B6, and an excellent source of manganese, with 88 percent of your daily manganese in just one cup cooked.” One of my favorite ways to use white rice is to make it into a type ofcurry pilafwith veggies and cilantro!
Teff
Teff is the world’s tiniest grain and is a rich brown color. It is most similar to amaranth and offers a wealth of health benefits. It’s super high in iron, calcium, and it’s most commonly eaten as injera, the flatbread of Ethiopia.
While it can be used as a porridge, it can also be cooked and cooled in a baking dish to make ‘cakes‘ like polenta.
Wheat
Wheat has been much maligned (perhaps unfairly) in recent years, but it has enjoyed centuries as a staple crop. There are lots of other types of grains that are quite similar to wheat, likekamut, rye, spelt, farro, andeinkorn.
These all have similar health benefits, and can be cooked in the same way: whole wheat berries are best soaked for at least an hour (up to overnight), then cooked until soft. Use in salads, pilafs, stirred into soups, and as an alternative to oats for breakfast. Many of these are also found as flakes (like spelt) and as flours. As ‘ancient grains,’ these alternative types of wheat have become much more popular in recent years.
Erinsays
Quinoa buckwheat and amaranth are not grains they are pseudo-grains!