Perfect in porridges, a star as side dishes or delicious in desserts, whole grains are as versatile as they are nutritious.
Grains are divided into two groups: whole grains and refined grains. Health professionals recommend that we eat half of our servings from whole grains. Why? Whole grains contain more nutrients than refined grains.
They include all parts of the grain which are germ, bran and endosperm. Refined grains only contain the endosperm.
Not only do whole grains provide you with essential vitamins and nutrients, but they also help you “up” your dietary fibre intake, which has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and diabetes.
It can also help improve other health issues, like constipation.
Here are six ways to incorporate whole grains into your meals:
Stir wild rice into soups
Instead of noodles, try adding wild rice to your next soup or stew. Egg noodles may be tasty, but their nutrition is lacking.
According to health experts, one cooked cup of wild rice contains less fat, fewer calories and more fibre than the same serving of egg noodles.
Cook one meal for the entire week
On Sunday afternoon, cook up a large pot of one of your favourite whole grains, maybe brown rice. If stored tightly covered in the refrigerator, you will have grains-at-the-ready for days.
Throughout the week, serve up your whole grains over vegetable soups and chilli con carne (a dish made by stewing red meat in a dried chile-based sauce). Serve with steamed or grilled vegetables.
Make quinoa
Make quinoa your side dish instead of rice. You can also use quinoa as a coating for shrimp and chicken instead of flour or breadcrumbs.
Bake with whole grains
When you bake bread or muffins, instead of white flour use half whole wheat flour and half oat or buckwheat flour. You can also use these whole-grain flour in pancakes and waffles.
This simple substitution saves you a few calories and increases the fibre content.
Add grains to your morning oats
Oatmeal makes a quick, filling and inexpensive morning meal. You can add even more whole grains to your bowl by substituting a few tablespoons of traditional oats with dry quinoa before cooking.
Simmer your grain mixture in a liquid of your choice (milk or water) until tender.
Enjoy them as a snack
You do not have to make whole grains into a meal right away. You might want to start simple with a delicious snack that has a subtle nutty flavour.
For an everyday snack, try rice and quinoa granola bars that you can make ahead to snack on all week.