What On Earth is a Wheat Berry?

A picture of wheat berries

You may have wondered while shopping in the market, what on earth is this bag of things called wheat berries? Thinking you'll be adventurous you pick up a bag at less than $1.00 a pound to try and find that you are at a loss for cooking ideas and really have no idea what these things are. I too was in the same boat and after some internet sluthing I came to the conclusion that wheat berries are an awesome grain to add to salads, soups, and bread and pack a wonderful and nutritious punch despite their low price

 

 

 

 

 

So what are they and why are they good for me?

 




From http://yankeegalscafe.com/2010/10/20/wheat-berries/

  Wheat berries or wheat kernels are the seed of the wheat plant and they consist of three parts...the germ, bran, and endosperm. There are more than 40 of these nutritious marvels on each stalk of wheat. These "seeds" are what are ground to make "whole wheat" flour (be advised whole wheat flour is much more nutrtious than wheat flour which has the bran or the germ removed. Unlike white flour which consists only of the starchy endosperm, wheat berries and whole wheat flour contain all three parts of the seed. The addition of the bran and germ to the endosperm adds a boost of vitamins and minerals these nutritional powerhouse foods. According to Leslie Beck's RD blog wheat berries are an excellent source of manganese, selenium, phosphorus and magnesium, as well as fiber and protein. These berries also contain  lignans, a phytochemical thought to guard against breast and prostate cancer.

 

 

 

Nutrition information per 1/2 cup serving  

 

Calories	111 kcal
Protein	3.5 g
Carbohydrate	24.9 g
Fibre	4.3 g
Fat	0.5 g
Sodium	3 mg
Cholesterol	0 mg

 

What do I do with them?

 

So you may be wondering, now that I know what a wheat berry is and why I should eat them...how exactly should I prepare them? Thanks to our friends at Opperation Food Search...we can solve your worries with the following recipie. Like before, most of the ingredients can be purchased at City Greens Produce with the other ingredients easy to find.

Wheatberries with Portabella Mushrooms 

Ingredients

1 large portabello mushroom

2cups wheatberries

7 cups water or broth

2T olive oil

1/4 cup onions

1 T Salt

Directions

1. Soak wheatberries in water for at least an hour
2. Coat saucepan with olive oil
3. Add onions and mushrooms
4. Saute until soft
5. Add wheat berries and water
6. Add salt
7. Boil for at least 50 minutes or until soft and tender

What to Do with your Greens

So as we keep talking...we have greens here at City Greens...lots of them. If you are like me, you may be stuck with a bunch of greens and have no idea what to do with them...Well...thanks to our friends at Operation Food Search, the process of making tasty (and healthy) greens is no sweat. Even better is you can get most of the ingredients here at the market for cheap. So lets stop talking and start eating

Stewed Greens w/bacon 

photo from http://trilliestaste.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-05-23T12%3A52%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=1

Ingredients

3 Slices bacon (Patchwork Farms)

1 tablespoon olive or canola oil 

2 cloves garlic minced 

1 pound collard, turnip, or mustard greens, stems removed and cut into 2-inch pieces

3 cups of water or chicken broth 

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

salt and pepper to taste 

optional: dash of apple cider vinegar

Instructions 

1. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook bacon till crisp, remove and crumble and then return to pot 

2. If needed add 1 teaspoon of oil to pot. Add onion to pot and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add greens and cook until just starting to wilt 

3. Add liquid and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper 

4. Reduce heat to low and let simmer until desired consistency has been reached, about 15 to 45 minutes. 

makes 6 servings 

Fresh Updates for 5/27

Market Updates 5/27/11

Lots of new stuff is happening at City Greens this week. The City Greens team wants to thank everyone who came out to help make our opening week a success. 62 people visited. We want to extend a personal thank you to Rose at Companion Bakery, The folks at Dry Dock Farm, Ryan at Gateway Greening, and Patrillie and Mareyla at Operation Food Search for their delicious food and wonderful insight.  You really helped make this week a success!!!

As we venture into our second week, the greens are still plentiful and the pork is a following. Spare ribs are still on sale for $1.99 a pound, perfect for your holiday BBQs this weekend.

Fresh in the market this week 

1. Radishes

2. Mustard Greens

3. Red Kale

4. Leaf Lettuce 

5. Buttercrunch Lettuce

6. Romaine Lettuce 

7. Collard Greens 

8. Broccoli

9. Companion Bread 

10. Green Onions 

11. Farm Fresh Eggs 

12. Swiss Chard 

13. Staple Dry Goods 

Mobile Market Update

Mobile market gets a fresh coat of paint

As we updated you last week...things are up and rolling with the plans for the Supa Fresh Mobile Market. Here are the latest updates. As you can see we have completely painted the outside and inside of the mobile market trailer. We are still finalizing the arrangement and type of shelving. If anyone has any ideas please let us know!!!! 

We need your Suggestions!!!!!

City Greens is here for you and we are always open to your suggestions. If you want to see a product at the market please email us and let us know what you want to see

 

A Supa' Fresh Update

The staff here at Midtown headed down to Saint Charles yesterday to check on the progress on the Supa' Fresh Veggie Van. As you can see below, things are coming together so we can get the market out and the road. We will be heading back down to Saint Charles on Monday to check on the progress again and we will update you again via this blog. For now, here is the latest progress

Here is the back of the veggie mobile. The trailer will be painted green to symbolize the freshness of our produce.

Grand ReOpening Week Celebration Begins Thursday May 19th...

Are you Ready? City Greens begins it 3rd season on this Thursday, May 19th from 11-5pm at the Midtown Catholic Charities building located at 1202 S. Boyle. Grand opening celebration festivities include cooking demos, food discounts, lots of samples and special gardening activities from our friends at Gateway Greening. We will have all of our staples from our winter market, plus some other goodies.

Fresh in the market this week...
Swiss Chard
Kohlarabi
Spinach
Red Mustard Greens
Green Mustard Greens
Radishes
Green Onions
Buttercrunch lettuce
Leaf lettuce
Strawberries
I also wanted to let everyone know that we are deep in the middle of our membership drive. We rely on word of mouth to get our name out there and to build our membership base. Remember when you become a City Greens member you not only are guarenteeing that you recieve the highest quality natural produce at wholesale prices, but also that you are helping get the highest quality produce into the hands of those who may not have access to this food otherwise. City Greens not only helps local farmers, but also helps builds our community.
Remember, City Greens has a twitter. You can follow us on there @CityGreenSTL

Keep us posted on what you want to see at City Greens and hope to see you on Thursday or Friday. I'm getting really excited for this.

Last Week of Winter Market

The buzz is in the air over the opening of our third season next week. 

The Grand Re-Opening will be Thursday and Friday from 11-5, which are our hours also for the entire season (plus Tuesday and Wednesday Veggie Mobile hours, TBD).  We can't wait to fire up our blenders and sauce pans (and salad bowls?) with the produce now coming out of our beautiful Missouri soil.

We have spinach, mustard greends, kale, collards, radishes, and a some preservative-free bacon now out for you to buy!  Plus we'll sample some almond butter!

 

Produce is Back! Check out our new Vegan Black Bean soup

Last night, Dan attended the St. Louis Farm Forum at St. Louis University.  Did you know that farmer's markets have tripled in the last 15 years?  In 1986, there were two CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) -- now, there are over 4,000.  How many at-cost community markets do you know about?  We haven't found any others but hope that the growth of CSAs and farmer's markets parallels our model in the coming years. 

Shoppers, this is your week!  We have produce again, before the season even opens.  Come get some mustard greens, radishes, green onions, and head lettuce.  We're also carrying vegan black bean soup from St. John's Soups.