Buckwheat
 

No, not the little rascal.

I had never eaten buckwheat before I came to Russia, just buckwheat pancakes, now I eat it a few times per week, and I'd like to recommend it to GIMers as a stored food item.

Buckwheat will store almost indefinately. It is high in vitamins, iron and complex carbs.

Easy to prepare- one part buckwheat to 2 1/2 parts water, boil for 15 minutes or so, or until water is absorbed. Goes good with any meat, any vegetable. Soy sauce, mayonaise, olive oil, or just plain.

In Russia, many people keep a pot of pre-cooked buckwheat and a pot of pre-cooked soup in the fridge. Heat up the buckwheat with any meat or veggie, along with a bowl of soup, you've got 33% of my diet. I rotate with rice and macaroni to be fancy. I fry buckwheat with two eggs (bird's nest style) for breakfast when I don't have oatmeal.

I wanted to bring buckwheat to your attention because I myself had never heard of it before. I don't know about the US, but in Russia a week's worth costs $1.50

Re: Buckwheat
 

While I'm at it, I should talk about beets. Russians keep them in the cellar in sawdust, and boil a batch once per week or so. The boiled beets are kept in the fridge in a pot, taken out, peeled and shredded as needed. Fry up some onions and carrots with the shredded beets- MMMMMMGOOD! If you want something sweet, raw carrots and raisins. If you want something unusual, chopped walnuts and garlic, with oil or mayo. As a matter of fact, chop up ay fruits or veggies and add to the beets, and you've got a very nutritious, tasty meal. Easy to grow root vegetable which stores all winter.

And of course there's borsch. Chopped meat, onions, carrots, whatever veggies you have, cabbage and fresh beet root. Keep a pot of that in the fridge, it gets tastier every day it sits.

Re: Buckwheat
 

I love buckwheat pancakes. I grew buckwheat here one year and it did great which is really saying something. My soil is mostly sand. It makes a good cover crop for tilling in and enrighing the ground too. Great stuff.

Re: Buckwheat
 

Mmmmmm....beet greens! I made some cabbage egg rolls the other day that were tasty. Fried up summer squash, onions, cabbage and mushrooms and wrapped 'em in egg roll wraps. Yum.

Re: Buckwheat
 

why don't you do us all a favor and make some "birds nest" for breakfast tomorrow and take a picture. Im curious... =)

Re: Buckwheat
 

Bird's Nest is kind of like eggs in a basket, but with grains instead of bread.

Buckwheat is truly very very good. The Egyptians eat Farheek (pronounded Fah-Reek) and this is basically Buckwheat that is harvested when it is still green (an early field cull helps the grains that remain on the vine grow better.) The green buckwheat is then toasted and eaten like any grain.

Very tasty, very good for you, easy to cook and buckwheat pancakes keep you going from breakfast until dinnertime, they're that hearty!