Sick of Oatmeal? Try Buckwheat Groats

Since I read and wrote about Carolynn Carreños' book Bowls of Plenty, I've been a little fixated on breakfast bowls. Initially, having had no time to play around with the idea too much I took what I had--oatmeal--and livened it up with yogurt, toasted walnuts, and a dollop of honey. Then I branched out à la Trader Joe's with a canister of their Organic Multigrain Hot Cereal, a mix of rye, barley, oats, and wheat. I topped that with this tangy Bellwether Farms vanilla sheep's milk yogurt that I love, along with blueberries and honey. That's been my staple for weeks now.

But while at Whole Foods recently I was eying the grains they sell by bulk and came across buckwheat groats. Now these aren't exactly foreign to me. I grew up eating kasha (buckwheat groats) varnishkes. This is a traditional Eastern European Jewish dish that combines the toasted kasha with bowtie noodles (the practical Jewish American translation of the "varnishkes") in a heavenly mixture of onions and mushrooms sautéed in chicken fat. It has a distinctive nutty aroma from the kasha that becomes one of those childhood memories that never leaves you.

Out of that nostalgia I filled up a bag with the buckwheat groats and took it home. And kept staring at it as I tried to decide how to enjoy it. I finally concluded I'd use part of it to make a breakfast bowl.

Dutifully I soaked them overnight to help speed up the cooking process. The next morning I put the now slimy groats into a colander and rinsed them well. Then into a small saucepan they went to toast a little on the stove. Once I got that wonderful aroma I added milk (You can use water if you don't want the dairy; I like the creaminess it creates), a pinch of salt, and--get this--pumpkin pie spice. Yeah, you know that little jar you pull out once a year to make your pie (and that you really should toss because it probably no longer has any flavor)? Well, if you just bought it last fall for Thanksgiving this is a great way to get additional use out of it. After all, what better way to enjoy a porridge than by flavoring it with cinnamon, ginger, lemon peel, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom? No pumpkin pie spice jar? No worries. Just toss in a half stick of cinnamon.

Okay, so the groats are mixed with milk, salt and the pumpkin pie spice. Bring the mixture to a simmer and keep stirring until the liquid mostly evaporates. Now if you read other instructions for making porridge--with oatmeal, buckwheat, or other grains--they'll probably tell you to cover the pot during this stage. My advice is don't do it. You will (especially if you have an electric stovetop) experience major bubbling over that's a drag to clean. Just keep the lid off, monitor the heat, and stir until it reaches the consistency you like.

Pour the buckwheat porridge into bowls and add a little sweetener. It could be honey, brown sugar, molasses... whatever you like. I mixed in a couple pinches of maple sugar. Then I topped it with low-fat vanilla yogurt and a handful of blueberries. You can change your toppings with the seasons--toasted nuts, berries, chopped figs, sliced bananas, toasted coconut, raisins or other dried fruit all work well.

And I have more cooked porridge to warm up for tomorrow.

Buckwheat Groats Cereal with Yogurt and Blueberries
(printable recipe)
Serves 4

1 cup buckwheat groats
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or half a cinnamon stick)
Pinch of sea salt
Sugar or other sweetener to taste
1 cup yogurt
1 cup fresh blueberries

1. Soak the buckwheat groats in a bowl of water overnight. The next morning, pour them into a colander, rinse them under cold water to remove the slimy texture, and drain.
2. Place the buckwheat groats in a saucepan on a stovetop and toast them while stirring until you can smell a nutty aroma--just a couple of minutes. Then add the milk, pumpkin pie spice, and sea salt. Stir well and let the mixture come to a simmer. Adjust the heat so it doesn't boil over and stir periodically until most of the liquid is absorbed.
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in your sweetener. Spoon the cereal into bowls and top with yogurt and then berries.






Print Page

Local Cookbook Author Carolynn Carreño Appearing at Next Good Earth Great Chefs Event

Photo by Adriene Hughes

San Diego magazine writer and cookbook author Carolynn Carreño will be the featured chef at the first 2017 Good Earth/Great Chefs event. On Sunday, January 29 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Carreño will sign her newest book, Bowls of Plenty: Recipes for Healthy and Delicious Whole Grain Meals. The event, held at Chino Farm, will feature complementary tastes of a bowl recipe made from vegetables picked that morning at the farm. And there will be live music to enjoy as well. Those who buy her book at the event can have her sign it.

I'll be writing a piece on Carreño and her book for the San Diego Union-Tribune's food section for publication next month, but I'm a fan of the Good Earth/Great Chefs series and encourage you to attend the free event and enjoy some time on the farm.

If you're a cookbook lover, Carreño may also be a familiar name to you. She is a James Beard Award-winning journalist and has co-authored a dozen cookbooks. Most recently, she collaborated with Nancy Silverton on Mozza at Home (which I recently wrote about for the UT). Just a few months ago Silverton also appeared at a Good Earth/Great Chefs book signing. Along with book writing, Carreño has written for publications including Bon Appétit, Saveur, Gourmet, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.

Born in Tijuana, Carreño grew up in Mount Helix. While she spent time living in New York, she's recently moved into the house she grew up in.

Bowls of Plenty is filled with one-dish meals targeted to the home cook. The recipes feature vegetables and optional meats that top a foundation of whole-grain staples. And, while that sounds like they would primarily be for lunch or dinner, there are also sweet and savory breakfast bowls and even dessert bowls.

At the Good Earth/Great Chefs booksigning, Carreño will be serving her Sambal Tofu Bowl. Below she shares another of her recipes you'll find in the book:

Photo by Beatriz de Costa

CHINO RANCH VEGETABLE BOWL with Kale Pistachio Pesto and Bagna Cauda 

Chino Ranch is a farm in my hometown, San Diego, made famous in the early 1970s when Alice Waters fell in love with their green beans because, unlike grocery store green beans, they actually had tasted like green beans. Extraordinary as those beans are, the Chinos are most famous for their corn, which, were you to try it, will ruin you to any other corn for life. I am lucky enough to call the Chinos friends, and to have easy access to their delicious vegetables. Naturally, I serve many a bowl in honor of them and their ever-changing, unparalleled produce. Pesto is so easy to make I can’t understand why anyone would buy it. You just throw a bunch of stuff in a blender or food processor and go. Try it, you’ll see. I make this with kale but use any combination of basil, parsley, kale, or arugula; as long as you start with 2 cups of leaves, you’ll have pesto. 

Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS
2 red or yellow bell peppers (or 1 pound mini sweet peppers)
2 ears corn, shucked
½ pound Romano beans, green beans, or yellow beans, stem ends trimmed
1 bunch asparagus, tough ends snapped off
1 pint small cherry tomatoes, such as Sweet 100s, Sungolds, or another sweet summertime variety
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Kale Pistachio Pesto (recipe follows)
Bagna Cauda (recipe follows; optional)
1 cup farro, cooked (about 3 cups cooked farro) and cooled to room temperature
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced, or burrata, broken into segments with a spoon
½ cup fresh basil

METHOD
Preheat an outdoor grill to high or a stovetop grill pan over high heat. Brush the vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Put the vegetables on the grill and grill until they are black in places, turning to grill all sides,  and removing each vegetable from the grill to a plate as it is done. (For bright green asparagus and green beans like those pictured rather than grilling them, blanch them for 1 minute in boiling, salted water and immediately plunge them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.)

Cut the corn kernels off the cob. Remove and discard the cores and seeds from the bell peppers (if you used baby peppers, leave them as is) and slice the peppers into thin strips.

Serve family style, with big platters of the summer veggies, the sauces in small bowls, and the grains for people to make their own bowls.

KALE PISTACHIO PESTO 
Makes about 2 cups I

INGREDIENTS
1½ cups packed torn kale leaves
½ cup packed fresh parsley or basil leaves ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons pistachios (or pine nuts, almonds, or walnuts), toasted
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Juice of 1 lemon

METHOD
Put all the ingredients except the lemon juice in a blender or food processor and blend until the pesto is smooth with some flecks, stopping to scrape down the side of the blender once or twice. The pesto should be loose and spoonable, not globby; if it’s too thick, add more oil and blend it in. Stir in the lemon juice just before using. Use the pesto or refrigerate in a covered container for up to 2 days; be warned: the pesto will lose its pretty color with time but it will still taste great. Bring it to room temperature before using.

BAGNA CAUDA
Bagna cauda means "warm bath" in Italian. It’s a simple condiment made of anchovies, garlic, and olive oil. It turns something as simple as blanched, veggies into something totally special and delicious. Drizzle it on blanched or roasted asparagus, green beans, Broccolini, cauliflower, or sweet peppers. Makes about ¾ cup

INGREDIENTS
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 (1½- to 2-ounce) can or jar of anchovies (8 to 11 anchovy fillets), anchovies removed from the oil and minced
6 garlic cloves, grated on a Microplane or minced
A pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
A few turns of freshly ground black pepper

METHOD
Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until the garlic is fragrant and the butter and oil just start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to very low and cook for 10 minutes so the flavors can all make friends. Serve warm.

Excerpted from the book BOWLS OF PLENTY by Carolynn Carreño. Copyright © 2017 by Carolynn Carreño. Reprinted with permission of Grand Central Life & Style. All rights reserved.  


The Good Earth/Great Chefs event with Carolynn Carreño will be held on Sunday, January 29, 2017 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., rain or shine, at Chino Farm. The address is 6123 Calzada del Bosque in Rancho Santa Fe.