For this addition of Wheatless Wednesday and in honor of Celiac Awareness Month, let's take a look at some of the many varieties of gluten free grains.
Amaranth: Once a sacred food of the Aztecs, has a corn like aroma and woodsy flavor. Best suited to porridge-type dishes or ground into flour for bread. Rich in: Protein, dietary fiber, iron, magnesium, zinc, calcium and B vitamins.
Buckwheat: Called kasha if toasted. Best recognized for its use in its flour form for pancakes and soba noodles. Use this heartiest of grains in salads and stuffing, hot cereal, side dish or added to soups, stews and casseroles, as flour for baking, thickener, and pancakes. Rich in: Protein, magnesium, B6, dietary fiber, iron, niacin, thiamine and zinc.
Millet: Dry and airy when cooked with a little water, but moist and dense when cooked with extra water. Bland in flavor, millet readily takes on flavors of foods cooked with it. Use as a grain as hot cereal or side dish, as flour in baking. Protein and fiber.
Quinoa: Native South American grain with a soft, crunchy texture, boasts the highest nutritional profile of all grains--it's often called "super grain." Higher quality protein than other grains and cereals. Rich in: B vitamins, iron, magnesium, and calcium.
Wild Rice: Taste, aroma, size and color depend on whether it is wild or cultivated, where it is harvested and the processing method. Best used as a side dish. Rich in: Dietary fiber, protein, potassium and zinc.
Teff: As a grain, use as a hot cereal, side dish, casseroles, cold as salad. As flour to thicken sauces. Also available as pasta and is most known for it's use Injera, the Ethiopian bread. Rich in: Protein, calcium, iron and B vitamins.
