Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Livin, Svetlana Konnikova [classic fiction .TXT] 📗

well-respected pharmaceutical industry produces rutin, using buckwheat leaves and flowers. Rutin is the same preparation as vitamin P, which is an irreplaceable treatment for those affected by radiation and sclerosis, hypertension, stoke, bleeding, rheumatism, nephritis, glaucoma, measles, and nervous disorders. As you see, it boasts a wide spectrum of healing properties. I have observed for many years that in the United States elderly people are familiar with this plant and its benefits. My guess is they were taught about it by their European ancestors. But few young people have

been introduced to buckwheat meals by their mothers or

grandmothers.

I purchase buckwheat in a local health-food market and often prepare kasha with sour cream, milk, or yogurt for my family as a nutritious breakfast. They love it.

Buckwheat is one of the most important plants

for maintaining good health. It is a source of high energy and amazing health. And more good news is that

it is low in calories and satisfies the appetite.

Buckwheat whole grains (groats) are used to make

porridge or kasha, as it is called in Russia. In common When Your Head Is Swimming @ 179

parlance it is called grechka. But I want to warn you that not everybody will like the taste of this meal. It is meatless and not everyone will consider it a

“real” food. Even children can turn up their noses at this meal, and they will do it again and again until they acquire a taste for it and begin to understand its superior nutritional value.

Kasha is “the original mother of bread” and it has been known and used widely throughout the world for more than a thousand years. Try it and make a delightful breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You will be giving your body the gift of rich nourishment and the key to energy, health, and longevity. Here are eight delicious recipes:

r 14. Buckwheat friable kasha. Lightly roast one cup of whole grain buckwheat in a pan in the oven for about three minutes. Put buckwheat into two cups of boiling water. Add a pinch of salt. Return to a boil, then reduce heat and cook until the water is gone and the buckwheat is soft and ready to eat, approximately 20 minutes. Mix in two teaspoons of butter or olive oil and cover. Serve kasha with sour cream, salsa, or milk. If you decide to use only milk, add a teaspoon of honey. It makes a healthy breakfast, which can be a nutritious part of your diet. You can add friable buckwheat kasha as an easy-to-make, light nutritional side dish, complimenting meat, fish, or chicken for lunch or dinner.

r 15. “Downy” kasha for children. Rinse one cup buckwheat whole grains in a sieve. Mix in a bowl with one egg and place the mixture on the griddle or dry it in an oven on a pan about three minutes at 375°. Boil two cups milk and add one tablespoon of butter, a pinch of salt, and the dried buckwheat. Reduce heat and continue to cook. Kasha wil be ready to eat in 15-20 minutes. Serve it with a sweet milk sauce over it: Dissolve one teaspoon starch in one tablespoon of cold milk or water. Add one cup milk and bring to a boil. Add one teaspoon sugar or honey and bring again to a boil for two to three minutes. Add 1/4 teaspoon vanil a or vanil a sugar. The sweet milk sauce wil bring a tender taste to a “downy” kasha. I can assure you the children wil love it. 180 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

r 16. Buckwheat kasha with cheese. Wash and pass ½ cup buckwheat whole grains through a sieve. Pour one cup water into a pot. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Then add buckwheat to the boiling water and cook until thickened, approximately 20

minutes. Reduce heat. Add one teaspoon of butter when kasha is almost ready. Mix wel and cover. Place the pot with buckwheat in a bigger pan with hot water and continue to cook in this water bath for 15 minutes more. Loosen kasha with a fork and mound it on a plate. Pour on melted butter. Strew three to four ounces of friable Farmers cheese or any other cheese like an authentic Greek feta cheese, Mozzarel a, or baby cheese on top. Sprinkle with chopped dil or parsley and garnish with ¼ sliced tomato. r 17. Sailor’s kasha. Cook a friable buckwheat kasha (as in #14), using two cups buckwheat whole grains and four cups water. Cut one pound veal in smal pieces, wash it wel , then grind it. Fry two to three shredded onions in a frying pan with olive oil. Boil two eggs. Let them cool, then shred them. Mix ground veal, fried onions, a dash of black pepper, and shredded eggs to the kasha. Then oil a three-quart pan and place prepared mixture inside. Let it stew in a 350° oven until ready, about 25 minutes. Sailor’s kasha is one of the best nutritious meals, served hot for lunch or dinner. r 18. “Shrimp” kasha. Cook friable kasha (as in #14), using two cups buckwheat whole grains and four cups water. Add two tablespoons butter, pinch of salt, two teaspoons minced garlic, one tablespoon dil or parsley,