Basic Grains Recipe

Mid-Atlantic grown whole grains are fresh, nutritious, and flavorful. They’re excellent to have on hand to prepare as a simple side dish or to add to soups or salads to bulk up a meal. The following is a basic recipe for cooking whole grain berries or groats, including wheat berries, millet, sorghum, rice, and more, so they’re ready for however you want to eat them!

1. Clean your grains: Before cooking, cover with cool water, swirl, scoop off any floating debris and drain. This will remove any remaining soil and debris.

2. Add the grains to a pot along with some water. You can also use broth or add your favorite seasonings to build additional flavor. Each grain is cooked in a unique ratio with your liquid of choice based on the amount of liquid needed to absorb and cook the grain (i.e. cook x cups of wheat berries with x cups of liquid). You can apply the following ratios as you increase or decrease your batch size:

   1. Wheat berries- 1:3

   2. Rye berries- 1:3

   3. Millet- 1:2

   4. Sorghum- 1:3

   5. Rice- 1:1.5

   6. Barley- 1:3

3. Bring the pot to a boil. Then cover and reduce heat to a simmer.

   Cooking time will vary from 30-90 minutes depending on the grain and the specific variety of the grain as well. Cooking wheat berries and rice tends towards the shorter end of that window while millet and sorghum tend to take longer to cook. The grains are cooked when all the water has been absorbed, and the grains have a chewy (not crunchy) texture.

Source: Next Step Produce and Grapewood Farm