Recipe ideas from Michelle Darmody

Humans have eaten grains for many thousands of years. 

Once cultivated they provided an easily accessible source of carbohydrate and protein and were also were an easy food to carry on long journeys which helped allow people to travel and explore the world.

Today most of us tend to fall back on rice as grain of choice with dinner. It is of course an extremely versa-tile grain and there are many beautiful varieties.

I had the most delicious long grain red rice in the mountains of Mexico a few years ago. It was cooked alongside a chicken that was unnervingly yellow in colour.

When I asked my host about the strange hue I was told that the chicken had eaten almost nothing but sweet-corn everyday of its life. It was the most sweet and succulent meat and the juices were soaked up with the grains of red rice.

Short grain brown rice is the nearest l have found in Ireland; it’s nutty flavour and nice crunch bring me back to the hills of Chiapas in Mexico.

Rice comes in so many varieties from the perfumed and soft basmati that accompanies a warming curry or arborio which is patiently stirred to make a rich and creamy risotto, it really is an amazing food source. There are however many other types of grains to choose from and this week I want to give you few recipes to try out.

Bulgur wheat has been used in Irish kitchens a bit more widely than the farro or quinoa.

Quinoa has come into favour in healthy food circles and although its price has risen in the past year it is still a filling food source and packed with nutrition and is considered very easy to digest. It originated in South America.

Bulgur wheat with roasted squash, kale and toasted nuts

1 small squash, peeled and cubed

2 ts of honey

a dash of rapeseed oil

1 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg

1 tea cup full of bulgar wheat

2 tea cups of stock

the juice of 1 orange

a handful of kale, boiled and sliced

1 spring onion, very finely chopped

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

100g of soft goats cheese, crumbled

a small handful of hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

a handful of almonds, toasted and chopped

You can make this with farro also which is a wonderful grain but not always easy to get. Health food shops would be the most lightly source.

Toss your squash in a little oil, honey, the nutmeg and some seasoning and place in an oven to roast until soft.

Boil the stock and the orange juice in the same saucepan and drop the bulgur wheat into it. It just needs about ten to twelve minutes to cook.

Do not stir it during cooking just shake the saucepan a few times. While it is still warm toss spring onions, cinnamon and squash through it.

Top with the kale, a sprinkling of goats cheese and the toasted nuts.

Pearl barley stew with lamb meat balls

a dash of rapeseed oil

2 onions, very finely chopped

2 carrots, diced

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

a bunch of thyme, removed from the stalk and chopped

1 tsp of honey

1 tsp of mixed spice

1 litre of stock

175 g of pearl barley

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

400g of minced lamb

a bunch of parsley chopped

Heat the oil and sauté half of the onions and the carrots until the onions are beginning to soften. Add the garlic and thyme and stir fry for two minutes.

Stir in the honey, mixed spice and then add the stock. Add the pearl barley to the saucepan and allow to bubble away for 15 minutes.

Stir in the chopped tomato and allow to bubble away for another 15 minutes.

While that is cooking stir the rest of the onion, and the parsley through the minced lamb as well as some seasoning.

Heat some more oil in a shallow frying pan and fry the meatballs a few at a time until they are golden all over.

Gently add them to the saucepan with the barley. Allow to bubble away for another ten minutes then taste and season.

Egg bowl with quinoa and beetroot yogurt

250g of quinoa

stock

1 large bulb of fennel, roughly chopped

1 red onion, sliced

6 cherry tomatos, halved

2 tsp of honey

1 tsp of chilli powder

1 beetroot, cooked then roughly grated

1 clove of garlic, crushed

a small bunch of dill, finely chopped

150mls of natural yogurt

a handful of mixed leaves

Toss the fennel, tomatoes and red onion in some oil, honey, chilli powder and seasoning.

Place into an oven heated to 180 degrees and cook until they have both softened.

Stir the roughly greater beetroot into the yogurt with the dill, garlic and some seasoning.

Cover the quinoa in the stck and bring to the boil. Allow to bubble way with a lid on until the grains are cooked.

Toss the roasted veg through the quinoa making sure to get any juices from the roasting dish, taste and sea-son. Place a few leaves in a bowl, top with a scoop of the quinoa and then place a freshly poached egg on top of each bowl.

Spoon some beetroot yogurt over the top.

Ginger and oat cookies

500g butter, softened

100g caster sugar

200g light brown sugar

300g self raising flour

1/2 tsp of powdered ginger

450g of porridge oats

50g of crystallised ginger, roughly chopped

Beat butter and both sugars until fluffy. Stir in flour, powdered ginger and oats and mix well. Add the crystallised ginger and stir in.

Roll into a think log and wrap it in baking parchment then place in the fridge for at least an hour. Sliced the log with a warm knife into 18 discs. Place them on to two baking trays covered with a sheet of parchment.

The cookies will spread out on the baking tray as they bake. You can bake them at 170 degrees for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the cookies words the end of baking.

These are lovely dipped in some melted dark chocolate and allowed to cool on a sheet of baking parchment.