My World

My meal experiment for this evenings dinner involved using ground Kasha as a side dish rather than creating flour for pancakes. This is becoming one of my favorite whole grain healthy eating alternatives. For those unaware, kasha is simply roasted buckwheat groats. Raw ones do not digestc well so I purchase those already roasted even for my flour. I planned to bake skinned chicken thighs and wanted a filling side dish to go with the beautiful fresh tomatoes I purchased yesterday. That began my experiment in another recipe.

While it did not take long at all, it was fun. I love to cook and try new recipes, especially when I can use my ancient wonderful iron skillet. The recipe called for a dry non stick pan so it was my first choice. This intrigued me because I’ve always added oil or butter before any food to the pan. Recipe said to mix up an egg, coat the kasha and dump into a hot, dry pan. Then stir the kasha around until all kernels were brown and separate.

So that is what I did. It didn’t sizzle or burn. I couldn’t even tell there was egg involved.

Next, I placed the kernels in a saucepan with 2 cups of water and dissolved bullion. Recipe said to boil until water was gone about 20 minutes. But it only took less than 10 minutes and there was no boiling. The kernels basically soaked up all the water. Maybe this was because I was using fine ground groats rather than whole or large ground?

While they were in saucepan I sautéed a large onion with a couple tablespoons butter and a tablespoon olive oil in the iron skillet. I added salt, pepper, dried parsley and dried dill weed near completion. The recipe called for fresh but that’s all I had.

Then I combined the kasha with the onions and sautéed just a couple more minutes before serving. Just a note, I only used half of the kasha. The rest is in fridge for tomorrow night when I heat it up and serve with oat flour gravy. Now I know to Only use 1/2 cup for a meal for two! But I have a delicious side dish ready to go tomorrow so it’s all good.

What is great about this traditional Polish kasha recipe is you can add what ever other ingredients you want or have at the time. Bell peppers, carrots, green peas, etc. Who says eating healthy has to be boring! Bon Appétit!