How To Cook Whole Grains
Whole grains are such a wonderful, nourishing food group! I get asked often how we cook our grains, and although I don’t believe I have an especially unique approach, I figured I would share all the same for those curious. Because going through every grain imaginable would be a bit advantageous, I decided to chose four of the most commonly cooked grains in our house. We typically soak and cook one to two grains at a time, depending on what meals we will hope to eat that week, and try to rotate which ones we chose to keep things interesting and our diet varied :).
I polled you all on Instagram the other week for questions you might have about whole grains, so lets take a moment to cover those here!
Whole Grain FAQs
Are grains healthy?
In short, absolutely! Whole grains, preferably organic, are some of the healthiest foods on the planet. They contain high amounts of fiber, essential micronutrients, and healthy prebiotics that nourish your gut microbiome. It has been studied and proven that populations who eat whole grains have a decreased risk of most diseases (unfortunately) plaguing the western world! I’m going to ask that you don’t take my word for it, though, but instead read about it in the research :). Here I will link a few resources to check out if you’re interested: Whole grains and microbe diversity; Whole grains as powerful as drugs; Whole grains fighting disease, More about whole grains.
How do you make grains easier to digest?
Firstly, soaking and cooking grains properly can help make them easier on sensitive digestive systems, which I cover in my methods below. It’s important to understand, though, the root cause of the discomfort you can feel when eating different types of fibers.
Insoluble fiber, found in plants (including grains), are the fibers that we cannot digest - but instead our gut bacteria digest for us. This is food for the organisms in our body that we live in harmony with, very important! However, if those organism are not present, there isn’t anyone to digest those fibers. Knowing this, it’s also important to recognize that different plant foods contain different types of these prebiotic fibers, therefore they require different microbes to help digest. So for instance, if you only eat grains in small amounts periodically, you might find that you feel some discomfort afterwards. This only means that you need to eat them more frequently, to build up a colony of the microorganisms in your gut that will digest those fibers for you. The greater diversity of plants we eat, the greater diversity of microbes we contain, and higher diversity of microbes is linked with greater health and less disease.
Many times, if you’ve been treated with antibiotics or have a history of unhealthy/disordered eating, you can have disbyosis in your gut. Meaning you’ve lost some of the harmony between your gut bugs, and would really benefit from seeking out a gut health doctor to help you restore balance to your inner ecosystem. Often, when we feel discomfort from eating something, we villan-ize the food, when in fact it is a sign of imbalance within our bodies. Just some additional food for thought.
How do I get my grains to be extra fluffy?
A few key tips I have for properly cooked, fluffy grains are to soak them first, use the correct amount of water, and to cook them low and slow. Often when I’m in a rush I have cooked my grains at too high of heat. This causes the water to not have enough time to penetrate the grains, and often times will leave you with a burnt layer at the bottom and watery uncooked grains at the top. Patience is key, especially after they have finished cooking - the time you leave them to steam while covered is very important too.
Can you batch cook and freeze grains?
Absolutely! For cooking large batches of grains I recommend spreading them out on a parchment lined baking sheet to fully cool after the steaming period. This keeps them from clumping together and cooling off more quickly. Then transfer to airtight, freezer safe containers and pop them in the freezer. When ready to use, either defrost in the fridge for a day or so, or use a microwave to thaw. Sometimes Ill scoop them out and throw them in a steamer basket on the stove to speed things up too. There are lots of options that work well!
Cooking Instructions
Millet
1. Cover 1 cup of millet in a bowl with a few cups of water and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Let soak for 12 hours.
2. Rinse millet well, and place in a pot with 2 cups of fresh water.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, cover, and let cook until all of the water is absorbed. Usually between 15 to 20 minutes.
4. When you lift the lid an inch and no longer hear any water sizzling, place the lid back on the pot and set aside to steam for at least15 minutes.
5. Fluff with a fork, serve, and store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy within one week.
Millet to water ratio for cooking is 1:2
Brown Rice
1. Cover 1 cup of brown rice in a bowl with a few cups of water and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Let soak for 12 hours.
2. Rinse brown rice well, and place in a pot with 2 cups of fresh water for stickier rice (my favorite) or 1 1/2 cups of water for toothier rice.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, cover, and let cook until all of the water is absorbed. Usually between 25 to 30 minutes.
4. When you lift the lid an inch and no longer hear any water sizzling, place the lid back on the pot and set aside to steam for at least15 minutes.
5. Fluff with a fork, serve, and store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy within one week.
Brown rice to water ratio for cooking is 1:2 for stickier (ideal for veggie sushi) or 1:1.5 for a toothier rice texture.
Quinoa
1. Cover 1 cup of quinoa in a bowl with a few cups of water and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Let soak for 12 hours.
2. Rinse quinoa well, and place in a pot with 1 cup of fresh water.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, cover, and let cook until all of the water is absorbed. Usually between 15 to 18 minutes.
4. When you lift the lid an inch and no longer hear any water sizzling, place the lid back on the pot and set aside to steam for at least15 minutes.
5. Fluff with a fork, serve, and store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy within one week.
Quinoa to water ratio for cooking is 1:1
Farro
1. Cover 1 cup of farro in a bowl with a few cups of water and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Let soak for 12 hours.
2. Rinse farro well, and place in a pot with 2 cups of fresh water.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, cover, and let cook until all of the water is absorbed. Usually between 25 to 35 minutes.
4. When you lift the lid an inch and no longer hear any water sizzling, place the lid back on the pot and set aside to steam for at least15 minutes. If the farro is cooked and there is still excess water, let steam and then drain.
5. Fluff with a fork, serve, and store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy within one week.
Farro to water ratio for cooking is 1:2
Meal Ideas
Millet
We love this grain paired with sautéed chickpeas, steamed vegetables, lemon juice, black pepper, and a generous drizzle of tahini. See this post for the chickpea sauté recipe.
For a sweet option, warm cooked millet in plant milk with a little maple syrup, banana, and cinnamon in the morning for a delicious porridge. Top with fruits or jam and nut butter.
Nutritional highlight:
Millet is rich in magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, and copper. It also delivers some b vitamins and iron too.
Brown Rice
We’ve paired this grain here with a bed of greens, refried pinto beans, cucumber, mashed avocado, lemon juice, and black pepper for lunch. Cherry tomatoes and cilantro would be great here too!
We also love using the sticky version of the rice for making veggie sushi, or pairing with chilis and dahls.
Nutritional highlight:
Brown rice is rich in magnesium and selenium. As well as contains essential b vitamins, iron, and zinc.
Quinoa
Here we have quinoa with steamed veggies, avocado, my red lentil dahl (instead of adding the vegetables to the pot in the original recipe, we steamed them on the side), and plenty of lemon juice and black pepper.
Quinoa is also wonderful in salads, stirred into morning oats, folded into muffin or pancake batter - basically everything.
Nutritional highlight:
Quinoa is rich in folate, zinc, and magnesium. It is a great source of plant based protein, containing all 9 essential amino acids. And a good source of b vitamins and iron as well.
Farro
Here is an example of how we enjoy farro. Paired with smoky tempeh, steamed kale, cucumber, avocado, sauerkraut, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
This chewy grain holds it’s texture well, and is great stirred into soups or tossed in salads too.
Nutritional highlight:
Farro contains a high amount of protein and fiber, as well as delivers trace minerals such as selenium, magnesium, and zinc.