Good Grains
Bulk up the pantry and nourish yourself with some of our favorite grains from across the globe.
Rinse! This removes debris and extra starch, which helps you avoid mushy grains.
Get toasty. Lightly browning your grains in a dry skillet can bring out nutty, caramelized flavors – you’ll want to continually stir and monitor the stovetop so they don’t burn.
Cook in large batches for easy meal prep. Grains can add substance to everything from salads to soups to bowl meals.
Amaranth
Considered a pseudocereal, amaranth is a plant grown for its starchy seeds and is not in the same botanical family as wheat or rice. Notably grown, consumed and used ceremonially by the Aztecs, amaranth was destroyed and banned upon the arrival of the Spanish. Some wild plants survived, and in the 1970s an interest in amaranth was revived. A few varieties were cultivated and grow commercially the United States, but amaranth can also be found in the wild, sometimes called “pigweed”.
Similarly to quinoa, these itty-bitty round seeds are gluten-free, high in protein and contain all 9 essential amino acids. Delicious as a porridge or popped and added to granola bars and chocolate barks. Like buckwheat and quinoa, amaranth is an especially high-quality source of plant protein. It is a complete protein, including lysine and methionine, essential amino acids that are generally low in grains. Packed with iron, calcium and triple the fiber content as wheat. It is easily digestible, making it a good food for those recovering from an illness or transitioning from a fast.
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Porridge | Popped & added to granola
Cook 1 cup in 2 1/2 cups of water for 20-25 minutes
Barley
Barley’s domestication dates back at least 10,000 years and it is considered one of the founder crops of the Fertile Crescent. It has been an important plant for many cultures, with culinary, medicinal and ceremonial uses recorded throughout history. However, its widespread use as a food source didn’t take off in North America, with the majority of the barley in the United States used for animal feed and alcohol production. This crop likely played a role in the earliest human attempts at fermentation.
It’s high in fiber, and full of heart-healthy vitamins and minerals. Barley’s chewy, tender texture is a lovely addition to soups, or in place of rice with whichever protein you like best. Its insoluble fiber helps maintain large populations of friendly bacteria in the digestive tract. It has been shown to aid in regulating blood sugar after meals for up to 10 hours, most likely thanks to the colonic fermentation of barley’s indigestible carbohydrates. Good news for diabetics and others concerned with their blood glucose levels!
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Soups | Stuffed peppers
Cook 1 cup in 3 cups of water for 60 minutes
Brown Rice
More nutritious than white rice because it retains the outer bran and germ layers of the grain, along with the vitamins, minerals, fiber and even fatty acids that are housed there. Very high in the mineral manganese which aids in fatty acid synthesis and protects against free radical damage during energy production.
Try Bhutanese red rice or Forbidden black rice for higher levels of heart-healthy antioxidants.
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Burritos | Fried rice
Cook 1 cup in 2 cups of water for 40 minutes
Buckwheat
Buckwheat is a great example of how confusing etymology can perhaps keep us from enjoying nature’s gifts. Buckwheat is not a wheat at all. Another pseudocereal, its seeds are the part we eat. In fact, buckwheat is related to sorrel and rhubarb. Buckwheat is also a quick-growing cover crop whose flowers are integral to the health of honeybees. Its use dates back to Southeast Asia as early as 2600 BCE and was one of the earliest crops introduced by European settlers in North America.
You may be familiar with Japanese soba noodles or Eastern European kasha porridge, both made with buckwheat. Its prominence in North America died out with the introduction of nitrogen fertilizers, simply because corn and wheat responded more favorably. With a recently revived public interest in ancient grains, buckwheat has made a comeback and is definitely worth keeping in the pantry. Rich in fiber, protein, and gluten-free, it is great for pancakes, risottos, or to bulk up a homemade veggie burger. High in rutin, a flavinoid that protects against disease by strengthening capillaries and preventing blood clotting. Coupled with high levels of magnesium, which lowers blood pressure, it’s truly a heart healthy food.
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Flour for pancakes | Toasted & added to salad
Cook 1 cup in 2 cups of water for 15-20 minutes
Farro
Popular in Italy, farro essentially is hulled wheat, an ancient grain originating in the Fertile Crescent. It has a
higher fiber and protein content than common wheat and is especially rich in magnesium and B vitamins. It doesn’t become hard when refrigerated, so it’s a great choice for cold grain salads.
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Chili | Squash boats
Cook 1 cup in 2 cups of water for 25-40 minutes
Kamut
Also known as Khorasan wheat, named after the largest Persian province (current-day Iran) where it grows natively and has been a staple crop for centuries. This unique grain travelled stateside in 1949, when a Montana farmer began growing and marketing it as “King Tut Wheat”. At first a regional specialty, it grew in popularity and you’ll now see this grain in bulk bins across the country. KAMUT is its trademarked name today, maintaining the true, unmodified, non-GMO grain of ancient times. In the west, it is mainly grown on organic farms of the Northern Great Plains region.
The wheat grass stalk appears very similar to that of common wheat, but the grain kernel is 2-3x larger. It contains gluten so it’s not recommended for those with celiac disease, but there have been reports of KAMUT being more tolerable than common wheat for those with gluten sensitivities. Rich in protein, fiber, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin B1 & vitamin B3. You’ll want to soak your Kamut berries overnight before cooking.
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Grain-based salad | Flour for crackers
Cook 1 cup in 3 cups of water for 40-60 minutes
Millet
Millet is a gluten-free grain that has been cultivated in Asia and Africa for 6,000 years and has served as an alternative for rice for centuries in northern China, Korea and Japan. Drought resistant and able to grow in poor soil, it is very rich in amino acids, phosphorus and B vitamins, with an iron content that is higher than any grain except amaranth and quinoa. It can be cooked up into a fluffy polenta-style side dish, is great for stuffing vegetables, poultry or fish and can also be used to create a creamy nutritious soup. The millet at Eastside comes from Golden Prairie Farm, where they grow 20,000 acres on the high plains of eastern Colorado. Easily digestible and highly nutritious. A good source of manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. Drought resistant and able to grow in poor soil, millet is an important crop in areas where water is sparse.
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Faux mashed potatoes | Pilaf
Cook 1 cup in 2 1/2 cups of water for 20-30 minutes
Quinoa
The quinoa plant is a relative of beets, spinach and swiss chard. With the highest protein content of any grain, it also contains all nine essential amino acids – a rarity in the plant kingdom. It’s especially high in lysine and magnesium, which helps relax blood vessels, resulting in fewer headaches for migraine sufferers and decreased risk of hypertension and stroke. Also a good source of vitamins and essential minerals.
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Energy balls | Veggie burgers
Cook 1 cup in 2 cups of water for 15-20 minutes
Rye
A cup of rye berries is an excellent source of mangense. It is also high in selenium, phosphorus, magnesium and –like all whole grains– protein, and both soluble and insoluble fiber. Rye is especially helpful for those trying to lose weight, as he noncellulose polysaccharides in its fiber are known to quickly promote satiety and fullness. These can be found in bulk as whole rye berries & flour for baking.
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Grain Bowl – sprout for easier digestibility
Cook 1 cup in 4 cups of water for 60 minutes
Spelt
The more nutritionally robust cousin of wheat and one of the first grains to be used for bread. It provides a broader range of nutrients than other members of the wheat family. Spelt is high in manganese, vitamin B2, niacin, thiamin and copper. You’ll want to soak your spelt berries overnight before cooking. Spelt can be found in bulk as whole spelt & flour for baking.
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Bread and baked goods | Risotto
Cook 1 cup in 3 1/2 cups of water for 90 minutes
Wild Rice
Minnesota is known for wild rice, but many do not realize that the stuff we often consume is actually a cultivated product. Black paddy rice is still a good grain, delicious in soups, pilafs, or used as a flour for baking. But the true wild rice of Minnesota, one of the only grains native to North America, is known in Ojibwe as manoomin, translating roughly to “good berry”. This long-grained rice is hand-harvested from lakes and processed through an intensive technique of parching (or roasting), dancing and winnowing the inedible chaff from the edible grain inside. An important food source for the Native people of this region, this plant also holds cultural and spiritual significance.
With a deep, nutty flavor and brown color, natural wild rice cooks in about half the time, and with half the water as cultivated wild rice. A gluten-free source of protein, fiber & manganese, the complex flavor of wild rice can enhance many winter dishes, but doesn’t need major doctoring. Try it with a pat of butter, a drizzle of maple syrup, or perhaps with some sauteéd mushrooms and dried berries. Wild rice is pricier than its cultivated relative due to the unpredictability of the season and laborious harvesting, but this truly local product is worth the splurge. We carry Autumn Harvest Ojibwe Wild Rice which is lake-harvested by members of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
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Breakfast bowl | Savory stuffing
Natural wild rice: Cook 1 cup in 2 cups of water for 20-25 minutes
Cultivated wild rice: Cook 1 cup in 4 cups of water for 45-60 minutes