Read full article by Lauren Rothman @ Tasting Table Photo Credit: TastingTable
If you’ve ever tucked into a bowl of farro, sunk a spoon into a beef barley soup, or sautéed up some quinoa fried rice, then you’ve already started to explore the world of ancient grains. A class of grains and grain-like seeds known as pseudocereals, according to Healthline, ancient grains including these and others such as bulgur, rye, and millet have been staples of the human diet for thousands of years, and have remained mostly genetically and agriculturally unchanged throughout the millennia. Boasting a more diverse and typically healthier nutritional profile than modern, genetically modified grain crops such as wheat and corn, ancient grains can be a delicious way to bring more vitamins, minerals, and fiber into your diet.
One less-common ancient grain that you might start to hear a lot more about these days is sorghum, a nutrient-packed, high-protein, gluten-free ancient grain that is well known in the American South as the principal ingredient in sorghum syrup, a sweetener that’s typically poured over cornbread, biscuits, and hotcakes (via Southern Living). But the grain’s appeal might soon spread beyond the South, as public schools across the nation add it to their school lunch programs based on a new recommendation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Sorghum made it onto the USDA Food Buying Guide
If you’ve never tried sorghum, you might want to seek some out. This easy-to-grow, gluten-free grain is prized by chefs such as Evan Rich, Sam Kincaid, Dan Barber, and Alice Medrich, who have used it to create everything from sorghum-strewn chicken liver mousse to gluten-free granola to sorghum-infused grits. And though it’s unlikely that American school children will be chowing down on dishes of this caliber, they are soon going to get to know sorghum in some form.
