Using Whole Grains
(Page 3 of 4)
March/April 1984
By Mother Earth News editors
LET'S GET COOKIN'
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So how do you use whole grains? Well, you're certainly not limited to making breads! Remember that—while cooking with whole grains may be a totally new experience for you—humans have been consuming these healthful crunchier longer than any other food except, perhaps, meat (and even that's debatable). Cookbooks abound with taste-tempting recipes employing natural grist, and once you master the basics, you'll find hundreds of ways to combine grains with vegetables, beans, dairy products, and spices. The healthful seeds may be boiled, toasted, baked, sprouted, or simply soaked in water.
Although we mentioned it briefly before, it's worth elaborating on the importance of fiber roughage in your diet. In fact, the value of fiber to the human body has been demonstrated in clinical research and field observations . . . both showing that where natural whole grains are consumed as a dietary staple, there are measurably lower rates—sometimes three times lower—of such gastrointestinal problems as diverticulitis, diverticulosis, constipation, hemorrhoids, cancer, and even gallstones than are seen in locales where meat and refined foods are the norm.
And bran—the prime source of fiber roughage in whole grains—is absorbent, too, virtually sucking toxins from our bodies as it scours its way through the intestines. (Nutritional experts, and the more enlightened medical doctors, recommend about 30 grams—a couple of tablespoonfulsof bran per day as the optimum for health.) Of course, if more of our commercially—available cereals and breads contained the natural bran of whole grains, we wouldn't need to make a point of buying and eating bran separately!
So, to cap off this nutritional preachment, we suggest that you consider making natural grains a regular (no pun intended) part of your diet: They'll save you money, provide superior nutrition, expand your menu, and most certainly improve your health.
MOTHER's Favorite Bread Recipe
The following recipe is used in our Eco- Village " Breadmaking Show-How " . . . and served up piping hot to the participants after-warded resounding acclaim). We'd like to share it with you.
Sponge Ingredients
6 cups of lukewarm (85-105°F) water
1/2 cup of honey (or 1/4 cup of honey and 1/4 cup of molasses)
2 tablespoons of yeast (two envelopes)
1/2 cup of powdered milk
4 cups of rolled oats
4 cups of whole wheat flour (if you must have a tighter bread, you can replace all or part of the whole wheat flour in the sponge with unbleached white flour. . . you'll still have the whole wheat flour in the dough)
2 or 3 grated carrots (optional)
2 eggs (optional)
1/2 cup of millet (optional)
