09/09/2022
Buckwheat is disappearing from supermarket shelves - the popularity of this product is due to its reasonable price tag and its versatility. But what can you replace buckwheat with if the store has had time to dispose of it before you?
Buckwheat groats are a direct "competitor" to sugar in terms of popularity with store customers. So why do they buy it more actively than other cereals? There are several reasons:
First, buckwheat is considered an indigenous Russian product, although it was first cultivated in Northern India and Nepal. It came to Russia at the end of the 14th century thanks to the Greeks, hence the name "buckwheat", which was later changed to "buckwheat groats". Nowadays our country is considered to be the largest buckwheat groats producer in the world.
We are happy about their long shelf life: they can be stored for up to 2 years. They can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen if you are not sure whether you will be able to eat buckwheat in the nearest future.
But the main advantage of buckwheat groats (of course, besides its benefits) is the possibility to prepare from it a variety of dishes. In addition to the traditional side dish and crumbly porridge, it is suitable for buckwheat (a version of risotto with porcini mushrooms and cheese) or healthy buckwheat baked goods. Nutritionists advise making flour out of this cereal and using it to bake pancakes, make homemade noodles, or add it to sweet baked goods.
Irina Lisun, a dietitian, an expert of the programs "Controlled purchase" and "Good morning" and the head doctor of the Clinic of Health Management Helms told our edition about what kind of groats to look for on the shelves instead of buckwheat:
Of course, buckwheat has advantages - for example, it contains quite a lot of protein (about 12 to 13 grams per 100 grams of product). But oatmeal and hard pasta are comparable with buckwheat in this indicator, while wheat, pearl barley and corn grits are only slightly inferior (9-10 g of protein per 100 g of product). But quinoa has even higher protein content than buckwheat.
In addition to protein, buckwheat is high in iron. But legumes also contain iron! If you choose a recipe that combines cereals and beans, the dish even wins in terms of health benefits.