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Sunday, January 4, 2015

A New Grain: Greenwheat

Recently I was wondering what to cook for dinner as holidays usually tend to mess with my dinner planning when I encountered a new grain sort in our local supermarket, called Greenwheat or Freekeh. It comes from the Middle East and is one of the latest `health foods` brought to the market and heavily promoted. While I´m not into trendy exotic foods, I decided to give it a chance.

Freekeh is a cereal made from a specially prepared green wheat, and according to Wikipedia, a similar food was mentioned in the Bible, which makes it interesting. It´s easy to make, you have to cook it with lots of water for ab. 15 minutes and you can use it as rice substitute. I also mixed it with fried onions, garlic and scrambled eggs. The package suggests you can eat it with different herbs and Greek yogurt or use it for an Eastern style salad with tomatoes, cucumbers etc. It tastes quite all right, though I probably wouldn´t want to eat it every day.

On the down side it´s quite pricy, as I paid 2 euros for 200g, which is quite a lot considering than rice can be bought for less than 1 euro a kilo. (At least it´s about 1 euro though I forgot the exact price). On the plus side, greenwheat has a lot of fiber and a low glycemic index which is good for those suffering from diabetes. I thought it was a good idea to provide 'a consumer review' of this relatively new sort of cereal.

P.S. For the commenter from Finland, I haven't forgotten about your question and I'm planning to write about it next week.

Have a blessed Sunday!

10 comments:

  1. Thank you for this review. I have been seeing this in the U. S.A. too. There are so many new- to- us things coming out now. New to us but others have been using it for hundreds of years! :) It is fun to try new vegetables to grow and foods to add to our menus isn't it. Sarah

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  2. You are welcome, Sarah!

    Yes, they first started promoting in the English-speaking countries, it seems. I think Artisan Grains (a company which produces it) is British, too. Consumer reviews seem to be rather helpful, I'm planning on doing more of them.

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  3. Intriguing! I have tried quinoa, and do like it. If I saw this ever here, I'd be tempted to give it a try.

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  4. Never tried quinoa, how does it taste?

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  5. Hard to describe, but sort of nutty. The seeds are small, and in some ways, it's like eating cracked wheat or bulghur, to which it's often compared in recipes - it is similar, if you've ever had either of those.

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  6. Yeah, I tried bulghur, it's quite nice but my husband doesn't like it.

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  7. I was racking my brains, trying to think of the other Moroccan wheat pasta dish, to which I might compare quinoa - I finally remember - couscous! Which is semolina wheat granules; I'd say that's pretty much the same as cracked wheat, really - and like bulghur, similar to quinoa, somewhat. Not exactly, but similar.

    Gosh, I really am a foodie! Sort of; more on the eating side than the preparing side, though. :)

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  8. I noticed:) well, I'd better not come to my husband with couscous, either...

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  9. Yes, I had noticed that you'd noticed. ;)

    Hmm. If your husband doesn't care for bulghur, and probably wouldn't care for couscous, then indeed, he might not care for quinoa... But it isn't exactly the same; you never know, he might not mind! ;)

    But you know your husband's tastes; perhaps quinoa is something to try for yourself first, sometime when he's out of town and you're by yourself. :)

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  10. Well, let's put it this way, it's not so much about taste as it's about origins:) I've seen quinoa in the supermarket, it's quite expensive but I may try it.

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