Thursday, February 4, 2010

Are You Teff Enough?

This week I have been experimenting with teff for breakfast. Teff is an Ethiopian grain that is high in fiber and also has a good amount of protein. The package says that 1/4 cup is a serving, but every recipe I've seen uses at least 1/2 a cup. I decided to go down the middle. :) I made 3/4 cup and then divided it into two servings.

The downside to making it for breakfast is that it needs to cook on the stove for 15-20 minutes. I was hesitant to make it in the microwave at work like I do with oatmeal, so I made it the night before and portioned it into two bowls. Here's what it looks like right out of the pan, with nothing extra added to it:


The thing is, when you let it cool, it becomes a little bit more solid, and so when I got to work the next day, it was like a brown hockey puck. I microwaved it at work, and added a little extra water to break it up and smooth it out. On Monday and Tuesday, I added blueberries, Stevia and cinnamon. Today I added 1/4 cup pumpkin, Stevia and cinnamon. Tomorrow I think I am going to add applesauce, Stevia and cinnamon.

The teff itself seems to have a pretty bland/neutral taste so what you add to it will make all the difference! The texture after reheating looked weird. It looked like wet sand held together by wet lint. LOL But that wasn't the actual texture at all. It was actually pretty good. Here's what it looked like this morning with the pumpkin added:


I tried to get a good picture of the texture, but my camera wouldn't cooperate. I think this might also be good for lunch or dinner as another rice/quinoa substitute. It's pretty filling, so I probably would make 1/4 cup or less if I was eating it with other things for dinner.

If you looking for something new to try, get teff!

I promised myself I wouldn't start singing "Hanging Teff". ;) LOL

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Any idea on how many carbs in the "Teff Puck"?

As I was reading this and seeing how many different things you began adding to the Teff, I couldn't help but think of the children's story "Stone Soup". Start with a stone and water, and then have neighbors add flavor until it becomes what it was intended to be.

later Abby

mikeZ

Abby said...

Hey Mike, I got Bob's Red Mill brand and per 1/4 cup (dry) it has 180 calories, 1g fat, 37g carbs, 4g fiber and 7g protein.

By comparison, per 1/2 cup (dry) oatmeal has 150 calories, 3g fat, 27g carbs, 4g fiber and 5g protein.

Of all the different kinds I tried, the one today with applesauce was the best! :)

Kristin Pizzi said...

Hey Abby,
Thanks for the comment on my blog! You're awesome :)

The teff sounds good! Thanks for sharing!