Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook: A Seasonal, Vegetarian Cookbook Read Online Free PDF

to liquid varies, as does the simmering time. Consult the following tables for those details for each grain. In all cases, if you’d like the grain to turn out softer, just add a bit more water. Depending on how much you add, you may need to increase the cooking time slightly.
    2-to-1 Ratio of Liquid to Grains

    3-to-1 Ratio of Liquid to Grains

    As you’ll see in the recipes at the beginning of chapters 5 and 6, you can also cook several grains together. The simplest way is to choose grains that have a similar liquid-to-grain ratio (more details below) and a similar cooking time; for example, combining quinoa with Bhutanese red rice.
    But don’t let liquid-to-grain ratio limit you. A bit of simple math is all you need to concoct your own combinations. Let’s look at an example from chapter 6 , Bronze Delight . Kasha’s ratio is 1 to 2, so 1 cup of kasha needs 2 cups of water; teff’s ratio is 1 to 3, so 2 cup of teff needs 1½ cups of water. So to cook them together, you’ll use 32 cups water (2 cups plus 1½ cups).
    And there’s nothing to say that you can’t combine grains with different cooking times, as in Sunny Mountain Rice . Just be sure to cook for the amount of time required for the longer-cooking variety. The texture of the shorter-cooking variety may be different than if you had cooked it by itself, but that’s part of the fun of creating variations!
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    Whole Grains in a Hurry
    If you’re like most folks these days, sometimes your intention to eat well is good, but you find yourself short on time for cooking from scratch. I encourage you to make time to cook in a leisurely, relaxed way. The food really will taste better! But I also want to help you cook more healthful foods in whatever time you have available. So here’s a list of whole grains arranged by cooking time, for easy reference. This can come in handy for other reasons, too. Maybe it’s summertime and you don’t want to heat up the kitchen by cooking something that takes a long time. And while I wouldn’t want you to make all of your food choices based on cooking time, it is a green consideration.
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    Cookware
    Now that you’re clear on the basic method, you may wonder what type of cookware is best for cooking whole grains. Here’s the short answer: cast-iron, stainless steel, ceramic, or glass cookware. Let’s take a look at why these are best.
    Stainless steel cookware is light and versatile. The most important consideration with stainless steel is to use heavy-gauge pots, or at least pots with a heavy bottom. Because they conduct heat more slowly, you’re less likely to burn foods when using them. Although they’re more expensive, they’ll last a lifetime.
    Cast-iron griddles, pots, and pans cook slowly and evenly. They also release small amounts of iron into the food, making it more nutritional. I use my cast-iron skillet daily; it is my favorite pan. You can use a cast-iron skillet to cook grains, as long as you have a tight-fitting lid. Cast-iron saucepans are also available; some have an enamel coating. These can be quite expensive, but again, they’ll last a lifetime. And the enamel has the benefit of providing more of a nonstick surface without toxic chemicals.
    Ceramic cookware is very attractive for cooking and serving. It conducts heat slowly, evenly and keeps foods warm for hours. However, some ceramic cookware produced in foreign countries may contain lead and other toxic chemicals. To be sure ceramic cookware is safe, make sure it’s made in the United States or Canada.
    Glass cookware is excellent. It retains heat for a long time, and also offers the advantage of allowing you to watch foods cook and bake inside.
    A few types of cookware are especially problematic and should be avoided at all costs, especially metal cookware with Teflon and other older nonstick surfaces. When heated, they can release carcinogenic compounds, and because the surface is easily scratched, small bits of the coating can contaminate