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WHEAT ALTERNATIVES
Although wheat is overwhelmingly the commonest grain available in commercial breads, it is not the only option. You can look to incorporate many grains in your breads.
Barley’s claim to nutritional fame, and is as a very good source of fiber and selenium and a good source of phosphorus, copper and manganese. The fiber in barley includes beta-glucan, also found in oat fiber, which has cholesterol-lowering properties.
As with all grains, before cooking barley, rinse it thoroughly under running water. After rinsing, add one part barley to three-and-a-half parts boiling water. After the liquid has returned to a boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer. Pearled barley should be simmered for about one hour, while hulled barley should be cooked for about 90 minutes. You can mix barley flour with wheat flour to make breads and muffins.
Buck wheat.
Buckwheat is no relation to wheat and is technically not even a grain (it is a grass-seed, a member of the dock and rhubarb family).
It is very important to note that buckwheat (despite its name) does not contain gluten. One of its main nutrients is rutin, an antioxidant that is valuable for helping with all things vascular, particularly varicose veins.
Buckwheat’s name literally means “beech wheat” because the grains are shaped like the nuts of the beech tree. Buckwheat flour or crushed buckwheat may be added to cakes, biscuits or bread in small quantities. You can use it as you would cooked rice as a side dish or added to other recipes, or as a hot breakfast cereal.
Maize
An important food plant native to America, corn is thought to have originated in either Mexico or Central America. It has been a staple food in native civilizations since primitive times with some of the earliest traces of meal made from corn dating back about 7000 years.
Corn is a good source of many nutrients, including thiamine (vitamin B1), pantothenic acid (vitamin 65), folate, fiber, vitamin C, phosphorous and manganese. Corn can be ground into cornmeal to make tortillas and corn chips or polenta, a thick mixture that may be sliced and fried or grilled when cold and eaten as “corn bread”.
Oats – Wheat Alternative
There is a Scottish saying: “If you want to be happy in marriage, make sure there are oats in the pantry before the bride is carried over the threshold.”
Oats are an excellent food, rich in fiber, protein, thiamine, iron, calcium and phosphorus. While we mainly see them rolled flat as rolled oats (either whole or chopped for quick preparation), they can be found steelcut in tiny pieces, ground as oatmeal or oat flour and also as oatbran.
Oat fiber is better than wheat fiber since oat fiber is water-soluble. This means that not only will it bind to cholesterol and lower overall cholesterol levels but it will also draw water into the bowel, thus helping maintain healthy bowel motions. The most usual use of oats is in muesli or porridge, but you can add oat bran, rolled oats or oatmeal to breads, muffins, cakes or biscuits.
Quinoa
We usually think of quinoa as a grain but it is actually the seed of a plant that, as its scientific name Chenopodium quinoa reflects, is related to beets, chard and spinach. These amino-acid-rich seeds are not only very nutritious but also delicious.
Cooked quinoa seeds are fluffy and creamy yet slightly crunchy. They have a delicate, somewhat nutty flavor. While the most popular type of quinoa is a transparent yellow color, other varieties come in orange, pink, red, purple or black. Since quinoa has low gluten content, it is one of the least allergenic “grains” but its flour needs to be combined with wheat to make bread.
Although it is ubiquitous, however, how much attention do you pay to the bread you consume almost every day? You probably take it for granted but there are many choices to be made when it comes to your daily bread.
BREAD BASICS
Bread is one of the most basic foods known to man. Every culture has its distinct preference, from the flatbreads of India and Mexico (chapatis and tortillas) to the steamed buns of Asia and the more familiar yeasted breads of the Western world. The simplest consists of flour and liquid mixed and cooked by heat, whether it is a hot flat stone or an oven.
Each of the various ingredients used in breadmaking has a specific function: yeast allows the bread to rise and form light airy holes in the framework; a strong flour makes the bread less likely to crumble; fats and oils make the bread more tender and less chewy; salt gives flavor and contributes to texture; sugar also provides flavor and helps the yeast to work more quickly; the liquid, of course, allows the mixture to be combined.
Any one of these components may be left out and many, many others may be added, allowing an almost infinite number of variations. Depending entirely on the ingredients, the nutritional value of bread will also vary enormously. White bread has a high glycaemic index, promoting hyperinsulinism and poor blood sugar control.
The refining process used to make white flour also removes many nutrients.
Bread, of course, may be made with many grains, including rye, as is traditional in Europe, buckwheat and spelt. There is much to be said for the traditional European bread as a source of fiber, nutrients, complex carbohydrates and low gluten, helping maintain even blood sugar levels. Many commercial breads are “enriched” in some way and some white breads now have added fiber. Some breads contain sodium (salt) in a relatively high proportion and most contain mold inhibitors and other chemicals.
FLOUR POWER – Flour is a term used to refer to any grain, seed, and legume or vegetable that has been ground
Rye
Rye, originally a wild grass, was “tamed” by the Romans as a crop. Triticale, a hybrid rye-wheat grain, was developed in Sweden in the 1930s and is available as a flaked cereal, though its use as flour has not caught on. Rye bread is usually made using a mixture of wheat and rye’ as rye on its own is usually too dense and lacking in gluten to make a light bread, but heavier pure rye breads are available.
The true rye breads are darker and heavier than wheat breads but are preferable for many people with digestive problems, diabetes or allergies.
Adding a half cup or cup of rye to bread dough gives a delicious nutty flavor and a richer color.
Spelt Flour
Spelt (Triticum spelta) is a species of wheat and was an important staple in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to Medieval times. The grain is naturally gluten free. It is considered the fifth most important cereal grain in the world . It has a light color and texture, as well as a mild, sweet flavor.
Spelt is referred to as a “Relic Crop” and has found renewed popularity and is commonly used by people seeking an alternative to Wheat Flour.
Spelt is similar to wheat in appearance but has a tougher husk than wheat that may help protect the nutrients inside the grain. Spelt flour can replace whole wheat flour or wholegrain flour in recipes for breads and pastries. Spelt pasta is available in regular and white varieties; the white spelt is lighter in color and texture because it is milled more finely.
All flour should be kept covered, cool and dry. If you have enough freezer space, this is an ideal way to store it as insect pests are prevented from attacking it.
All flour contains starch and it is the explosion of the molecules of starch in the presence of heat and liquid that causes it to thicken foods. If a grain is not ground entirely into flour it may be referred to as meal, grits or groats. Stone-grinding does not heat the grain as much as steel rollers and so less of the heat-affected nutrients are damaged.
Those interested in preserving maximum nutrients often regard stone-ground flour as preferable but care still needs to be taken to store it correctly to prevent further loss.
WHEAT
Wheat is the most important cereal crop in the world. Bread, pasta, bagels, crackers, cakes and muffins just begin to describe the list of foods made with this grain. Wheat, in its natural unrefined state, features a host of important nutrients. Therefore, to receive benefit from the wholesomeness of wheat
it’s important to choose wheat products made from whole wheat (wholemeal) flour rather than those refined into white flour and stripped of their natural goodness.
If you do eat whole wheat the health benefits are impressive.
People who eat more wholegrains are:
- Less likely to develop heart disease
- More likely to have lower cholesterol
- Less likely to develop diabetes
- Less likely to develop gallstones
- Less likely to be overweight
- More likely to have a healthy gastrointestinal tract
Wheat bran is not the only star when it comes to the health benefits of wheat; wheat germ definitely deserves its health food reputation. The germ is the vitamin- and mineral-rich embryo of the wheat kernel that is removed during the refining of whole wheat grains to white flour. Packed with important B vitamins, such as folate, thiamine and vitamin B6, as well as the minerals zinc, magnesium and manganese, wheat germ is a great food that can be easily incorporated into casseroles, and pancakes or sprinkled over cereal or yoghurt.