Posts Tagged: buckwheat
cherry chocolate buckwheat porridge
I would really love to be able to hit the pause button right now. A vacation, in the laziest sense. Sleeping in, nothing to do before noon except read and sip a cappuccino. A nap. If I’m feeling particularly rejuvenated, a long walk in the afternoon (preferably with a beach or mountains as background). Well, those things aren’t going to happen before the end of the year, but even pausing to think about them gave me a little serenity.
I’m going to assume your days are as industrious as mine (or that you’re gearing up for a bustling weekend) and get right to the recipe. I love a good buckwheat breakfast, so much so that I have an Amazon subscription for the raw groats. I’ve already told you about the granola and the pancakes, but another application on rotation is buckwheat porridge. This particular combination of cherry and chocolate (once again, pairing heavy hitters with buckwheat’s assertive flavor) borders on dessert, but what keeps this recipe in breakfast territory is a light hand with the maple syrup (I always stop at 2 tablespoons for the 4-serving batch). I also added almond butter, both because it’s a good match with cherry and chocolate and because it makes the pudding, err…porridge, even more satiating.
One more make-ahead breakfast in my repertoire to unclutter the day a bit. Sometimes, I even pause to savor it.
Cherry Chocolate Buckwheat Porridge
2 c raw buckwheat groats
1 1/2 c frozen cherries
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/3 c almond butter
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2-4 tbsp maple syrup
Cover the buckwheat with water and soak 8 hours or over night. Strain and rinse thoroughly.
Add the buckwheat, cherries, cocoa, almond butter, cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup to a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Taste and add up to 2 more tablespoons maple syrup to reach desired level of sweetness.
Serves 4
cinnamon buckwheat granola
On a recent park outing a friend was telling me about 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write, authored by (among other descriptors, of course) a mother to young children. We discussed how the art you create when you have only small, unreliable chunks of time available to you differs from that of when your imagination has all the time in the world to wander. Since our talk in the park, I’ve been thinking about how my life more generally has altered in response to baby and toddler rhythms.
Because I’m starting to feel a little like a crazy person, and not for lacking of taking care of myself. I shower (almost) daily, eat well, and even practice a requisite ten minutes of yoga each evening before bed. I think it’s these blips of availability – minutes here and there to work or clean or read – that are slowly grating on my sanity. Even when all the things that need to get accomplished, do, it has a different feel than when they are done in an organized manner. A workout paused no less than four times doesn’t reap the same rewards as thirty minutes of uninterrupted sweat. A blog post written piecemeal has a different feel than one mulled over during a generous block of time.
I’m not complaining, just observing. I’m always doing this sort of assessing so I can fiddle with my approach and make things even better. Because this life I have is so, so good. Those in-between-work-getting-done moments are filled with gummy smiles and deep toddler thoughts, both I never appreciated before and now for which I have fallen head over heals.
As much as I love a leisurely breakfast and hoped that would be one of the perks of working from home, they are now reserved for the weekends. Ben and I have both been taking advantage of make-ahead items for our first meal of the day, including baked oatmeal, frozen egg burritos, and granola. We both loved My New Roots’ chunky chocolate buckwheat granola maybe a little too much, since the 8-cup recipe doesn’t seem to last us more than a couple days.
I made a cinnamon version I like just as much as the original, although it is less decadent due both to the change in flavors and a reduction in sugar. It also doesn’t clump as well, either because of the omission of coconut sugar or chia seeds (which mostly seemed to shrivel and fall to the bottom of the jar), but that didn’t bother us. I also switched the oat to buckwheat ratio in favor of the latter. Buckwheat has a hearty flavor that pairs well with other strong flavors, so the sweet warmth of ground cinnamon is a capable replacement for chocolate (if ever there was one). It smells like cinnamon buns while it bakes and the resulting granola is mildly sweet, surprisingly light, and perfectly filling. I like to eat it with yogurt, milk, or even ricotta, with or without fresh fruit.
Cinnamon Buckwheat Granola
adapted from My New Roots
3 c buckwheat groats
1 c rolled oats
1 1/2 c coconut flakes (also called coconut chips)
1 c sliced almonds
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c coconut oil
1/3 c maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, stir together the buckwheat, oats, coconut, almonds, and salt.
Add the coconut oil to a small saucepan over low heat. Once melted, whisk in the maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth. Pour the coconut oil mixture over the buckwheat mixture and stir to evenly coat. Spread evenly on a large baking sheet or baking dish and bake 30 minutes, stirring about every ten minutes.
this too shall pass
These words previously came to mind only during a hard time, a time I wished would pass. Lately, though, I’m reminded of the phrase often and during all ranges of emotion. Maybe it’s still postpartum hormones at work or perhaps having a child permanently intensifies sentimentality – Either way, the bittersweet fact that the days keep slipping by has never been so front and center in my thoughts.
In the first weeks of Z’s life another mom simultaneously comforted and warned me that everything – the good and the bad – is a phase. It took four months of personal experience to make this message meaningful. Now, as my son goes through a sleep regression, I am not scouring books and the internet to figure out what is “wrong” or how to “fix it”; I am relaxed in knowing it is temporary.
But do you know what else is temporary? His charmingly goofy, gummy smile. I have weeks, maybe only days left before he starts sprouting teeth*, transforming his baby face into one more like a little boy’s. When I look forward to his learning to crawl, I am not thinking about how much I will miss this time when he is content to simply hang out on the bed with me, cooing and laughing. This dichotomy – eagerly anticipating the future while grasping at these passing moments – is not exclusive to parenting. I find myself daydreaming about my someday farm and then snap back to present-day New York, where I should be taking in this city more fully.
Fortunately, there are moments so blissful that my tendency to always be thinking about my next steps vanishes effortlessly. I find myself truly living in the moment, for example, on Sunday mornings when I make brunch with my husband and we sit down at the table with Z to enjoy it. The aromas and tastes keep me locked in on the present; why would I want to be anywhere else when I’m experiencing the rich flavor of French press coffee alongside the people with whom I am most at ease?
I think to myself: Soak in this moment, because this too shall pass.
What we make for brunch comes and goes in phases, and right now we’re on a buckwheat pancake kick. Made from buckwheat flour and homemade kefir and topped with whatever fruit our local farmers are currently delighting us with, these are bursting with flavor and are quite filling.
*Between drafting and publishing this post, Z cut two teeth. Don’t worry – his smile is as charming as ever.
Buckwheat Pancakes
adapted from Wrightfood
1 c buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 1/4 c kefir, buttermilk, or runny yogurt
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp melted butter, plus more for cooking
1 egg, separated
fresh fruit, (more) butter, and maple syrup, for serving
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In another bowl (or in a liquid measuring cup), beat together the kefir, maple syrup, butter, and egg yolk. In yet another bowl (sorry about the clean-up), beat the egg white just to stiff peaks; do not over beat or it will become dry.
2. Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture and stir until just combined – some lumps are okay. Add the whipped egg white and fold until just combined – it’s also okay if a few white streaks remain.
3. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add a generous amount of butter. Once the pan is hot and butter melted, add enough batter to make the pancakes whatever size you’d like. Once bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes, flip and wait a few seconds for the other side to cook. Keep these pancakes warm in a 200 degree oven, add more butter, and repeat.
Serves 2