Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and The... (128 page)

WHEAT BERRY CASSEROLE

Serves 4

2 cups soft wheat berries, sprouted

3 cups
beef stock
or
chicken stock

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried rosemary

½ teaspoon dried green peppercorns, crushed

(Sprout wheat berries according to directions on
Bean
.) Place 2 cups sprouted berries in a flameproof casserole with stock and salt. Bring to a boil and skim. Add thyme, rosemary and peppercorns and boil vigorously until liquid has reduced to the level of the wheat. Transfer to a 250-degree oven and bake for about 4 hours or until berries are tender.

Variation: Barley Casserole

Use
1 cup whole barley, sprouted
instead of wheat berries

Wheat comes to us from Turkey and southern Russia. Over 200 varieties have been described, of which only three account for 90 percent of all the wheat grown in the world today. Winter wheat is planted in the fall and harvested in the following June or July. Spring wheat is planted after the frosts are over and harvested in late summer. For cooking purposes it is sufficient to know that wheat can be classified as either hard or soft. Hard wheat is higher in protein, particularly gluten, a protein unique to wheat and to a lesser extent rye, barley and oats. Gluten imparts elasticity and strength to flours. It entraps carbon dioxide during the leavening process resulting in the unique rising characteristic of wheat flour doughs. Bread makers prefer hard winter wheat. Durum wheats are also hard wheats, but they are typically planted in the spring. They are used for spaghetti, macaroni and noodles. Soft wheats are lower in protein. They are used for flour that is not yeasted but processed into baked goods, such as pastries, cookies and crackers.

Whole wheat grown in fertile soil will be rich in B vitamins, calcium and iron. Fat comprises only 2 percent of the total calories in wheat; but, if properly grown, the oil will be high in omega-3 linolenic acid. Low-temperature milling and careful handling of wheat is necessary to preserve all the nutrients intact and prevent rancidity of precious oils. Wheat has the highest protein value of any of the cereals, but the protein is not complete. Wheat is particularly deficient in lysine. Furthermore, many people are allergic to wheat proteins resulting in celiac disease, which may be due either to a genetic defect or an acquired defect in the intestinal lining. Older varieties of hard wheat, such as spelt and kamut, may be more digestible than modern hybrids. SWF

CRACKED WHEAT SALAD

Serves 6

3 cups
bulgur

1 cup fresh lemon juice

2 cups warm water

1 green pepper, minced

1 red pepper, minced

2 bunches green onions, chopped

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and pepper

fresh pineapple rings, for garnish

orange slices, for garnish

½ cup
crispy peanuts
, chopped

Soak bulgur in lemon juice and water for ½ hour. Squeeze dry with hands and transfer to a bowl. Combine with peppers, onions and olive oil and season to taste. Garnish with pineapple rings, orange slices and peanuts.

KASHA

Makes 4 cups

3 cups buckwheat groats

Sprout the groats in two jars according to instructions (
Bean
). Drain well, spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 150 degrees overnight or until the berries are well dried. Store the kasha in an airtight container in your refrigerator. As the kasha has been sprouted, it does not require soaking before cooking.

RUSSIAN KASHA

Makes 3 cups

1 cup kasha prepared according to preceding recipe

1 egg, beaten

2 cups
chicken stock

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons butter (optional)

The Russian method of preparing kasha, with egg, homemade chicken stock and butter, makes this casserole truly a meal in itself, nourishing fare for hardy peasants and modern sophisticates. Heat a heavy, cast-iron skillet, add kasha and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes until kasha is toasted. Let cool. Mix toasted kasha with egg. Reheat the pan and pour in the kasha-egg mixture. Over medium-high heat, flatten, stir and chop the kasha with wooden fork until the egg has cooked and the kernels are hot and mostly separated, about 2 to 4 minutes. Meanwhile, bring chicken stock to a boil with butter and seasonings. Add kasha-egg mixture, bring to a boil, cover and turn heat to low. Cook about 30 minutes. Remove cover and fluff up with butter if desired.

Kasha, or cracked buckwheat, is to Russia as bulgur is to the Middle East—the staple carbohydrate food used in numerous dishes but chiefly as a simple casserole.

Buckwheat is not technically a grain but the seeds of an herb, a relative of rhubarb. The seeds, or groats, form a dietary staple in northern climates, especially in Siberian Russia and in Brittany. Buckwheat is an important component of Jewish cuisine. It is high in lysine and calcium as well as vitamin E and the entire gamut of vitamin B complex. It is especially noted for its high nitriloside or B
₁₇
content, a vitamin that plays an important role in the body's defense against cancer. SWF

KASHA CASSEROLE

Serves 4-6

1 cup whole buckwheat groats

1½ cups filtered water

2 tablespoons whey
Whey and Cream Cheese

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1½ cups
potato quarters

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 cup boiling water

In a cast-iron skillet with a lid, or in a flameproof casserole, toast buckwheat groats over a medium-high flame, shaking occasionally. Remove from heat and mix with 1½ cups water and whey. Cover and let stand in a warm place for at least 7 hours. Saute onion in butter and olive oil. Add sauteed onion, potato quarters, salt, pepper and boiling water to skillet or casserole. Transfer to an oven preheated to 350 degrees and bake, covered, for about 25 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.

In 1956 over 300 middle-aged Englishmen, free of heart disease, were asked what they ate. The men were then studied for ten years. The researchers were astonished by what they found.

Men who consumed the most calories were found to have the least heart disease.

In addition, it was found that those men not prone to heart disease ate significantly more cereal fiber. However, it was found that fiber from other sources did not protect against heart disease. The author stated, "The composition of the diet (of the men on the high-fiber cereal) does not impress (one) as being particularly health conscious." Chris Mudd
Cholesterol and Your Health

Since World War II, the food industry in the U.S. has gone a long way toward ensuring that their customers (just about all of America's children, as well as a good proportion of the adults) do not have to chew breakfast. The bleached, gassed, and colored remnants of the life-giving grains are roasted, toasted, frosted with sugar, embalmed with chemical preservatives, and stuffed into a box much larger than its contents. Fantastic amounts of energy are wasted by sales and advertising departments to sell these half-empty boxes of dead food—money back coupons, whistles and toy guns are needed to induce refined women to lift these half-empty boxes off supermarket shelves. William Dufty
Sugar Blues

KASHA NUT LOAF

Serves 8

3 cups
Russian kasha

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1 cup celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, grated

2 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

6 eggs, beaten

3 cups
Crispy Cashews
, processed in food processor to a coarse meal

1 teaspoon cracked pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

2-3 cups
yoghurt sauce
for garnish

Saute onions, celery and carrots in butter and olive oil until soft. Stir in garlic and herbs and cook another minute. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl mix kasha, eggs, cooked vegetables, salt, pepper and cashews. Press into a well-buttered loaf pan. Cover, set in a pan of hot water and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool and invert onto a serving dish, blotting up any liquid with a paper towel. Slice and serve with yoghurt sauce.
Ginger carrots
also go well with this dish.

Variation: Sauteed Kasha Loaf Platter

Cut loaf into slices and saute until golden in
2-3 tablespoons each butter and olive oil
. Arrange on a platter and keep warm in oven until ready to serve. Serve with side dishes of
yoghurt sauce
and
ginger carrots
.

Rice is the staple food for peoples of the Orient. The Japanese and Chinese consume over 100 pounds of rice per person per year, while Americans eat less than 10 pounds. Macrobiotic enthusiasts consider rice the most perfect grain, in which the yin and yang energies are in equilibrium. But the Westerner should not necessarily adopt Oriental rice-eating habits. Asians have larger pancreas and salivary glands in proportion to body weight than Westerners, and these traits make them ideally suited to a grain-based diet. The Westerner who adopts the strict macrobiotic or Oriental diet, with rice at every meal, may develop serious health problems.